these people give money, so please applaud. >> next, i would like to introduce betty yee, a member of 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 insuran

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

because of the efforts of norm and mike and your leadership today and my great colleague betty yee, at 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

we have so many of our state representatives here, betty yee and others from board of equalize conversationsere are so many of you here. i would spend all night announcing your names, but they didn't give me the full list. i will say thank you from our city from all of you from sacramento, from los angeles, from all the communities in-between, thank you for coming to our fantastic city to celebrate our asian pacific heritage month. it's my pleasure to also provide you with a warm welcome and thank you for somebody who worked on this idea to bring everybody here to san francisco, my very good friend and the head of apapa, cc yen. where are you? cc, when we first talked about this, we said that there had to be a place where everybody felt comfortable. there had to be a place where we could feel the excitement of all of our different asian american groups. we had to have a place where something wonderful had been accomplished and the leadership change, one that we never thought in our lifetimes, and by the way, as you know, i never thought in our lifetimes we would see an african-american presi