lost in the gloom of dust and ages. but today the rock cries out to us clearly forcefully. come you may stand upon my back and face your distant destiny. but seek no haven in my shadow. i will give you no hiding place down here. you created only a little lower than the angels, have crouched too long in the bruising darkness. have lane too long face-down in ignorance, your mouths spilling words armed for slaughter. the rock cries out to us today you may stand upon me but do not hide your face. across the wall of the world a river sings a beautiful song. it says come, rest here by my side. each of you, a bordered

country, delicate and strangely made proud yet thrusting perpetually under siege. your arm struggles for profits have lest currents of debris upon my breast. yet today i call you to my riverside if you will study war no more. come clad in peace, and i will sing the songs the creator gave to me when i, and the tree and the rock were one. before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow, and when you yet new you still new nothing. the river sang and sings on. there is a true yearning to respond to the singing river and the wise rock. so say the asian hispanic,

jew, african native american sioux, catholic, muslim, french, greek, irish, the rabbi, the priest, the sheik, the gay, the straight, the preacher, the privileged the homeless the teacher. they all hear the speaking of the tree. they hear the first and last of every tree speak to human kind today. come to me here beside the river. plant yourself beside the river. each of you accident end of some passed-on traveler has been paid for. you who gave me my first name. you pawnee apache, cherokee nation, row relationed with me, then forced on bloodied feet, left me to the employment of other seekers starving for gold. you the turk, the arab, the swede, the german, eskimo.

bought sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare praying for a dream. here, root yourselves beside me. i am that tree planted by the river which will not be moved. i the rock i the river i the tree. i am yours. your packages have been paved. lift up your faces. you have a pierces need for this bright morning dawning for you. history, despite its researching pain cannot be unlived. but if faced with courage need not be lived again. lift up your eyes upon this day breaking for you. give birth again to the dream. women, children, men, take it into the palms of your hands. mold it into the shape of your most private need. sculpt it into the image of

your most public self-. lift up your heart. each new hour holds new chances for new beginnings. do not be wedded forever to fear djokoviced eternally to brutishness. the horizon leans forward. here on the pulse of this fine day you may have the courage to look up, and out, and upon me, the rock, the river, the tree. your country. no less to midas, no less to you now than the masterson do not then. here on the pulse of this new day you may have the grace to look up and out and into your sister's eyes, and into your brother's face, your country and say simply, very simply, with hope, good morning.

[cheers and applause] >> in memoriam concludes tonight with actress and civil rights activist ruby dee who died this year at the ainge of 91. she was known for her roles in films like the jackie robinson story, and do the right thing. in 2004 she and her hess spoke at the democratic national

convention, paying tribute to civil rights pioneer fannie lou haymer. >> ladies and gentlemen, we now welcome back to the podium, mr. davis, accompanied by his wonderful wife, ruby dee. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, thank you. >> thank you. >> should we begin now? >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, thank you.

>> thank you. >> for african-americans in the south at mid century the injustices had become routine. >> if you were thirsty, you had to go to a water fountain for colored people and you had to hope that that fountain was working and it wasn't broken. >> if you needed a ride you had to move to the back of the

bus. and even if you could afford to travel by car you had to drive miles out of your way to find a who tell that would take you. long terrifying miles down dark country roads patroled by the local chapter of the klu klux klan. >> and you had to hope that the single bare light bulb in your motel room hadn't burned out. and if you went to school you had to get used to learning the same thing every year because your district had only one teacher. >> these were some of the experiences of millions of black people including one

woman named fannie lou haymer. born to a share cropping family in rural mississippi, she worked on a farm for the first 44 years of her life toiling under the injustices of jim crow. >> but when the civil rights movement came to her town, it stirred in her a desire for something better. and from that point on, from that point on something took hold of her. >> her life was anything but ordinary.

>> she endured harassments and physical threats. despite all that, she registered to vote. and for that, she lost her job. >> then they helped others register to vote. and for that she was arrested and nearly beaten to death on the jail house cell floor. >> but she pressed on. she became one of the founders, one of the leaders of a mississippi freedom democratic party. [applause] >> they came to the democratic convention in 1964 to protest the disenfranchisement of

african-americans and the absence of any blacks in the mississippi delegation. >> and there before millions watching on television, she spoke of her or deal -- ordeal. what she did, she gave a voice to all of us who wanted more, who dreamed of the possibility of better days. she reminded us of our basic values and our purpose, and she helped this nation find its way again. >> 40 years later we stand before the most diverse convention in the history of the democratic party. more african-americans asian americans, native americans,

and latinos are here than ever before. [applause] >> yes. >> fannie lou's single decision to stand up and be counted brought us here. >> yes. she guided us out of the wilderness of death threats and disenfranchisements, of lynching, and literacy tests, of segregation and second-class status. one woman from mississippi did this. one voice lifted so many all of us. >> so tonight we pay tribute to fannie lou! [cheers and applause]

>> we honor her courage her strength and her refusal to settle for anything less than what was right. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> coming up on c-span, the 2014 j.f.k. profiles in courage awards ceremony. then the white house reception for the kennedy center honore everyone s. and then the nobel peace prize ceremony from norway. >> on the next "washington journal," a look at the factors that could determine economic growth in 2015, including job creation trends, wages and legislative action. our guests are robert graboyes from george mason university and elise gould.

