my name is jim byron and i am honored to serve as the president and ceo of the richard nixon foundation. and it's my pleasure to welcome you tonight to the nixon library. i also want to welcome all of you live tonight on youtube and on x formerly known as twitter because we live stream of our distinguished speakers series events and we're proud to offer them as civics lessons that anyone watch online and enjoy. i want to welcome blake kernan, a member of the board of directors of the richard nixon foundation. thank you for being here. and i want to recognize a few special guests. mike antonovich, longtime los angeles county supervisor. where's mike? there he is. and i want to welcome mazzie, francine and jo lynn and pat mahoney, who are members of the american civics campaign finance committee. so thank you all. i also want to thank all of our presidents club members, associates club members for their support, which makes this evening and all of our distinguished speakers series events possible. and if you're not a member, i would encourage you check out membership and check out our mem