By week's end, his voice was even more gravelly than usual, but that's the price Craig Williams paid for being celebrated coast to coast last week as a winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize.

Williams, executive director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, based in Berea, Ky., was one of six individuals from around the world selected this year for the $125,000 prizes.

Williams was presented with his prize at a San Francisco ceremony Monday, and then he and the other winners flew to Washington, where they were recognized at another ceremony and reception at the National Geographic Society, attended a press conference at the National Press Club and lunched on Capitol Hill and at the Brookings Institution.

In San Francisco and at the National Geographic Society, Williams spoke about how the issue of disposing of chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Ky., encompassed other issues including civil rights, government accountability, disarmament and environmental justice.

"We cannot allow corporations or governments to shape our destiny," the activist told both audiences, according to a text of his remarks. "Whether it's weapons disposal or protection of the world's forests, we must continue speaking truth to power."

"Don't ever feel, no matter what the odds, that you cannot prevail if justice is your motivation," he said.

Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has worked with Williams for two decades on securing the safe disposal of the chemical weapons, said he was "thrilled" that Williams was given a Goldman prize.

"He is proof that sometimes, David really can slay Goliath," McConnell told reporters at the National Press Club. "The work Craig and I have done together is a perfect model for how government can and ought to work with the people it serves."

McConnell has sponsored an amendment to the supplemental spending bill being considered by Congress that urges the Defense Department to stay committed to getting rid of the chemical weapons in Kentucky and elsewhere.

The Pentagon earlier this month conceded that it would not meet the 2012 disposal deadline set by international treaty.

"I want DoD to know that I am keeping a close eye on its chemical weapons disposal efforts and that they should not use this announcement of missing the treaty deadline to slow work or shortchange funding for demilitarization," the senator said in a statement.

Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.