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the long-standing ideal that anyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or creed can achieve the american dream. hispanic heritage month and tonight s event reminds us all of the strength of our hispanic communities and faith in that very american ideal. sincerely and best wishes, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house. thank you. [applause] we re now moving on to the next category. thank you again, nicole, for being here and for that wonderful letter from our speaker. our next category is a category of media. we have two very accomplished honorees tonight and we have great presenter, who s with us tonight as well. thank you. please welcome carlos feliz. [applause] our first honoree tonight is maria mejia. she is the managing editor of he will mens her row, the most important of el mensajero newspaper. she has covered news for the latino community in the bay area. the newspaper has received several awards and nominations from national and local organizations. ple ....
in the city and county of san francisco. thank you very much for all of your attention and appreciation and recognition of luisa. good night. [applause] thank you very much, gladys and charles. in presentation to manuel and to carmen, the delores huerta lifetime achievement award, on behalf of their sisters incredible lifetime commitment and dedication to the city and county. [applause] we have a very special guest tonight from one of our greatest leaders currently here in the united states. i would like to welcome nicole rivera to come and read a letter from the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi. thank you for being with us, nicole. [applause] thank you, joaquin, for that great introduction of our house speaker. i m really happy to be here on her behalf. she sends her regrets for not being able to be here in person, but she did send a little greeting that i m happy to read now. dear friends, congratulations to all the san francisco latino heritage committee honore ....
continue to add to our national portrait, to our culture and to our history of progress. tonight we honor the waves of hispanic immigrants who have come to our shores and enriched our nation. many have been here for generations. others may have just arrived. with their determination to build a better future and their commitment to safe family and community, we are all making america more american. this is the essence of our history, to honor the character of america. we must pass comprehensive immigration reform. [applause] i am proud to support the dream act and i hope that its passage [cheers and applause] i am proud to support the dream act and i hope that its passage will mark the first step toward reaching that goal. in congress, working with president obama, we have acted to address the challenges facing the hispanic community and shared by all americans. we passed health care reform, which will extend coverage to 32 million more people and nearly nine million ....
implemented innovative programs, including a medically supervised sobering center and intensive case management program for public neebyation. violence response teams and supportive housing. please join us in award to ms. barbara garcia. [applause] our next awardee in the field of category of health and medicine is, of course, one who needs no introduction, but we will list the just the same. dr. sandra hernandez, the chief executive officer of the san francisco foundation. she served as the director of public health for the city and county of san francisco. she is an assistant clinical professor at university of california san francisco school of medicine and she maintains an active clinical practice at san francisco general hospital in the aids clinic. we could not be more and more happy to recognize these two incredible honorees tonight. thank you. [applause] i just have to say these are two i my heroes. i have to take the opportunity. our next award is an award ....
i have the honor of welcoming our new director of public health in san francisco. [applause] as of the last 20 minutes, this is all past tense, barbara garcia has been the deputy director of health for the city and county of san francisco since 1999. while in this position, she has implemented innovative programs, including a medically supervised sobering center and intensive case management program for public neebyation. violence response teams and supportive housing. please join us in award to ms. barbara garcia. [applause] our next awardee in the field of category of health and medicine is, of course, one who needs no introduction, but we will list the just the same. dr. sandra hernandez, the chief executive officer of the san francisco foundation. she served as the director of public health for the city and county of san francisco. she is an assistant clinical professor at university of california san francisco school of medicine and she maintains an active clin ....