take the thunder from, but i want to welcome hereii'ó are y federal transit administrator 2 reece mcmillanake the announcement, but i also want to announce that we are here as a t$nk/ and part of a region in total appreciation of the connectivity that our federal government want to make sure happens. there is no transit system that exists in and of itself. there have to be connections to other parts of it. that is the beauty and the investment that we make. as ed reiskin said, i am eternally grateful to president obama, leader pelosi, senator feinstein, boxer, others who are working so diligently with us to make these connections so that we/xo other regional transit system. so with that, please welcome our deputy administrator for the federal transit authority therese mcmillan. [applause] >> thank you so much, mayor lee. before we begin with my very good news for the region, the mayor mentioned how important connections are. i would like all of us to recall another connection we have as a human community and take a moment of silence out of respect for the victims and families of the aurora