Color, irrespective of party affiliation. We are one america. And lets try to act that way. And i close this briefing. Thank you. As that herring comes to a close, lawmakers discussing how the Veterans Affairs department, this is a live hearing getting under way now on cspan 3. If covid19 turned into a pandemic and portions of the United States Health Care System broke down the va may need to come back and ask for additional funds and since then congress has appropriated 17. 2 billion for vhas covid19 Pandemic Response and i was glad to help advocate for that funding. Now im not sure that many of us here on the dais know what to expect during that february hearing nor did we fully grasp the enormity of the Public Health challenges americans would soon face from the pandemic. This is largely because the administration failed to recognize these risks and communicate them to the American Public in advance of the crisis. Here we are a little more than three months later and exactly 90 days
[inaudible] [inaudible] managing senior tribal specialist with the [inaudible] her projects focus on and betting [inaudible] she is also the founder of every day eastern, a nonprofit with the conducting Community Engaged research, and Building Partnerships with tribal communities along the east coast. In addition to earning a bachelor of arts degree in international and humanitarian affairs from James Madison university, she earned a masters of social work from Columbia University and a masters of education from delta state university. She currently lives and richmond, virginia, with her husband, daughter, and dog. Please join me in welcoming diana gates. [applause] hi, everyone. I need to start by saying how interesting it is to take off a mask and talk to people in a room. We are like a year post introduction of covid and, so it is definitely interesting. [laughs] thank you all so much for coming tonight. The title of this discussion is exceptional women, virginia indian women in lea