when i saw this opportunity to come here, i rushed over. this neighborhood is a great opportunity. i also wanted to have the opportunity to thank our congresswoman nancy pelosi. you have been so instrumental in helping to guide and identify these funds and in making sure that we do the right thing. every condition that the stimulus money has, in order that it is done right. this project does it right. last night, i joined over 400 volunteers throughout the city counting the homeless population. we have yet to have those numbers, but we know that is a serious effort to count the homeless and make sure that we know what we're doing, in terms of ending homelessness. we now have a government that has come out with its own end

homelessness program, and stimulus money with which to work. this housing is unique because it is supportive housing. it will have services attached to the housing. if you read the federal program, you will see, this is the core of the answer to ending homelessness, building this kind of housing to make sure we have those services attached with it. i enjoy this lovely group of people because not only are they building this housing, with all of these conditions, but as you can see around us, we have a workforce that is going to work. we aren't giving people the opportunity to go to work and we have the buildings, in the historical and careful fashion is done, and using $50 million of stimulus money again, i am so

thankful to our congress members for helping us to get this started. as you can see, lives will literally be changed because of this project. i guarantee you, congresswoman, that we will see this through for you and for us. thank you. [applause] >> i would now like to call to the podium one of the workers and beneficiaries of the stimulus fund, mark grayson. >> thank you. my name is mark graven. i am a carbon performing here on the site. i was asked to speak here because about a year and half ago, i did not have a job and did not have many prospects. my wife and i were living up the coast at fort bragg. a lumber mill closed, construction dried up. we made a choice to move back to

san francisco. i was lucky enough to be able to hire wion with cahill. thanks to projects of this, i can look forward to continued employment. i am very thankful for stimulus money. thank you. [applause] >> now i want to call another worker, tanya lewis. [applause] >> good morning. greetings to madam pelosi, the distinguished guests. i would like to start by saying welcome to 220 golden gate. it is under construction right now for the historical retrofit and restoration. this site has been going on for

about one year. we have another 18 months to go. this project was funded by the recovery act and reinvestment act, signed in 2009. however -- i am lost. i tried to come from the heart. i do not know if i introduced myself. my name is tanya lewis. i am a native san franciscan. i have a 10-year-old son. i also have 17 years of experience in the carpentry field. i truly believe that i represent the women in the work force. i am probably employed by cahill, a third-generation san francisco construction company. they have been very good to me, and i appreciate this opportunity. we need more work for the

future. we need to help the homeless. we need these clinics for their help. we need places for them to rest their heads so that they can have some dignity. thank you. [applause] >> it is now my honor to introduce the house democratic leader nancy pelosi. [applause] >> thank you very much for the invitation to be here today, from your leadership over the years. from the tenderloin neighborhood development corp., for this tremendous leadership. i am honored to be here with mayorl lee, phil ting, and i alo want to recognize our former mayor gavin newsom, who played a big role in making the pitch for this initiative, demonstrating unity in the community.

mayor lee knows about it from what he did before. he has already been to washington to appeal for funds for other projects that are worthy, in terms of meeting the needs of people, but also in terms of the importance of their national significance. listening to mark and tanya, we know they speak for the construction workers who are here about building this facility. but there also building a community because this will have an impact in the community, and they are also building lives. i think they see that in what they do. not only their own lives, but as was described, a continuum of care that is important. it is not only housing, which is significant. it is housing which respects the

dignity of every person. if you look at the renderings of what is to come, in its historic significance, it says to people twho come here, you will be treated with respect. when you look at the care that will be given to people that come here, it recognizes the diversity of our community. again, that will be more effective. we have two other special guests here. michael and ashante. they are learning in another way by not being in the classroom, shall we say? [applause] i want them to know a little bit of the history. you have heard it said, 1910? 1910 was when this building was created. at that time, the ymca was

synonymous with this location. now there is a need to address the needs of chronically homeless people. now we have in this transition of purpose but always a sense of community. two years ago, when president obama became president of the united states, he made his inaugural address and said, i want swift, bold action now. to address the needs of the american people. one week and one day after that speech, the house of representatives passed the recovery act. and then it became law in a matter of weeks after that. i tell you this because this was a bold, swift action that put resources out there to meet them at the natiothe imagination and,

and san francisco has always been a leader in terms of posing a model that is worthy of national support. so because of his speech, our swift actions, but most of all, because of the sense of community that city officials in san francisco saw here, and because of the ongoing leadership of the tenderloin neighborhood development corp., people's lives will be changed. when you hear speeches and wonder what is that all about? president obama's speech is now being translated into a better life for many more people who live here or receive services here. the recovery act is very important. it is part of a number of things that have been significant for san francisco, whether it is the transbay terminal or doyle drive, bayview hunters point,

