waste, fraud of pounds and make the finance more transparent and accountable to the public. so here is mr. chung. [applause] >> good evening. i will spare you what the distinguished counsel requested me to do which is sing for all of you. actually, mike honda and i used to go out for a k but he would go out and sing and i would stop and leave. this is a magnificent evening. we gather tonight in celebration of asian pacific heritage month. we take a moment to reflect upon our past to understand the heroic struggles, obstacles, hardships that so many people,

including this evening's tremendous honoree, the honorable norma neta had to overcome. this is a very special place. norm gave me the good fortune of putting my feet to the marble in the halls of congress, apapa, let me thank you, we'll give the opportunity for 20 interns this summer to place their feet on the halls of this city in sacramento, perhaps in washington, d.c. so that they can partake in the greatest democracy that has ever resided on this planet. now, this is also of tremendous significance as congressman alluded to, this is the home where people left when they came to this country and they headed to mining gold in california, when they had to leave the fields of california from farming and that applies not to just the chinese, but to

the filipinos and others. they set foot in san francisco. and generation upon generation of residents of san francisco had to endure the struggles and has made this city a very special place. that's why i'm so very excited about the leadership that presides over san francisco today. mayor lee, supervisor chiu, supervisor mar, supervisor chu and we had treasurer and also another county supervisor here with us. this ought to be a moment in which we celebrate the aspirations and the fact that we have risen to the governance of this country. and the fact that we have changed the opportunities. last night i had the opportunity to listen to an 86-year-old honoree at the

simon wiesenthal gathering last night. she had spoken about how her life was different and the opportunities that were denied because she was jewish. because of the efforts of norm and mike and your leadership today and my great colleague betty yee, at the board of equalization, asian americans today are not denied opportunities because of who they look, where they come from. we are aspiring and we are leading california and america in a new generation. what norm battled for all of us through the 20th century, we have an obligation to lead in the 21st century and as congressman honda provided, we are providing leadership in all areas that govern this country. technology, health, academia, commerce, art, entertainment, and government. today we must come together not

only in celebration but in acknowledgement of the work that lies ahead. we understand that this is now a global economy and the opportunities that confront and challenge us are ones that we can only surpassed if we come together. so we can win the future, as the president said, if we dream together. if we work together as a society, as an economy. the best is yet to come. so let me leave you with this last idea -- every moment affords us an opportunity to change the world. let's seize that moment and each and every moment that succeeds that moment and let's do that together in celebration of our asian pacific heritage and in recognition of all the heritage is that make up san francisco and california, and we will

truly ana this month our heritage and our future. thank you so much. you have done so much for every single one of us. [applause] fo >> ok. all right. we've got some competition on the stage now. >> look this way. a couple of other people we need to thank -- our host is a mere -- our host is mayor lee, but we have a bunch of coast as well. supervisors mar, farrell, kim, elsbernd, wiener, chiu, cohen,

avalos. round of applause for our coasts, please. our even a chair. -- our event chair. [reading names] >> all right. thank you. >> thank you. round of applause. these people give money, so please applaud. >> next, i would like to introduce betty yee, a member of the california state board of equalization, and the 2014 candidate for controller.

>> good evening. as we celebrate the contributions of some very, very important figures in our history who have contributed to the development of our country, our stage, this great city, and as we honor the achievements of congressman mineta, the ongoing contributions of congressman hunter, and our own mayor, ed lee, in san francisco. each of us could not be doing the work that we are doing, that we have done without the doors of opportunity having been opened for each of us.

so we're making sure that we are developing the leaders of tomorrow as part of the integral programs of leadership development and civic engagement. the internship program is designed to prepare college students to become our future leaders by providing our interns with the opportunities to work with government agencies, they develop their leadership skills, gain public policy experience, and broaden their civic engagement. the insurance selected have demonstrated a dedication to the community, and they will continue their engagement by working professionally with their peers and mentors. learning and workshops to enhance their leadership skills, and for dissipating in community service projects. we thank the local, state, and federal law offices for hosting in turns, and we thank the elected officials for their continued leadership and for opening the doors for mentoring

our new leaders. please join me in congratulating and welcoming the internship class of 2012. will the intern's please join me on stage? [applause] they are --mayor, will you join us for a photograph, please?

