COLUMBIA, S.C. - House Speaker David Wilkins has been chosen to receive a national award for legislative leadership.

Wilkins was to get the 2004 Excellence in State Legislative Leadership Award at a ceremony in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Thursday.

The award is sponsored jointly by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

It recognizes a legislative leader who has worked to build and preserve public trust and whose career embodies the qualities of integrity, leadership, courage and high ethical standards.

Only those who have held the position of state Senate president, Senate president pro tempore, speaker of the House, speaker pro tempore, majority or minority leader within the last two years are eligible.

Wilkins, who was first elected to the House in 1981, will mark his 10th year as Speaker this November.

"Moments like this always remind me that if I can see just a little higher today it's because I stand on the shoulders of giants," Wilkins said. "From my wife and sons who have always provided unconditional support, to my fellow legislators who dare to fail in public, to our brave men and women in uniform who right now stand in harm's way on foreign shores. They are the blessings. I am humbled by this honor."

Award recipients are selected by an independent nonpartisan selection committee comprised of academicians and leaders from the public and private sectors.