working for what is happening on treasure island. all of it is about creating jobs, giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfillment. creating jobs, growing the economy, reducing our deficit, and taking us to a better place. all of that is about the future, and the future belongs to you. i wanted to let you know that you are directly linked to the speech that president obama made and you are directly linked to the difference it will make to the people who live here, and in fact, in a beautiful and historic way, something that we can be very proud of. it would mean a lot to the neighborhood, our city, and it is really very special for us that ashante and michael are here with us today. thank you. [applause] i do not know if they want to

say anything -- michael? >> how does everyone here feel about gun control? >> that is michael's project for school. we talked to michael earlier. he is writing a project on gun- control. the mayor and i talked about the importance of gun safety. sadly, in ashante's life, his mother had lost her husband in that regard. any time we make policy, we have to know how it translates into people's lives. san francisco has long been a

place where gun safety is important to us. ashante has something to say as well. >> i need to talk about what has been going on with the schools. jerry brown is opposed to making cuts, but i do not understand. when you are gone, we are going to be here and we are not going to know what we're doing. it does not make sense. >> did you two ever think about going into politics? maybe? ashante is absolutely right. nothing brings more money to the treasury than investing in education. any economist will tell you. that is an investment that pays

off, not only in terms of the lives of the people that receive the education, but also dollars to the treasury. as a personal issue, what it means to people, we must educate our people. if we do not, we are also losing money to the treasury. so it is also a practical matter. as president obama said, some of these cuts will result in making matters worse. i am not familiar -- i just at home last night -- with the particulars of what the governor is going to do. i know he is committed to the future. education is essential to innovation, as the president said, and most importantly, essential to young people reaching their aspirations. thank you for being here and bringing your thoughtful challenges to those of us in

government. i hope to see you in washington, d.c. some time. you will see the history of our country there, which we respect, but we talk about the future, and that is who wyou are. thank you, michael and ashante. >> will you come back when all of this is finished? when we have the ribbon-cutting. you will be taller. hopefully, the rest of us will not be shorter. let's thank our construction workers who are not only building this wonderful building, but they are growing in this community. thank you. [applause]

i just had to tell you about one other fact. i think it was touched upon. under the recovery act, $54 million in recovery act funds, this project will receive. $54 million through loans and direct support. it makes up nearly 60% of the total cost of the project. it will create 390 jobs toward construction and will result in real change in the tenderloin neighborhood. 174 units four chronically homeless people, a health and wellness center, support services for the residents and neighbors. don, are you willing to take any questions? >> governor brown's budget proposes massive cuts for the

social safety net. ms. pelosi, what do you think of that? is that a proposal that democrats can get behind? >> democrats and all americans must get behind reducing the deficit. with all that we owe our children in terms of their health, education, economic security of their families, we also owe them not to heat mountains of debt on them and limit their prospects as a community and society. so there has to be a way to reduce the deficit in the state and nationally. how you do that -- how you create a budget -- ashante -- a budget is a statement of our values. what is important for us should be reflected in how we allocate our money, our resources. on the federal and state level, there are big decisions to be made. you have to balance how we

invest in the future, create jobs, and reduce the deficit as we strengthen the middle-class. i have not seen many of the particular is, have not had a conversation with the governor about this since he released it. i understand the mayors have. the idea of eliminating the redevelopment -- i am sure the mayor will address that. this is the debate we must have. how do we state our values, act upon them in a budget, while recognizing that we must reduce the deficit? again, to not invest in education is to not reduce the deficit. it is a false economy, in my view. >> congresswoman pelosi is correct. as you know, i was one of 10 mayors throughout the state that met with the governor. we are beginning to understand

what his realignment details are on the budget, but more importantly, the lifeblood of a lot of our jobs, a lot of the new jobs in san francisco has been a result of the use -- responsible use of the redevelopment agencies. so you are talking about completing the other half of mission bay, where just last month, salesforce bought 18 acres of that area because they thought the redevelopment money we used for infrastructure was so attractive, they would invest their private money to build their work force down there. that has been the story of our redevelopment agencies, whether it is hunters point shipyard, the chalet block site, candlestick park, treasure island -- for sure, redevelopment money is being leverage. while there may be ideas about getting money out of places

where they have not gotten it before, be careful. the president said, be careful where you cut. redevelopment is not just about the money they have. it is what they are able to leverage in the private sector. they get 10 times what they put out. that could be used to revitalize our mid market, attract more businesses, keep companies like twitter in our town, as well as attracting new green and biotech jobs. it is about being careful and well thought out as we approach our values in the state and local budget. >> any other questions? [applause] again, we wish the governor much success. he has a tremendous job. we have one of the biggest budget deficits in the country. in fact, on the west coast, we