then freedman of the atlantic would be here to discuss global hot spots. "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 eastern, and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. >> the 114th congress convenience in a little over a week. here is a look at some of the numbers. republicans will have 247 members in the house, the largest g.o.p. majority since the 1928 elections. and there will be 188 house democrats. there will be 32 hispanic and latino members in the new congress. 29 in the house cons continuing of seven republicans and 22 democrats. three in the senate, new jersey democrat bob mells and two others. >> the 114th congress gaffe

else in this tuesday at noon eastern. watch live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate live on use. track the g.o.p.-led congress and have your say and events unfold on the c-span networks, c-span radio. new congress, best access on c-span. >> now the presentation of the 2014 j.f.k. profile in courage award. president kennedy's grandson presented the award in place of his mother. she was in japan. also honored this year, paul bridges, the former mayer in georgia. this part is to minutes.

>> he just drove in after finishing final exams, so he can officially say he is a senior at yale. some people after you take final exams, some worry about the result of those exams. it is yale. jack is not worried in the slightest about this. [laughter] when jack is not writing op-eds about our honor's for "usa today" and the hutching ton post, he writes for the yale herald and serves as a volunteer e.m.t. he is also our newest member of the profile in courage award committee. and like his grandfather, he is

shrinking violet. he let all of us know, including the chair, exactly what he thought about generational gaps, things in gender, diversity. very very helpful. [laughter] he has taken on his work with wisdom, with gusto. we are very fortunate that he is willing to serve. lebron james it is my great privilege to introduce the presenter of the 2014 profile in courage awards. [applause] >> thank you ken. if you ever want my criticism on anything, just give me the word, and i will be happy. on behalf of my family, i join them all in welcoming you all here today. my mother usually presents this award, and she would have loved

to be here today but i know she would like to say thank you in japanese. this has always been a proud day for my family, a day when we came together to celebrate my grandfather's memory, to hear stories from uncle teddy and to honor president kennedy's legacy of public service. he once said a nation reveals itself by the men it produces and men it honors. owe looked to the past to the men and women who made personal sacrifices for democratic ideals, human rights, scientific progress, love of country, for guidance and inspiration as he welcomed the of his day. we honor his memory by giving this award. we celebrate courage today in a moment of change and challenge, in a world gripped by patterson gridlock and inaction. all too often our political discourse punishes those who are brave enough to take

principled stands and attacked those. our nation has always needed courageous leaders to move forward. as president kennedy wrote, it is on nationals issues, on matters of conscience that the test of courage is presented. this award honors the politicians who have passed that test in our time. today we celebrate two courageous men, and we add them to the list of politicians who made difficult choices, and in doing so acted on behalf of the greater good information 2009, paul bridges knocked on every day when he ran for mayor of a town in georgia. he asked for votes because he wanted to make his town a fairer and more prosperous place. as mayor he face add tough choice when in2011 the georgia state legislature passed a low that threatened a local farming economy and threatened to separate undocumented parents

brothers and sisters. the law authorized document takes for routine traffic stops. it restricted access to public facilities and services for people without legal immigration status. bridges realized the law would separate families he knew, families that were part of the fabric of his community and that he would no longer be able to give undocumented neighbors and friends a ride when they needed one. he would have to break with his party and much his constituency to oppose a law he believed was june just. he summoned the courage to do what was right when he joined a federal law suit to stop the bill. it was -- this city became the unlikely stage for the national debate. bridges lost his support. rerockies became impossible.

when his term ended, his commitment to just and fair immigration reform did not. paul bridges courageous small town stand symbolizing the courage my grandfather admired. he wrote a man does what he must. in spite of personal consequences and dangesers. it is my honor to present the 2014 j.f. kennedy profile in kennedy award to paul w. bridges. [applause]

>> good morning. wow, to be here with people who people like me only see and read about and see on television. it is incredible. thank you for allowing me to be here. members of the award committee staff and distinguished guests, it is a privilege to be here with you. thank you for this moment. i want to thank my family and friends for being here in boston for this special day, especially my partner, rebecca and my three wonderful amazing children, paul cameron and leah. thank you for your support. i am truly humbled by this honor. frankly, i am still in disbelief. i haven't quite recovered from the shock of a young man calling me on my cell phone and telling me that he is president kennedy's grandson. [laughter] and i will never forget the intense emotion of that moment

when i realized the magnitude of what jack was offering me. to consider that a kennedy, a member of the family that my own family loved cherished, admired and respected called me forward to recognize me from among true heroes and courageous people. well, it just goes beyond my ability to comprehend. but i am here, jack. thank you. [laughter] i was 9 when president kennedy was inaugurated and when he laid down the challenge for generations to follow when he said ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. how incredible that me, the 10th child of 12, born to dirt poor farmers was chosen for this recognition. it just doesn't happen. we had a pot belly stove in the kitchen. as a young child, my daddy and

