Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar received the Patriot Award this weekend at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s annual convention in Pueblo.

Also honored Saturday at the Pueblo Convention Center were New York Times best-selling author Jeff Shaara, who received the Bob Hope Excellence in Entertainment Award; Fox News host and President George W. Bush-era White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, who received the “Tex” McCray Excellence in Journalism Award; and El Pomar Foundation CEO and Chairman William Hybl, a former U.S. congressman, who received the Distinguished Citizen Award.

The society is comprised of Medal of Honor recipients and “is perhaps the most exclusive organization in our country,” according to its website. “It is certainly one of the most unique. Its small membership includes men of all races, social classes and economic levels. They range in stature from 5’2? to 6’7?, in age from 27 to 96, and they live in all areas of our country. No amount of money, power or influence can buy one’s rite of passage to this exclusive circle, and unlike almost any other organization, this group’s members hope that there will be no more inductees.”

As noted on the event’s website, Salazar, in 1998, became the first Hispanic elected to Colorado office when he assumed the role of attorney general. He served as a U.S. senator from 2005-2009, and interior secretary under former President Barack Obama from 2009-2013.

“Mr. Salazar led the nation’s efforts on conservation, including the creation of 10 National Parks and 10 National Conversation and Wildlife Refuges, and organized more than 100 other conservation and preservation projects in the United States,” his biography on the society’s website notes.