account for nearly one-third -- the pacific states account for nearly one-third of all states. one option is to let them go bankrupt. well, we cannot do that. so we need to figure out how we can go about this in a responsible way. it is a legitimate debate about government. >> [inaudible] we are watching what is happening in egypt right now, and i am sure people are thinking, why do we support governments that, in the end, do not support our interests? >> as you know, i have been a human rights supporter of life. whether it is human rights issues in china or wherever, while i believe in it, we have a

value-based policy that values human rights. if a country serves a national interest to us, it is a calibration that we have to make in our approach to the country. i think the secretary made some powerful statements. i, too, have said, tweeted, that they should be opening up communications, whatever means of technology they have shut down. they should open them all. none of us wants to see violence, whether in terms of protest or reacting to protest. it is of very interesting time and the people of egypt have to make their decision, and again, yes, that has been the history. we have tolerated more human

rights abuses or lack of pluralism -- tolerating another voice in the political system. look at china. >> iran. >> historically, yes, you could name many. the awareness of human rights is certainly intensified. but what is exciting is, a great deal of what has happened in san francisco, whether it is twitter, facebook, it has been a part of democratizing the world. people can communicate with each other in real time and act upon that communication to speak in large numbers about their personal freedom. some of these roads lead back to san francisco. i was proud also when the president had his conversation on youtube, san francisco bay

area young people were part of the questioning. we recognize communication is different than real time. it makes a difference. the communication of it to the rest of the world is important. we see not only is the egyptian government shutting down communications internally, but they have shut down some of the television coverage of what is going on there. >> [inaudible] >> i think the united states response is appropriately calibrated by the secretary of state in her comments about rejecting violence on any side, but especially by the use of force by the government, which has a heavyweight in all of that, and all sso , all of the communications, and to have something involved. it is interesting because the

government was saying it was the muslim brotherhood. they might be a part of it. it is a spontaneous -- the new media has made -- there has been a spontaneous outpouring of people without necessarily having any particular group lead the way. it is legitimate in terms of not one force in the community against another, but the people speaking out. there is so much that we don't know yet about what is going on. we will know a lot more by the end of the day, when this demonstration is finished. thank you for your interest in what is happening for the world and for your interest in our having a value space foreign policy. i don't think any of us have ever visited egypt without speaking to president mubarak about freedom of the press and the rest, as well as when he has

visited the united states. >> as a follow up -- [inaudible] can you speak out against violence and even in terms of [inaudible] [inaudible] >> let me and large the issue for a moment. as speaker, and before then, i

had the occasion to visit many countries in the world, in the middle east, and other places. africa -- the whole world. what i came back and said was, every place i visited, i met with women. i met with young people, not just leaders of the government. i came back and i said, you know, young people in the world are weary of war and weary of these oppressive actions. they see it as a way for governments to have an excuse not to create jobs and do the things that will make the future better for them. instead, it is a way for them to have a foreign enemy or a domestic enemy to consolidate their power. and, there are drastic cultural differences. so, what i would like to see, and president kennedy over 50

years ago -- not over 50 years, but nearly 50 years ago, he made a speech about the end of war. it is really ridiculous concept when you think of it. with all of the sophistication and communication that we have come and the rest, we would even be engaged in war, or that people could be valued -- could value the worth of another person because they are not in agreement with them. i think we have to take the debate to a much bigger place about the resolution of conflict, whether between nations are within nations, and the respect that all religions given for the dignity and worth of every person, and how do our attitudes and public policies support that and make it unacceptable and intolerable for any other actions to receive any accept ability. we have an interesting time. i'm hopeful. i have confidence in young

people. they think in a different way about these things. awhile back, we were not going to communicate with this country and that country. for young people, they were communicating in real time, across borders constantly, and sharing their impatience with the status quo. every time you think one more act of violence -- every time you think one more act of violence is going to end violence, you keep that we'll of violence going. it gives people the opportunity to say, let's talk. with that, i want to take us right back to where we are here. this sense of community, this respect for the dignity and

worth of every person by the housing they will receive, the care they will give, the reflection of -- we have our cultural differences. that is reflected in what is being done here. it is really a tribute not only to don -- we have had many groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings over time, but also to the members of the board, the private sector entities, financial services, whoever has been involved in this, we are grateful to all of you for making this day possible as well, and very proud of the over $50 million that is coming from the president -- from the recovery act. very honored that michael is with us today, as well as all of you. thank you all very much. [applause] we will be watching.