dear friends, thank you for invieedthing me to participate in the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the san francisco department of public health's new bridge hiv research facility. while i am unable to be with you in person, i joan you in celebrating the opening of the state-of-the-art research center which was constructed with federal funding through the national institutes of health and the american recovery and reinvest act. i would like to recognize two outstanding leaders in our fight against hiv/aids. your executive director dr. susan bookbinder and director of public health barbara garcia. also please join me in thanking mayor ed lee for his leadership in assuring that san francisco ans living with hiv/aids continue to have access to the care they need. (applause) >> the fight against hiv/aids has been one of my top legislative priorities for 25 years. as one of the earliest and hardest hit cities, san francisco has also been at the forefront of responding to the crisis of hiv/aids. from our community-based system of care to the cutting edge research at ucsf. working togethe