dr. woody kesen is here to represent dr. c. everett coop, and thank you for being here. i'd like to thank and rec news my medical school mentor, the 16th surgeon general and all of the former surgeon generals for their work on tobacco nationally and internationally. every surgeon general since 1964 has weighed in on the issue of tobacco, and everyone has called for an immediate action to solve this problem. today's release is the 31st surgeon general's report on tobacco, preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults. and it reminds us once again that the burden of tobacco putting a heavy burden on a society. the report challenges us to end the epidemic of smoking among young people. and the numbers in this report are shocking. you've heard some of them earlier but they're worth repeating. every day 1,200 americans die from smoking. and each of those people are being replaced by two young smokers. almost 90% of those replacement smokers smoke their first cigarette before they're 18. and despite all the reductions in tobacco use in the past decade, today more than 60