now i'd like to turn over the podium to surgeon general regina benjam benjamin. regina? [ applause ] >> good afternoon and a very special thank you to secretary sebelius for her exceptional lead eership in this critical issue. she has to leave for another commitment. she's really been very involved in this initiative from the beginning. you know, being here today is personal to me. as many of you, it's also personal to you. as i mentioned when i took this position, my mother died of lung cancer from smoking. when she was young, she started smoking because she was a girl, she wasn't allowed to smoke like her twin brother was and she said as soon as she got to be old enough, she would. and she started smoking as a teenager. it took her life. and i then watched my uncle buddy, her twin brother, a world war ii prisoner of war survivor sit tide to an oxygen tank struggling for each breath because of smoking-related em fees e-maila until just a few months ago when his lungs just simply gave out. i don't want anyone else to have to suffer the loss of a loved one due to a preven