that performance had inspired meryl to start writing songs and he's written thousands of them sense. about 300 or 400 keepers in meryl's opinion. 38 of those songs have been number one on the charts including "hokie from ma scogey," which he performed for richard nixon right here in this room back in 1973. and through meryl true power is from the details about life and love and everything in between. and as he says, the best songs feel like they've always been there. so tonight we honor a man who feels like he's always been here, meryl hag haggard. >> growing up in new jersey jerry herman and his family used

to play broadway tunes in the living room. jerry on the piano, his mother on the accordion and his father playing the sax. he never took a music lesson but always had the ability to play anything he heard by ear. then when he was 14, jerry went to see the great ethel merman perform in on annie get your gun." in his words, i got a load of that great lady and was gone. jerry was determined to be a songwriter, even though he didn't think he could ever make a career out of doing something that was so much fun but that's exactly what he's done, penning songs for such iconic musicals as "hello dolly" and drawing audiences everywhere oust their seats and into the world of his imagination. those songs earned jerry a shelf full of tonys and he's still the only composer and lyiricist who has had three shows on broadway

at the same time. today that same kid from jersey still is doing what he loves. he said, i never wanted to do anything but make people humble. thank you, jerry, for doing just that. very humbling. jerry herman wanted to make people hum, bill t. jones wanted to open their eyes and make them move. the youngest of 12 children, bill's parents were migrant workers, poorer than poor, who made a living picking fruits and vegetables up and down the east coast. early on bill struggled to find his identity in a segregated world where he often felt like he didn't belong. then he began to dance. still like to say a good dancer has arts, guts, strength, intelligence and personality and he's been blessed with plenty of

each. as the co-founder of the bill t. jones artisan and dance company, bill has won widespread acclaim and artistic success in the hyper competitive world of modern dance, all while battling poverty and home phobia and racism. his unique performances have always been productive, challenging audiences to confront important issues in a way that's a once captivating, agitating and extremely personal. to date he's created over 140 works on subjects ranging from terminal illness to abraham lincoln, securing his place as one of the most decorated and controversial choreographers of our time. and through it all bill has never compromised a sense of purpose or lost his ability to inspire others to greater heights. i'm not afraid to stand up, bill once said. i'm not afraid to be looked at. making my art is a way of saying to people, gay people, hiv people, that life is worth it. and for that we are forever

grateful. bill t. jones. [applause] now, there's not a lot that i can tell you about our next honoree that you don't already know. i can tell you he's become something of a regular here at the white house. we decided we would just give him all possible awards this year. so this summer paul mccartney was here to accept the gershwin prize for popular song. it was a thrill of a lifetime to hear him sing "michelle" to michelle. although apparently paul joked afterwards he was worried he might become the first guy ever to get punched by the president. i will say he was a little emotive.

i can't afford another one. you have nothing to worry about. i just recovered from my last tussle on the basketball court. so tonight i'm pleased once again to honor a man widely considered to be one of the greatest song writers in history. paul first picked up a guitar at age 14 and soon it never left his side. homework went undone, my understanding is, comics went unread. he would play it in the bathroom. it wasn't long before he gravitated towards other young musicians who shared his passion, including a young man named john lennon. but when paul and his bandmates played their first set in a hole in the wall jazz club in england, expectations were still low. they thought they would be pretty big in liverpool. that band went on to change the way the world thought about music. their songs were the soundtrack

for an era of immense creativity and change, and when paul continued his musical journey alone after the beatles broke up, he would become one of the few performers inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame twice, as a beatle and as a solo artist. [applause] paul admits that the only possible explanation is supernatural. he says the most important ingredient to making a song work his magic. you have a melody. you have words. but on the most successful songs there's a sort of magic glow that just makes the song sort of roll out. we may not understand it, paul, but for the last five decades you have taken millions of fans on a pretty magical ride and i should point out that includes a whole new generation. when malia and sasha were here, remember, michelle, we went

upstairs and she said, that song "penny lane," that's a really neat song and she started trying to play it on the piano upstairs. so you continue to inspire. all of those years since liverpool. thank you. paul mccartney. [applause] and what can i say about our final honoree? michelle and i love oprah winfrey. personally love this woman. and the more you love oprah, the more spectacular you realize her character and her soul are and the more you appreciate what a wonderful, gifted person she is. it's easy to forget sometimes that oprah was once a girl with a funny name in a little town down south. back theven nobody would have ever dreamed that she would become someone who moves an

entire nation. each and every day. but the signs were there. after two days of kindergarten oprah wrote a note to her teacher that read, i don't think i belong here because i know a lot of big words. the teacher agreed and she moved on to the first day. and while she was working as a reporter in baltimore, oprah was told she was too engaged and too emotional about her stories. so the station put her on a talk show to run out her contract. that worked well. payback. that planted the seed for what would become the highest-rated talk show in american television history. oprah's gift as a host, as a producer, as an oscar nominated actress, has always been her ability to relate to her audience. to laugh with us, to cry with us, to draw us in and connect

our most fervent hopes and deepest fears to her own. the reason we share ourselves with oprah is because she shares herself with us. her childhood of abuse, her personal battles, her life as a woman, as an african-american, as someone who's determined to confront both great injustices of the world and the private struggles of everyday life. she has taught us to find strength in overcoming, to take a stand for ourselves and what we know is right. and she has shown millions of people around the world, people she probably will never meet, what it means to believe in the dream of your own life. oprah winfrey. [applause] so meryl haggard, jerry herman, bill t. jones, paul mccartney,

what's your name again? paul mccartney, oprah winfrey, their lives and hir stories as -- who's calling? or as diverse as any you can imagine. yet in their own way each of these honorees help us understand the human experience. to ruminate our past to help us understand our present and to give us the courage to face our future. being here with tonight's honorees, reflecting on their contributions, i'm reminded of a supreme court opinion by the great justice oliver wendell holmes. in a case argued before the court in 1926. the majority ruled that the state of new york couldn't regulate the price of theater tickets because an opinion of the majority, the theater was not a public necessity. they argued in effect the experience of attending the theater was superfluous. and this is what justice holmes

had to say -- too many people, he wrote in his dissent, let me start that over. to many people the superfluous -- it's this lisp. it's hard to say. you try it when you have had 12 stitches. the superfluous -- thank you. [applause] to many people the superfluous is necessary. the theater is necessary. dance is necessary. song is necessary. the arts are necessary. they are a necessary part of our lives. the men and women here tonight embody that idea. their work enriched our lives, it has inspired us to greatness. and tonight it is my honor to offer them the appreciation of

grateful nation. thank you very much, all five of you. god bless you. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, at this time please remain at your seats .

>> coming up on c-span, a look at the fcc net snuetralty rules on this week's communicators. then our interview with fox news analyst juan williams. and the president and first lady deliver the weekly radio address. >> a closing speech has an inevitable aspect of nostalgia. an extraordinary experience for me is coming to an end. but my dominant feeling is pride in the great privilege to be a part of this very unique body. >> search for farewell speeches and hear from retiring senators on the c-span video library with

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