>> thank you very much, ladies

and gentlemen. one more round of applause to the interns. [applause] if you look around you tonight, you will see poster boards celebrating, acknowledging the first asian-americans to do certain things. we have the first asian-american actress in hollywood, the first asian-american nba player, the first members of congress. these interns are the future of our community. these interns are the reason why we are here today. but we are also here to celebrate and recognize one of the greatest members of our community. this year is the first year we

are giving the lifetime achievement award. it is going to secretary norman manetta, who is receiving this award for many reasons. he is a trail blazer, a man who paved the way for many of us who followed. he was the first asian american mayor of a major city. i'm sorry, mayor lee, but you are coming in third now. he was elected to congress 10 times. he was the first to serve two presidents in the cabinet. it was on 9/11 that he showed us what he was made up. when those planes hit the twin towers, it was secretary mineta

who made the call to ground all the planes. he instituted a policy that tsa is following today to ensure that our skies are say. after 9/11, he prevented the profiling of arab-americans and muslim americans in our country. tonight, we honor him and give him this back for a very special reason. i want to thank the san francisco giants for donating a bat autographed by hall of famer orlando said payton. the reason why we are giving thisbat to the secretary is because of what happened to him when he was a young boy. like hundreds of thousands of other japanese-americans, he was forced to relocate into the internment camps. as a young boy, the secretary

was taken to the train station by military police officers. as a young boy, he was a huge baseball fan, and he had his prize possession with him -- his baseball bat. the military police saw the young boy with his baseball bat and said, "you are not taking that with you. that is a glut in." they took away a young boy is prized possession. later on as a member of congress, a generous person hurt the story and offered him an autograph- aaronbat -- hank aaron bat. as a member of congress, you are not allowed to except his worth more than $200, so the government took away his bat again.

we cannot replace what was taken away from the young boy, but we do give him something we hope will take its place just a small bit. ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the first ever recipient of the life achievement award for services rendered to the asian-american community and services rendered to our nation. i give to you, secretary mineta. [applause] >> i cannot think of a more appropriate gift tonight than to recede this -- receive this bat.

i want to thank everyone for co hosting this event tonight. all of us who have had the privilege of serving in public service have gotten to that point because we were standing on the shoulders of those who preceded us, and i want everybody here, young people, to remember that whatever they do in the future, bring everything you are and bring everything you want to the jobs you are going to be doing. there are tremendous opportunities that are out there. asian pacific american heritage week is a time for all of us to be able to show the majority community what we are capable of

doing, and it is also a time when people in the asian- pacific american community are learning about each other. many people say that the united states should be a melting pot, and i do not believe in the melting pot theory. when you have a melting pot, you put all of the ingredients into the bowl, stir it up, and everybody loses their identity. in the asian pacific american community, there are over 150 languages, religions, cultures, everything you can think of, and we do not want to lose that identity of our own history, regardless of where our forefathers have come from.

i want everybody to be proud of the language of their forebears, the religion, the history, the culture, the art. again, i do not want us to lose our identity in the community in this great nation. again, thank you very, very much for great leadership, to the board for this wonderful gift bestowed upon me, and let's go ahead and continue to hit the ball out of the ballpark. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we are

going to bring up our founded to say a few last words, but before he speaks, we would like all the previous speakers to come up for a photo with the board, so if the board members could please come on up. it is the hard work of these board members that make any event like this possible. without their hard work, none of this would happen, so we are going to do a quick picture and then say thank you to everyone. we are also going to ask the board of supervisors to please come up.