my family farmed 55 acres with two moulson. my chores were to feed the moulson and the hogs, and we had a single milk cow. butt. [laughter] we didn't have indoor plumbing or even running water. but we did have lively conversations, particularly about politics. daddy was a southern democrat, and would complain that it wouldn't do him any good to go vote because mama would be in the booth next to him killing his vote. we were poor but close-knit. i was a member of our high school's first fully integrated graduating class. i saw first hand our country's institutionalized racism. i witnessed the long-term damage caused by segregation. how fortunate that i have the experience -- that i have experienced the power and the richness that comes with the

diversity. it is good to know diversity. in 1999 i met mario living in a single wide trailer with a host of others, working in the onion fields and bailing up bynum straw. though we didn't speak each other's language at the time, we became friends and he remains my closest friend to this day. his youngest calls me grandpa. his older daughter is here with us. applause 13 years ago mario moved to the united states with his wife, a 4-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son. on their journey they were held locked in a basement on this side of the border with only the clothes on their backs. as a parent i could not imagine the terror of traveling through the desert separated from your young children. as with my parents before me, i

do understand the passionate desire to make a better life for my children and to make sure that they have a better education and better opportunities than i did. and that they are happy and free to be the very best that life offers to them. while i am honored to receive this award, i know in my heart that it did not take courage to speak the truth. just a profound sense of injustice and the willingness to speak up, and the knowledge that there are millions of others out there who feel the same way. this is all that i have really done, to speak up, to speak the truth about the unfairness of our current immigration system. i was asked to run for mayor in 2009. we completed three years of missing financial audits, installed new computer systems corrected the city maps, bought

beautiful street signs and many other long overdue improvements. the towns people revived the farm festival. for two great years, it was great. but that was to change quickly. when the red states began passing their own so-called immigration laws, i could see prejudice raising its ugly head. georgia passed the law h.p.-87 that created criminals out of ordinary people. some could be subjected to a year in jail. a son driving his undocumented mother to the grocery store could become a fell on. families suddenly found themselves contrary to the law. yes, i spoke out against georgia's new law. it did not feel courageous for me to tell the truth.

ghandi said each if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. after years of condemning the aclu -- [laughter] >> i must publicly apologize to them. [laughter] >> the law hp-87 that i called heinous because of its attack on families would not have been overturned if not for this dedicated group, this civil liberties organization. they now have my heart. shockingly, those attacks continue. my state will not allow undocumented students to attend select universities. even if an honor graduate has attended kind gart through the 12th grade in georgia if they are undocumented, they have to pay out of state tuition. now the talk is to not issue

birth certificates to the babies if the parents are undocumented. how can what i just say not just your conscience? there are two things i want to leave you with. first, how profoundly grateful i am that you bestowed this national honor, the nobel prize of public service on me. secondly, that we as a nation can no longer leave hard-working family-oriented god-fearing people to walk in the shadows, or to live in the terror of losing a loved one to deportation. we must allow those who put dinner on the table the opportunity of upward movement. we must find a way now. dr. king said, we will have to

repent in this generation, not merely for the words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. again, i want to say thank you very much, and it's a pleasure to see you and it's wonderful to be with you. thank you. [applause] >> in 1990 america needed a different kind of political courage with a national recession loming and a federal deficit that had tripled over the last decade and rose to $200 billion.

america needed responsible action from leaders in washington. president george h.w. bush immediated to make a difficult choice. in order to solve the problem he would have to compromise with congressional democrats and risk miss political future. he had promised americans no new taxes during the presidential campaign two years earlier and was voted into office on that promise. but he had also promised to serve his country. and he decided that that was the promise that he would keep. both parties compromised and passed the 1990 omnibus budget reconciliation act which raised the number of tax rates in exchange for limits on annual discretionary spending. the president who began the year with overwhelming approval rating ended with far less support and became the target of attacks from both side of the aisle. the budget deal enacted needed reforms at the expense of the president's popularity. america's gain was president bush's loss, and his decision to put country above party and political prospects makes l an example of a modern row file in

courage that is all too rare. we wish that president bush could be with us today, but we're so happy that lauren bush is here on behalf of her grandfather. she works as a c.e.o., creative director and cofounder of -- an organization that raise z fund and support for the united nations efforts to food school children around the world. it has provided 60 million meals to kids around the world. it is my honor to invite lauren bush lauren to accept the award on behalf of her grandfather george herbert walker bush. [applause]

>> thank you jack. thank you all. this is such an honor for me, my grandfather and my we'll family. i'd like to start by reading a short message from my grandfather. i wish to send my sincere thanks to the john f. kennedy library foundation and their selection committee for the decision they rendered that led to today's proceedings. i can only hope that the vote itself wasn't too excruciating or too close for the members. ( laughter ) i recall how shortly after leaving the white house the school district board where i used to live in mid land, texas decided to name the local elementary school after yours truly. after it passed by a landslide 3-2 vote -- ( laughter ) -- it was explained that the two dissenting votes were based on the fact that we normally only name things after dead people.

