 Congress of the United States awards an American with this gold medal, and that American's contribution to his country must have been extraordinary to merit such an award. And in the case of Fred Waring, extraordinary is exactly the word to describe the man and his achievements. Fred has sometimes been described as the man who brought America out of the same. But even that description can't begin to relate the impact his talent and his patriotism have had on American life and culture. Fred is a show business legend. He's been successful in movies, radio, recordings, Broadway, television, the concert stage, and I know he won't mind my mention in the early days in vaudeville. One of his first auditions was in 1920 for Thomas Edison. He began an extraordinary career that included recording thousands of songs and writing hundreds of songs himself. Besides his theme song, Night Year Music, he's also included dozens of patriotic songs like his beautiful My America. Fred's achievements in the choral music field are well known, of course, only one reason why he's considered among America's most prominent music educators. He's still conducting a choral music workshop every summer to foster better singing and choral techniques. His accomplishments go on and on. I couldn't mention all the radio and television shows or the concerts. During the 60s and 70s, for example, he traveled more than 40,000 miles a year. In fact, next March, Fred will celebrate his 69th year in show business. That's a record virtually unequaled in the entertainment world. Fred, there isn't time to describe all your accomplishments and talents. Come to think of it, I haven't even mentioned the wearing blender. Let me put it this way, through your hard work and success, Fred, you've had an extraordinary impact on our nation. You've always been generous with your time and talent when your country called. You've been a devoted father and husband. You've given accomplice millions the thrill of good music and taught many thousands more the techniques of the music arts. So today, on behalf of this nation, which you love so much and the millions whose lives you've touched, I want to say what they would if they were here. I want to thank you and present you the honor of your patriotism, your talents, your generosity and kindness with this gold medal. How do I feel? You must know. Mark, I've just taken off on a space journey. I know now about weightlessness and speed. I can't beat the core. If my joy and pride are not clearly visible, and I hope they will be distinctly audible as I recite to you the lines of my love song to America. America, what a beautiful word. Surely no one has heard a more beautiful word than America. America, what a beautiful land. Such a glorious, hauntingly beautiful land as America. What do I see in America? A free and marvelous country, like a great masterwork of art. What do I hear? I hear music of faith and of love pouring out from every heart. My America, true devotion I bow. Let me fly my flag and proclaim other shamelessly here and now. I love you, America. I love you, I love you, America. So glorious, so marvelous, so beautiful. Indescribably beautiful, from sea to shining sea. I greet all of my dear friends from California to Vermont, from Florida to Minnesota. And my lovely family, five of whom are here. My inspiration, Virginia, has been quite ill and unable to join in but she does send her love. Bless you all and again thank you. Jefferson on it. You might be suspicious coming back home, but if you will go... That's real. Do say it right here. Hold on to it. All in. It's to see you. See you later. We were fellow alumni, General Electric. Good bye. President, how are you, sir? Good to see you. Good to see you. My pleasure. And Mr. Michael Gardner. Hi, how are you? President, how are your ambassador down in Nairobi? Yes. Well, I'm pleased that you've come down. So I'd like to congratulate you. You are the first American director of the Intel set. Thank you. Very proud and very happy. Well, I'm pleased with that, Mr. President. It's 20 years ago that the U.S. took the initiative. Shared its technology. And I think we have 108 countries that are very appreciative. 108. It's not like UNESCO and the others. It works. Well, bye, Gary. I do congratulate you. Thank you. Wish you well. Thank you. Why don't you move in? It might not be good. Mr. President, you know the Soviet response to Intel set is now only 13 nations large. So we have really displayed through sharing a technology superiority to them in this important area of satellites. That's great. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Just a souvenir. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Have a nice night. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Dr. Fowler and Mrs. Fowler. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Good afternoon, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. President, Dr. Turner also. Oh, how are you? Good to see you again, sir. Since you're a lifetime member of our Lions Club, I'm delighted to be able to present you here. Excuse me. I put energy around this. It's a pleasure to hear from Lions International and our appreciation for all the help that you've given us over the years. Well, I thought I was just going to have an opportunity to thank you and Lions for all that you're doing and for the program, helping the blind, helping the handicapped out into the jobs and to work. Nancy, we're here to say thanks for what you're doing in the field of drugs. Well, I wish she was here because I'd like to invite our good lion, Mr. President, and his wife to be at the International Convention in San Francisco and allow me to present to her the Humanitarian Award this year for Lions International. When you were in Fort Smith, Arkansas, there was this artist who painted this portrait and this is her card. She sent you a big picture today of the Arkansas Wildings and got broken in the airplane. We're going to try to have it repaired, but she also sent this photo of you and you saw her when you were making the trip in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She's a very renowned artist. She wanted to send that photo to you. She sent a beautiful painting, and we just had a picture of it. It's our whole painting. We're going to see if we can get it repaired. Well, thank you, sir. Lions here will deliver this. How you doing? Well, we have some penises here. Oh, thank you. We would love to have you with us. It'll be July. It's the last day of the week. If you're down there, you need to change the date. I'm flexible. I'll change the schedule a little bit. I'll see that you can do it. Well, I will hope that I can because I relish anything that gets me back to California. Oh, yeah. Well, we don't have 40,000 people there. All right, good. That'll be good. I'm a glare. I'm going to say that. This is Ireland. This is Ireland. It wasn't nice to see you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. I appreciate you having us over here. It's quite an honor. Pleased to see you again. Yeah, it was a little while ago. I'd like to present you with this book that I did about my experience in the hospital after I was wounded. And thank you for your help with the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program for your support. And especially thanks for what you've done for us veterans. It's helped us bolster our ego a lot, especially in all we have behind us, especially disabled veterans. Well, I thank you very much. And I'm greatly honored. I think you've made it out that the courage doesn't end when the battle stops. It's been a way for thousands of Americans up to this point in our history. I think some people have forgotten about it. It's indicated that someone's been of great help to you and great inspiration. An awful lot. He's given me a lot of strength, too, though. Why don't we turn around here and get out? I'm just giving me a good kick when I need it, especially, sir. And I appreciate it. I hope to get over to Lebanon and see you. Well... I'm very, very glad to meet you. Well, glad to meet you. And I brought you a small gift outfit you probably needed some. I brought you some nanosex. Some what? Nanosex. That's how far light or electricity will travel. A billionth of a cent. Thank you very much. And that's what gets into our computers and messages, isn't it? Well, thank you very much. You really need it, sir. You know, I know I'm going to have a chance to congratulate you on something. Thank you. For the moment, sir. When do they go away? I'd like to ask you this. Not for me. Well, come in. Hello, Mr. President. How are you? We're here for a little ceremony. We have a little swearing-in to you, Mr. President. Can you put these down? What I want to ask you to do is please make representative and raise the men who have they should have gotten in October but it was delayed to January. We should have. Yes, we do. Hello there. This is Karen. Hi, my name is Maree. I'm Mr. Noel. This is Karen. Hi. I wouldn't believe Jennifer in Wolfboro when she said she was coming here. Jennifer is from Wolfboro in the Hampshire. Here you are. We'll make sure that you have a picture to prove it to. Yes, because you teach you didn't believe her. Grace, if you could raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Grace Mary Hopper. I, Grace Mary Hopper. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support and defend. That I will support and defend. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I take this obligation freely. That I take this obligation freely. Without any mental reservation. Without any mental reservation. Or purpose of evasion. Or purpose of evasion. And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties. And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties. of the office on which I am about to enter. For the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. So help me God. Now, congratulations, John. The music is very, very, very good. Glad you had a sunny day for us. What's that? We're glad you had a sunny day for us. Oh. We're tired of the rain. We're tired of the rain. I'm glad Jennifer said shake hands with you. Yes, she did. I'm glad you had a sunny day for us. We have to get a picture of this. Because Jennifer is going to tell the future generation. This, Mr. President, if you could present this, your commission to Commodore. Now I won't call you Captain. I'll call you Commodore. You suppose my great-grandfather, who was a rear-end woman, is rolling over in his grave? He's probably sitting up very proud. I don't think he thought of women alone. Well, that was just the trouble of being born too soon. Very grateful. Well, thank you very much. Please have a take place here in the office. Thank you. You can do this a little part of it. Thank you, Mr. President. Would you like to have one more picture? I'd be more than happy to have a picture of this. Yeah, you have to have Jennifer's teacher's picture. It is. Sorry. You can see that those are getting their phones. