please welcome secretary dale bonner. [applause] >> thank you. always good to be here, mr. mayor. i just had a few words. first of all, thank you to jose louis, not only for the kind words, but for his fortitude and steadfast leadership which has moved this project along over a number of years. i wanted to say thank you to him as an individual and the san francisco county transportation authority and all the local partners that have worked hard to get us here today. also, thank you to victor mendez, federal highway administration, u.s. dot, not only for the money, but for the partnership. butch, good to see you back on your feet again. these guys have been that almost every meeting of consequence on this, so the federal government has been very much engaged, working with us along the way. weasel -- we also want to acknowledge that come into my right. -- the gentleman to my right. before he takes off, he is a hard-working man. [laughter] this is just one of many complex and major projects that are underway in the bay area. i sleep better at night knowing that there are moving this