and age 89 and 7/8, let me assure you, your kind words really do mean a lot to me. and to receive this award with such an illustrious history and bearing such an illustrious name means more than i can tell. i'm sorry i cannot be there in person but a nasty rumor said that your menu promised a deconstructed study in broccoli. so i have gamely sent a special emissary to confront the floor its. thank you for remembering what our team tried to do all those many years ago. one thing is sure. even today at age 89 and 7/8 my gampy still has a zest for living. most of you have seen his crazy socks. more recently there was a

youtube video of him rapping to an m.c. hammer song. even if my grandfather is not quite sure what a home boy is, he loves that video. it is not hard to imagine how president kennedy, with his love of skinny ties ask passion for life would have shown much of the same style and panache had he been given the blessing of old age. of course, we are here to recognize and celebrate a singular act of political courage. nearly a quarter of a century ago when politics in our world were very different. i went back and looked at the circumstances surrounding the 1990 budget deal. and i was struck by the many challenges we were facing at that point in our history. that fall my grandfather had sent half a million troops halfway around the world to defend a tiny kuwait from a lawless and brutal invasion. meanwhile, he was also helping to engineer the reunification of germany that october, and

managed democratic reforms throughout central and eastern europe in ways that eventually led to the peaceful end of the cold war. on top of that, he was also the second president elected to serve a full term in office without party control in either the senate or the house. that made any progress domestically very difficult. candidly speaking, my grandfather did not want to raise taxes in 1990, but our constitutional system governance says that congress also gettings a say. and besides that, he felt he owed the american people action and results. compromise is a dirty word in washington today because we live in an age of the perpetual campaign. but once we get back to realizing the importance of actual governorrance i suspect this too will pass. while i'm at it a, my grandfather wishes to join new

recognizing mayor bridges and congratulating him for his much deserved recognition this year. the fact is reneed more political leadership and courage at all levels of government and we can all hope mayor bridge's personal example of standing on principle will inspire more elected finishes on both sides of the aisle. not lost on anyone, i suspect, is the symbolism of the grandson much a much admired president of the united states, conferring a prestigious award that is being accepted by the granddaughter of another president. perhaps the fact that we are brought together in this way and on this day to celebrate the ideals of public service with this honor, perhaps just maybe the torch is once again being passed. not from family to family, but from generation to generation. there is so much need in our world, there is so much hurt in our world. it is going to take all of us to meet those challenges. but fortunately we are lucky to

have had and to have leaders like john kennedy, like george bush, like barbara bush, i have to include her, i'd be in big trouble -- ( laughter ) and paul bridges. to inspire us and to help to lead us forward. so on behalf of my gampy, george h.w. bush, and our entire family i want to say thank you. thank you. [applause] >> now president obama hosts a reception for this year's kennedy center honorees, tom hanks, al green, lilly tomlin, patricia mcbride, and sting. from the white house this is 20 minutes.

>> al green. [applause] tom hanks. [applause] patricia mcbride. [applause] sting. [applause]

lily tomlin. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. [cheers and applause]

>> good evening, everybody. welcome to the white house. michelle and i love this event. everybody looks so nice. this is one of our favorites. and as lily used to say that's the truth. ( laughter ) now as president i cannot stick out my tongue. it might cause an international incident. but i want to start the evening by thanking david rubenstein and the kennedy center trustees and the kennedy center's new president deborah rutter. where is deborah? yea. [applause] i want to thank george and michael stevens who produced this event every year.

[applause] lately they won an emmy for it just about every year as well sox we are very proud to have them here, in fact michelle and i call this the steven season. president kennedy once wrote, the life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction in the life of the nation is very close to the center of a nation's purpose. it is a test of the quality of a nation's civilization. i think tom hanks will agree that president kennedy was probably envisioning joe versus the volcano when he wrote that. ( laughter ) although i have to say "big"

was on last night. and that -- [applause] so things balance out. but it's clear that the group on stage with me tonight understands what president kennedy understood. that our art is a reflection of us not just as a people but as a nation. it bind us together. songs and dance and film express our triumphs and our faults, our strengths, our tenderness, in ways that sometimes words simply cannot do. so we honor those who dedicated their lives to this endeavor. those who have tapped into something previously unspoken or unsung or unexpressed. those who have shown us not simply who they are, but who we all are. those who are able to tap in to

those things we have in common, not just those things that push us apart. i'm going to start with somebody who i know all of you think about when ever i sing, and that's al green. ( laughter ) i have been keeping his traditions alive. ( laughter ) look, no i'm not going to do it again, no. that was like a one-time thing. my voice didn't crack, it was a fluke. i can sing a little. but i cannot sing like al green. nobody can sing like al green. [applause] that soul, that light falsetto,

his music can bring people together in fact he says he can hardly go anywhere without a fan pulling up to him, pull out a picture of their kids and telling him which one of his songs helped that child enter the world. ( laughter ) i embarrass the reverend, he's like oh. al was born in forest city, arkansas, one of 10 kids in a two bedroom house. in his early 20's he helped bring memphis soul into the spotlight with songs like "tired of being alone."" let's stay together. ""take me to the river." ( laughter ) they're thinking about all those songs and how it brought people together. and in the 70's he became a pastor at his church in memphis and later started churning out a string of gospel hits that earned him eight grammies, and

as the years passed he's woven together his gospel and sowg careers, collaborating two roots, john legend and justin timberlake, and of course he's still singing from the pulpit on sunday. as he says, the greatest thing that ever happened to me, a little boy from arkansas, was that amid all the doubts i found peace. for the peace he found and the soul he has shared with all of us, tonight we honor the reverend al green. [cheers and applause] on the night of patricia mcbride's farewell performance at the new york city ballet, the crowd showered her with 13,000 roses. thankfully they cut the thorns off first.

