If there is a job that you feel passionate about, do what you can to pursue that job; if there is a purpose about which you are passionate, dedicate yourself to that purpose. Finally, i hope that you can find joy in the lives you choose. You are completing one important phase of your life today and embarking on an amazing new adventure. Serious decisions about life surely lie ahead, but take the time to savor the joys, large and small that come along the way. Share those joys with others, and share a laugh when you can. In closing, thank you again, on behalf of myself and the other honorees. Thank you for the opportunity to theresident obama announced release of the lone u. S. Soldier who was held in afghanistan. He spoke from the white house rose garden with the soldiers parents. He was turned over by the taliban in return for the release of five afghan detainees who were held at Guantanamo Bay. Good afternoon, everybody. This morning, i called bob and jani bergdahl, and told them aft
Other thing about the senatee. The senate is a very democratic place. Everybody has a chance to be number 60. Enabled by the fact we had a couple of democrats who voted no. But, yeah. Every other day some senator decided to be number 60 and we had to do something. The numbers changed during that as well. It was constantly a moving target. Let me mention Something Else as well to this audience since many of you are involved in the business today. We have left the congress but as ve greatver i ha reverence for the institutions i have served in. It is going through a terrible time. Something different from those of you who come from the perspective the Financial Services sector. The days where you have people like howard baker and bob dole are gone. Me, theyrowd, believe look at these issues in a very different way. Populism in aof a way that is worrisome to me in terms of how they look at the Financial Services sector. One of the classic examples we when you had rand paul guam the langua
Agree. We dont have time for distractions. We need to fix the problem. For now, the leader that will help move us forward is sloan gibson, who will take on the reins of acting secretary. Deputydebra gary secretary just three months ago, but he has devoted his life to serving our veterans. His grandfather fought on the front lines of world war i. His father was a tailgunner in world war ii. Sloane served in the infantry after graduating from west point. He has 20 years of private sector and nonprofit experience that he brings to bear on our ongoing work to build a 21stcentury v. A. And i am glad he is willing to take on this task. I met with him and made it clear that reforms should not wait. They need to proceed immediately. I have asked rob neighbors to stay temporarily to help sloan and the department through this transition and complete his own review of the vha. We will look diligently for a new permanent secretary and we hope to confirm that successor and feel that post as soon as
Community and sdi. The Mental Health offered by the city to meet their unique needs and situations. If laurens law werent in place here in San Francisco, San Francisco would have the Community Based treatment they need and deserve to put you them on the the path to successful healthy recovery. Thats why about a month and a half ago i introduced two identical pieces of legislation with my three other cosponsors and i want to thank supervisor wiener, supervisor breed, and supervisor tang, that were discussing today to fully implement lauras law here in San Francisco. I said it from the beginning and i mean it, that i do believe that passing it here at the board of supervisors is the preferred option, but i was prepared to take it to the ballot if necessary. I want to thank all the members of the public and all the members of our city, staff that have worked to get this where we are today and in particular, a number of community advocates, our department of Public Health, and their entire
California state senate, police and fire chiefs, numerous doctors and Public Health professionals from the California Hospital Association to the california psychiatric association, and the numerous Mental Health advocacy organizations. Namis. F. And Treatment Advocacy Center and Suicide Prevention network. And a number of Homeless Services providers such as Saint Vincent de paul society and other labor and business organizations. Lastly i do want to thank jeff from my staff who spent countless hours on this issue and my entire staff, but jeff in particular for his tireless work on this issue. Colleagues, i know there will be lots of comments on this issue. I want to thank my colleagues for their support, and supervisor campos to find what i believe will be a great solution in terms of implementing lauras law here in San Francisco. Supervisor campos . Thank you, mr. President. I know that a lot of my colleagues want to speak on this issue so ill try to be as brief a possible. I know th