and carly thea as well -- carlita as well. thank you for being here. we're going to write history, not erase history. the tuckers learned their family history around the dinner table. that history led wanda here to angola a few years ago. she didn't know how to speak the language but that didn't matter. when she arrived, she said she felt something profound, like she'd come home. that was her comment to me. she called it the connection without words. ladies and gentlemen, i'm here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generations of angolans and american families like the tuckers who have served in government for -- i've served in government for over 50 years. i know i only look like i'm 40 years old. but i've been around. i hate to admit it. for 50 years. but not 50 years -- in that 50 years i've learned a lot. perhaps most importantly i've learned that while history can be hidden, it cannot and should not be erased. it should be faced. it's our duty to face our history. the good, the bad and the ugly. the whole t