and that is fitting, because when you hear about patricia you hear about somebody who is all rose and no thorn. legendary for her good cheer, her sweetness, her unabashed joyfulness that person al translated to the stage where her humor and grace was matched only by her power and stamina and incredible athleticism. she's one of the most versatile dancers we've ever seen. patricia became the principal dancer at the new york city ballet when she was just 18 years old, the youngest to ever hold that role and she kept at it for 28 years, longer than anybody else in history. by the time she was finished some of our greatest choreographers had written dozens of pieces just for her, which is not bad for a shy young girl who grew up in the shadow of world war ii putting glue on the toes of her dance shoes to make them last longer. he's the daughter of a single mom who worked as a bank secretary in a day when most mothers didn't work outside the

home. who pinched pennies from that job and paid the 75 cents for each dance lesson. today patricia hasn't forgotten where she came from. she and her husband, john pierre, are in charge of the critically acclaimed charlotte ballet which offers a program that gives dance scholarships to young people in need. so for sharing her spirit and her smile, in so many ways, tonight we honor patricia mcbride. [cheers and applause] in "nine to five," lily tomlin plays an under valued employee whose chauvinist boss steals her ideas and screams at her to get coffee. finally she and two coworkers get so fed up they kidnap him. they get to work changing the

office working moms get treated better productivity rises, the top brass are thrilled. it's basically a live action version of the working family policies i've been pro boating for years. [applause] we've sent dvd's to all members of congress. to try to get them on the program. that role has lily written all over it. it's edgy, a little dark, but fundamentally optimistic. she's created countless characters from earnes steen the telephone operator, to lucille the rubber freak, to eve devan the five and a half-year-old philosopher. all of them have eyeballs like lilyings all portrayed with

incredible warmth and affection like liy. she pushed boundaries as well. on her 1973 variety show, she and rich pryor ifed a skill called juke and oak, about two black folks hanging out in a diner. ( laughter ) one reviewer called it the most profound meditation on race and class that i have ever seen on a major network which says something both about lily and the major networks. ( laughter ) that was ad lib, by the way. ( laughter )

in her one-woman show, the search of signs of intelligent life in the universe written by her brilliant partner yain wagner -- jane wagner, lily played a dozen characters, transforming instantly into men, women, young, old crazy, and sane. and this versatility has led to a flood of awards, emmy's, tony's, grammy oscar nomination. she's just inches away from an egot and now she's a kennedy center honoree. when asked what she hoped her tribute on the would look like, shed said what i would like to see is a big treatment of gay artists come out as earnestine. ( laughter ) i haven't talked to -- i don't know whether this has been arranged, although i'd like to see it too.

but i can promise that your contributions to american stage and screen will live on, for her genius her compassion, for just being funny, we honor tonight lily tomlin. [cheers and applause] about 40 years ago a young singer songwriter named gordon some her was known to wear a yellow and black striped sweater, ever since he's been known by one name, sting. and not everybody can pull off a name like sting. but this guy can. his wife, trudy calls him sting, apparently his kids call him sting. ( laughter )

potus is a pretty good nickname. but let's face it, it's not as cool as sting. ( laughter ) i kind of wish i was called sting. i'm stuck with potus. ( laughter ) but everybody knows that sting is more than just a name. he is an all around creative force, he's a singular voice on classics from the police roxanne, every breath you take, every little thing she does is magic. his incredible solo career, the song writing that shifts between rock jazz, reggae and rhythms from around the world, he's acted in films, he's stopped -- topped the classical charts, just opened a musical on

broadway. once turned down the chance to be a bond villain. who does that? sting, apa apparently. ( laughter ) look at him, he's too cool right? because just being a celebrity was never sting's goal. he's a man who comes from humble roots, he's the son of a milkman and a hairdresser. when he was a child he was so tall that his classmates called him lurch. they regret that now. ( laughter ) that's payback right there. he's here. you, who ever you are, you're out there. [applause] before he had any success as a singer he had worked as a

teacherrer a construction worker, and in a tax office. and if a few things had gone differently we could be living in a world with a really hip cool tax clerk named lurch. instead we've got sting. artist, truth teller, champion of human rights and a champion of our environment, and for all those reasons, and the fact that his music is spectacular and beautiful, for all those reasons tonight we honor sting. [cheers and applause] one of four kids in his family and concord, california, tom

hanks once said his idea of a good time growing up was to take a bus to sacramento. ( laughter ) in the years since, tom has flown a rocket to outer space he's fault en in love with a mermaid, he's faced down somali pirates, mooned the president of the united states. i'm glad he got that last one out of his system before this evening. ( laughter ) tom's career began like so many hollywood legends, dressing in drag for a show called bosom buddies. kung few fighting the fons on happy days. big hits like big and splash. i did watch "big" last night,