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you, lots. Good to see you. You don't hear that right now? No. I know it'd be good to have you here. Yes. Can I have the editor? Very nice to meet you. Congratulations. You're all on a hundredth anniversary. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Good to have something in this office that's older than I am. Oh, we're thrilled to give you this bound volume. And we're delighted that you're sharing this celebration with us. And it's a unique issue, not only because it's our centennial. It's the only issue in our history that both the President and the serve has a more color. And neither needed much editing. So we think it's a first in journalism, as well as in journalism. Thank you very much. You're really welcome. Yes, thank you very much. That's all that's going on behind you. Yes. We'll all share our bicentennial together Saturday. Thank you. Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you again. Bye-bye. My fellow Americans, in just a moment we'll be lighting our national Christmas tree, continuing a wonderful tradition that was started by President Coolidge 60 years ago. I know there's a special feeling that we share when we push the button lighting up that tree. It's as if each one of those twinkling lights sends a new spirit of love, hope, and joy through the heart of America. And of course the brightest light of all is the star of peace, expressing our hopes and prayers for peace, for our families, our communities, our nation, and the world. On behalf of our fellow citizens, Nancy and I would like to thank all of you on the ellipse who have given America such a beautiful Christmas present, the 1983 Pageant for Peace. Christmas is a time for giving. We reach out to family and friends. I hope we'll also open our hearts to those who are lonely and in need, citizens less fortunate than ourselves, brave soldiers working to preserve peace from the tip of Alaska, to the shores of Lebanon, to the DMZ in Korea, families maintaining a constant vigil for their missing inaction, and millions forbidden the freedom to worship a God who so loved the world that he gave us the birth of the Christ child so that we might learn to love each other. I know they would welcome your expressions of love and support. Many stories have been written about Christmas. Charles Dickens' Carol is probably the most famous. Well, I'd like to read some lines from a favorite of mine called One Solitary Life, which describes for me the meaning of Christmas. It's the story of a man born of Jewish parents who grew up in an obscure village working in a carpenter's shop until he was 30 and then for three years as a preacher. And as the story says, he never wrote a book, he never held an office, he never had a family, he never went to college, he never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompanied greatness, while still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away, one of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While he was lying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property that he had on earth. When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone, and today he is the centerpiece of much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon earth as powerfully as this one solitary life. I have always believed that the message of Jesus is one of hope and joy. I know there are those who recognize Christmas Day as the birthday of a great and good man, a wise teacher who gave us principles to live by. And then there are others of us who believe that he was the Son of God, that he was divine. If we live our lives for truth, for love, and for God, we never need to be afraid. God will be with us, and he will be part of something much larger, much more powerful and enduring than any force here on earth. Now tonight, I have a very special person here with me to spread our Christmas joy. Her name is Amy Benham, and she comes all the way from Westport, Washington. Amy recently wrote the leaders of a public-spirited project named Make a Wish and said, the Christmas tree that lights up for our country must be seen all the way to heaven. I would wish so much to help the president turn on those Christmas lights. Well, Amy, the nicest Christmas present I could receive is helping you make your dream come true. When you press the button over here, we're going over there, the whole world will know that Amy Benham lit up the skies, sending America's love, hope, and joy all the way to heaven and making the angels sing. And now you and I will walk over so you can light the tree, and then after that's done, we'll all join in singing one of our favorite Christmas carols, Joy to the World. So let's go over here.