we would also like to ask for the judicial officers in the audience to come up as well. also, if you are a sponsor, please come on up.

all right, we are going to have our founder speak a few words and thank everyone. ladies and gentlemen, we are going to start our cultural program afterwards. food will be served in the four quarters as the program is going on. >> thank you very much for a great presentation. let's give two hands to everyone. thank you. a special hand to organizers and i want to thank everyone for coming here and celebrating

heritage month, and a special thanks to the statewide leaders. some are here, some are not, but -- let's see, where is my -- ok, well, again, enjoy the rest of the celebration and have a good time. take care. thank you. >> ladies gentlemen, i would also like to give a round of applause to our mc tonight.

>> everyone deserves a bank account. in san francisco, anyone can have a bank account, things to an innovative program, bank on s.f. >> everyone is welcome, even if you are not a citizen or have bad credit to qualify for a bank account is simple. just live or work in san francisco and have a form of id. >> we started bank on s.f. six years ago to reach out to folks in the city who do not have a bank account. we wanted to make sure they know they have options which should be more low-cost, more successful to them and using chat catchers. >> check cashing stores can be found all over the city, but they're convenient locations come with a hidden price. >> these are big.

>> i remember coming in to collect -- charged a fee to collect a monogram. >> people who use check catchers, particularly those who use them to cash their paychecks all year long, they can pay hundreds, even a thousand dollars a year just in fees to get access to their pay. >> i do not have that kind of money. >> i would not have to pay it if i had a bank account. >> bank accounts are essential. they keep your money saved and that helps save for the future. most banks require information that may limit its pool of qualified applicants. encouraging to turn to costly and unsafe check captures. >> i do not feel safe carrying the money order that i get home. >> without a bank account, you are more vulnerable to loss, robbery, or theft.

thankfully, the program was designed to meet the needs of every kind, so qualifying for a bank account is no longer a problem. even if you have had problems with an account in the past, have never had an account, or are not a u.s. citizen, bank on s.f. makes it easy for you to have an account. >> many people do not have a bank account because they might be in the check system, which means they had an account in the past but had problems managing it and it was closed. that gives them no option but to go to a cash -- check catcher for up to seven years. you want to give these people second chance. >> to find account best for you, follow these three easy steps. first, find a participating bank or credit union. call 211 or call one of our partner banks or credit unions and ask about the bank on s.f. account.

both -- most bridges will have a sign in their window. second, ask about opening an account through bank on s.f.. a financial partner will guide you through this process and connect you with the account that is best for you. third, bring some form of identification. the california id, for an id, or your passport is fine. >> now you have open your account. simple? that is exactly why it was designed. you can access your account online, set up direct deposit, and make transfers. it is a real bank account. >> it is very exciting. we see people opening up second accounts. a lot of these people never had account before. people who have problems with bank accounts, people without two ids, no minimum deposit. we are excited to have these people. >> it has been a great partnership with bank on s.f.

because we are able to offer checking, savings, minimarkets, certificates, and loans to people who might not be about to get accounts anywhere else. even if you have had a previous account at another financial institutions, we can still open an account for you, so you do not need to go to a check cashing place, which may turn to two percent of your monthly income. >> you can enroll in free educational services online. just as it -- visit sfsmartmoney.org. with services like financial education classes and one-on-one meetings with advisers, asset smart money network makes it easy for you to learn all you need to know about managing, saving, investing, and protecting your money. the network offers access to hundreds of financial aid programs. to help their eruptions, fill out the quick questionnaire, and

you will be steered to the program you are looking for. >> who want to make sure everyone has the chance to manage their money successfully, keep their money safe, and avoid getting ripped off. >> it sounds very good. i think people should try that one. >> to find out more, visit sfsmartmoney.org or call 211 and ask about the bank on s.f. program. >> now you can have a bank account. open one today.

but the anniversary of the great earthquake was remembered.