that's a great movie i love that movie got kind of choked up at the ebb. as the years passed he told us there's no crying in baseball life is like a box of chocolates he told houston, we have a problem. and as a cartoon cowboy he showed us we can always keep our faith in a little boy. but tom isn't known simply for his characters, he's known for his character. for his tremendous support of our veterans. he's in the army ranger hall of fame. for his support of the space program, he has an asteroid named after him. through tom we've seen our world war ii heros not simply in sepia tone somewhere in the distance, but as they truly were, gritty, emotional, flawed, human. through tom we saw the courageous faces behind an aids epidemic often overshadowed by stigma and bigotry. through tom again and again we've seen our passion and our resolve and our love for each

other, as his friend steven spielberg once said if norman rockwell were alive today he would paint a portrait of tom. people have said that tom is hollywood's every man. that he's this generation's jimmy stewart or gary cooper. but he's just tom hanks. and that's enough. that's more than enough. for that we honor him tonight. mr. tom hanks. [cheers and applause] so, reverend al green, patricia mcbride, lily tomlin, sting tom hanks. charm, soul, spirit, spunk

they've helped us better understand ourselves and each other. and as president kennedy expressed they've helped us center our purpose as a nation. and together reflect the quality of our society. for that we cannot thank them enough. we are so glad to be able to celebrate these extraordinary people. thank you for everything that you've given us over the years. and for with a you're going to give us in the future. congratulations, god bless you all. please join me in saluting one last time our extraordinary kennedy center honorees for this evening. [applause] [cheers and applause]

>> coming up the 2014 nobel peace prize ceremony from norway. then a look at religion and politics throughout history. on the next "washington journal," a look at the factors that could determine economic growth in 2015. including job creation trends, wages and legislative action. our guests are robert graboyest and elise gould.

then uri freed man will be here to discuss global conflict spots that could threaten international stability in 2015. "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 eastern. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. >> the c-span cities tour takes book tv and american history tv on the road, traveling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. this weekend we partnered with time warner cable for a visit to austin texas. >> we under the private suite of lyndon johnson, this was the private quarters of the president and first lady. when i say private i do mean that. this is not part of a tour that is offered to the public. this is, this has never been open to the public and you're seeing it because of c-span's special access. v.i.p.'s come into this space just as they did in lyndon johnson's day, but it's not open

to our visitors on a daily basis. and the remarkable thing about this space is it's really a living breathing artifact. it hasn't changed at all since president johnson died in january of 1973. and there's a document in the corner of this room signed by among others the then archivist of the united states and lady bird johnson telling my predecessors, myself and my successors that nothing in this room can change. >> we're here at the 100 block of congress avenue in austin. to my left, just down the block is the river, the colorado river. and this is an important historic site in the city's history because this is where waterloo austin's predecessor was. it was just a cluster of cabins occupied by four or five families, and i'm standing at about the spot where the harold cabin was and this is where they

were staying when they got wind of this buffalo herd. so they jumped on hair horses, in those days it was just a muddy ravine that led north to the hill where the capitol now sits and the men galloped on their horses they had pistols and road into the midst of this herd of buffalo firing and shouting, and lamar, at what became 8th and congress, shot this enormous buffalo, from there he went to the top of the hill where the capitol is and that's where he told everybody that this should be the seat of the future empire. >> soon at noon eastern on c-span 2's book tv and sunday afternoon at 2:00 on american history tv on c-span 3. >> this year's nobel peace prize was awarded to kailash satyarthi from india and 17-year-old malala yousafzai from pakistan for their work fighting for the rights of children.

malala yousafzai is the youngest recipient ever. this two-hour ceremony from the oslo city hall in norway is courtesy of nobel media. >> this day december 10 is the day on watch alfred nobel died and it is also the international human rights day. december 10 this year is quite special. this year the focus is on the rights of the young people among us thanks to the two prize winners. they have already met several thousand norwegian children outside the city hall this morning.

for children and young people, are very important in the celebration of in year's nobel peace prize. every year since 1919 the peace prize ceremony has taken place in the oslo city hall and today as always the main hall is festive and ready to welcome international and national guests. the two nobel laureates, malala yousafzai from pakistan and kailash satyarthi from india, will receive their prizes for their fight against the suppression of children and for the right to education for every child in the world. 17-year-old malala yousafzai is the youngest recipient of the peace prize ever. she has already made a strong impression all around the world in her fight for the right of education for girls. in october in 2012 she was shot

by the taliban but not even this murderous attempt to stop her work for end indicating young people. kailash satyarthi is a children's rights activist who has won many prizes for his work. in 1987 he founded an organization against child slavery. today this organization has chapters in pakistan, bangladesh, and srilanka, and several thousand child workers have been set free thanks to the work of kailash satyarthi. the oslo city hall, as usual, makes a beautiful setting for the traditional ceremony. the flowers decorating the hall today are carnations, orchids and many others.

every year a norwegian artist is given the honor of designing the nobel diploma, which accompanies the prize. the artist this year is here among the invited guests today, naturally. and now, outside in the court yard the two laureates are arriving. they are welcomed as usual by the head of the nobel committee

and secretary of the committee. the prize winners have come directly from the royal palace where they have met the king and queen. the winners have a busy day today, with a full program. and also the other members of the nobel committee here to receive them. and now the nobel laureates have some moments before entering the

hall leaving their coats and getting ready for the important ceremony. there is already a close connection between the two recipients. they call each other spiritual father and daughter. and now they are signing the guest book of the city hall of oslo. now we're ready to welcome the prize winners into the hall, four trump iters from the royal navy band.

the first guests started to arrive about an hour ago and have had time to admire the norwegian art in the hall. here is the official norway on the left in the hall, prime minister and several other members of the norwegian cabinet. here are some of the artists to be presented tomorrow at the traditional nobel concert.

and so the families of the recipients recipients, malala yousafsai's father, mother, and brothers. hall, here is the fa mily of kailash satyarthi, also present. and now we're waiting for the procession with the recipients to come in. there are beautiful norwegian art examples in the hall.

the big painting dominates the world in the south. important happenings in norwegian history are depicted. on the other side of the hall, scenes from norwegian working life.

now the norwegian royal family are arriving at the city hall. it is an old tradition that the royal family's presence at this ceremony, again being welcomed by the leader and the secretary of the nobel committee. his majesty, the king, her majesty, the queen, and crown prince and princess are arriving. [bells ring] we hear the 49 bells of the city hall towers.

they play an important role in today's ceremony as they do in the daily life of the city of oslo. now the trumpeters are ready. [fanfare] their seats are in the front of the hall. more fanfare now for the royal family.

[fanfare] and now with the royals in their places, the ceremony can start. and it starts, has every year, with music.

[singing in norwegian]

>> your majesties, your royal highnesses, excellencies excellencies a conscience exists in the world that extends beyond all boundaries which is independent of religion, culture and social adherence. it says that children have a right to childhood, that children should go to school and not be forced to work. they should not start their lives as slaves of others. this world conscience can find no better expression than through kailash satyarthi and malala yousafsai. the dear nobel peace laureates a stronger expression of nobel's appeal for fraternity between nations would be difficult to

find except through you two. we are honored to have you here. [applause] congratulations.

[applause] the road to democracy and freedom is paved with knowledge. taliban and isil dislike knowledge because they know it's an important condition for freedom. attendance at school, especially attendance at school, especially by girls, deprives such forces. but nothing should be further from islam than using suicide bombs against their co-religionists or shooting at a young girl whose only demands was to be allowed to go to school. violence and repression cannot

be justified in any region. islam, christianity, judaisim, hinduism, protect life and cannot be used to take lives. the two whom we honor here today stand very firm on this point. they live according to what mahatma ghandi said. there are purposes i would have died for. there are no purposes i would have killed for. kailash satyarthi and malala yousafsai are not only behind the desk, but in practice. your majesties, your highnesses, ladies and gentlemen, kailash satyarthi's vision is quite simple, to put an end to child slavery. since he abandoned a career in

1980, this has been satyarthi's overriding aim. he has worked at several different levels to achieve it. at the grass roots level, he has achieved the release of some 80,000 children, sometimes in very dynamic circumstances. he has often been brutally attacked, it takes little fantasy to imagine the reaction when he and his co-workers go into worn-down factories in india to set the children free. powerful interests have profited from child labor that do not give up without a struggle. satyarthi himself has adhered to nonviolence.

the child laborers are not infrequently recruited by kidnapping, but are often also hired out by parent who is cannot manage their debts. enslavement through debts remains very widespread, not only in india, but also in many other countries. satyarthi insists that it is not poverty that leads to child labor, child labor maintains poverty, carrying it from generation to generation. school attendance releases people and young politics. satyarthi has developed a model for hard labor used children can be rehabilitated and educated. they must be provided with basic knowledge to enable them to

function as normal citizens rather than slaves. he has set up a number of different organizations with work both in india and internationally to fulfill children's rights. it is perhaps the most important instrument taken -- taking direct action to set children free. satyarthi's struggle is marked by inventiveness, established in 1994, now it is a striking example. it is an international consortium that exports rugs. by simple means it checks that the rug has not been made by child laborers, a network of inspectors have been set up to ensure that the system works. the children get to go to school and the adult workers earn a fair wage.

exporters and importers pay a small fee to keep up this system of inspections and controls. efforts are on hand to spread the scheme. on the 17th of january, 1998 satyarthi embarked on his biggest project, the global march against child labor. 7 million children and adults took part in this march which expanded many different countries and regions. the march ended up in front of the ilo headquarters in geneva. the following year, the convention was adopted and has currently been modified by 172 countries. no ilo convention has been ratified more quickly.

ilo conventions, 138 and 182 and the u.n. convention on the rights of the child now form the basis of the worldwide struggle against child labor and for education. but nevertheless much remains to be done. there are roughly at least 60 million child laborers in india alone. most of them in farming. so if the countries ratified the two ilo conventions, that would be a big step in the right direction. there are currently more than 68 million child laborers worldwide. in the year 2000, the figure was 78 million. in this as in so many other areas, things are thus moving in the right direction.

and often much faster than we think. satyarthi indeed believes that child labor can be more or less eliminated in his own lifetime. everyone here shares this hope. your majesties, royal highnesses, and ladies and gentlemen, malala yousafsai is the youngest peace prize laureate of all time. her story has become known all over the world. when she was 11 or 12, she began

to write a blog for the bbc about what it was like to live in the swat valley in northwest pakistan, under heavy pressure from the taliban and with only ambivalent support from the pakistani authorities. the schools periodically had to close, especially girls' schools. her vision was from the start, girls have a self-evident right of education. her courage is almost indescribable. we all know what happened on the 9th of october, 2012, when she was 15, a man climbed into the school bus and asked for malala. he fired shots at her, injuring her most severely.

her life was saved and she decided to continue her struggle for girls' education, although the taliban made no secret of her intention to try again. pakistan's population numbers nearly 200 million. 1/4 are between 5 and 16 years old. the constitution and he's all -- guarantees all children free and compulsory education. but nearly half of the 52 million do not go to school. a large majority of them are girls. it's not just taliban that seeks to keep girls away from school because schools have been built without walls, without running

water, and without toilets. and at least as important indoctrination is important of the skills and knowledge needed in order to cope in a modern world. the teachers too often only the -- lack the minimum qualification needed. we appreciate very much that pakistani authorities have praised the award of the peace prize to malala yousafsai. the best gift they could give her would be dramatic improvements in the country's education system. [applause] that would benefit the whole of pakistan, and, ladies and

gentlemen, few things provide a large economic and social -- social yield than investments in girls' education. this logic applies all over the world. the individual person at the center of all politics, the one that girls are excluded, are not a burden and not a threat to society. they present an enormous unused resource. here in europe, too, such lodger -- logic would work wonders. the problem is not that children or youth do not receive education or are obliged to work. far too many find nonuseful education or find no opportunities for work. we need to leave this negative situation and instead give the younger generation the hope,

which is probably the strongest defense against extremism. young people must be able to see into the future instead of being trapped by dark forces and dark sorts. ladies and gentlemen, while it is in the nature of extremism to create enemies and to divide the world into us and them, the laureates show us something else. a young girl and a somewhat older man, one from pakistan and one from india, one muslim, the other hindu, both symbols of what the world needs, mainly -- namely, more unity, fraternity between the nations that alfred nobel spoke about.

[applause] the laureates have underlined that if the prize can bring -- contribute to bringing indians and pakistanis closer to another, this would add an extra dimension to the prize and we all share this hope. ladies and gentlemen, we need people like satyarthi and yousafsai to show that it helps to fight. few have the courage to live according to mahatma ghandi's

principles who said, i accept only one tyrant in the world and that is still the small voice within me. we others have perhaps become too accustomed of hearing the voices of others, through social media or looking over economic interests or political interests. we often forget to listen to the voice that talks to us about justice. we should bear in mind, freedom and justice have never been ceremonial. so your majesties, royal highnesses, ladies and

gentlemen, we live fortunately in a world that avoids all the violence and extremism we see around us. -- despite the violence and extremism we see around us, it is marked by an increasing humanity. james baldwin put it like this -- the people who once walked in darkness, are no longer prepared to do so. this has become an irrevocable part of our awareness, and people like malala yousafsai and kailash satyarthi have brought us there. so dear nobel peace laureates, i cannot explain how much i have

struggled to find the right and the best words to say how much the norwegian nobel committee admire you. i will only say this at the end. you will for all the future be two new jewels in the history of the nobel peace prize, the role of campaigning and struggling people, people that had created the global conscience of which we can all be bearers. the call for freedom and justice, and the most important thing is to set children and young people free. thank you for your attention. [applause]

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♪ [singing in a foreign language]

♪ [singing in a foreign language] ♪

[singing in a foreign language] [applause]

>> your majesties, your royal highnesses, ladies and gentlemen, now i call upon kailash satyarthi to receive the gold medal and a diploma. [applause]

and now, i call upon malala yousafzai to come forward to receive the gold medal and the diploma. please come forward. [applause]

[applause]

[applause] ♪

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[applause] >> your majesties, your royal highnesses, ladies and gentlemen, now i call upon the noble peace prize laureate for 2015, mister kailash satyarthi please come forward to give your lecture. [applause] [speaking in a foreign language]

>> your royal majesties, royal highnesses, my dear daughter malala, excellencies, sisters and brothers -- [speaking in a foreign language]

[speaking in a foreign language] [applause]

[speaking in a foreign language] [applause] [speaking in a foreign language] [applause] [speaking in a foreign language]

[applause]

>> friends, the noble committee has generously invited me to present a lecture. unfortunately, i'm unable to do that because i am representing here the sound of silence. the cry of innocence. and the faith of invisibility.

i represent millions of those children who are left behind and that is why i have kept an empty chair as a reminder. i have come here only to share the voices and dreams of our children. because they are all our children. i have looked into their frightened and exhausted eyes. i have held their injured bodies and i have felt their injured spirits. twenty years ago, in the

foothills of the mountains, i met a small child laborer. he asked me, is the world so for that it cannot give me a toy and a book. instead of forcing me to take a gun? or a tool? i met a sudanese child soldier. he was kidnapped by an extremist militia. as his first lesson, he was forced to kill his friends and family. he asked me, what is my fault?

12 years ago a child's mother from the streets of columbia was trafficked enslaved, rate. she said, i have never had a dream. can my child have one? friends, all the great religions teach us to care for our children. let the children come to me. do not hinder them for the kingdom of god belongs to them. the holy koran says -- kill not your children because of poverty. friends, there is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children.