Officials, such as assessor howard chu, and ta collector, ad norman yee and supervisor stefani and supervisor fewer, we are so excited to get this done together. Every 10 years the federal government puts together a census to count everyone and to make critical decisions about our future. Yet the hard work happens in our local communities right here on the ground. This time we know that it will be harder because the census is digital. And so we must bridge that digital divide. Some people discrust government, distrust government, so we must work with organizations such as the institute and selfhelp for the elderly to educate them and inform the community on why it matters that we get counted. Lets face it, San Franciscoians, many of us live in apartments and s. R. O. S. And folks are just plain busy and may not get around to being counted. So we have to remind them why it matters to be counted in this census. Mayor breed and Speaker Pelosi are here today because they know just how important this work is and how much it matters. Thank you and thank you for being here today and thank you for the work that you will do to make sure that everyone is counted and now it is my pleasure to introduce celine kinelli to kick us off with the star spangled banner. Oh, say can you see by the dawns early light so what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh, say does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, london breed. [applause] mayor london breed well, first of all, thank you so much, celine, for that beautiful, beautiful song, honoring our country, honoring the amazing citizens of San Francisco. I am really excited to be here today to kick off s. F. Counts, especially because we have our fearless leader, speaker nancy pelosi, in the house. [cheers and applause]. Let me tell you, this woman i mean, just to watch what she does in washington, d. C. , defending our city, doing everything she can to support us, but also to move this country forward, it is absolutely incredible. And no matter what shes doing in washington, d. C. , she always finds time to show up for us, whether its resources, whether its her time, her staff has been absolutely incredible. And we are so grateful to have her here today. And we also need to talk about the importance of making sure that our communities are counted. And no one knows how important that this is more than Speaker Pelosi, especially because we want to make sure that we have representation in congress. We want to make sure that when shes fighting for resources, for housing, for homelessness, all of the things that shes continuing to do, that San Francisco gets its fair share. And it takes a lot of work. Its not easy, clearly. Its not easy with what she is fighting against now in washington, d. C. And i think thats why people here in San Francisco, they understand the importance of the census. But dont always trust government. I will tell you that it was a challenge often times to get my grandmother to fill out the form. She was concerned that people would be all in our business. Im sure that many of you probably hear that some of your family members, i dont want government all in my business. And the fact is that we have to do a better job of reaching out to our communities, of really helping to educate people about what the census is actually meant to do under the law. The goal is to draw congressional lines and to look at the number of people within those congressional lines. The goal is to make sure that every person is counted and this statistical information is used for allocating resources and doing great things for our city and our communities. And i know that theres a lot of fear out there, especially with our immigrant communities. But that battle was won to make sure that people still feel safe and comfortable with providing information on the census and knowing that they will not be targeted. And so we have put together a comprehensive plan with a number of trusted communitybased organizations to reach out to communities, whether its in spanish or cantonese or mandarin to make sure that we are communicating, to make sure that we are working with people and trying to as naomi kelly, our city admi minadministrator saids first time that the census will be submitted online. Theres a lot of work that we need to do but we have been getting ready for this for some time. And i am really confident in a number of the organizations here who regularly work with members of the community to outreach and to do whats necessary to get the job done. And so im going to be counting on the people who are here, who may not be affiliated with the organizations, to encourage our family members, to encourage your neighbors to do outreach. Because we want to make sure that every Single Person in the city and county of San Francisco is counted. How we generate revenues in order to help address many of the challenges, especially around housing and homelessness, has everything to do with making sure that we get our fair share from washington, d. C. And we need to make sure that our speaker has the ammunition she needs to do just that. And that includes making sure that every Single Person is counted. [applause] so we got our work cut out for us, folks. Shes doing her part for us in washington, d. C. So lets do our part for her and all of the people that we care about in this city by getting the word out now. So without further adieu i want to bring to the podium our amazing and fearless leader, speaker nancy pelosi. [applause] thank you very much, madam mayor. Arent we proud of our mayor, london breed . [applause] congratulations, madam mayor, on your inauguration. Thank you for being the fierce fighter that you are for San Francisco. Our mayor came into office and not only in just being mayor but into office with an idea, a vision, for yo for our city, frr own experience she knew what the challenges were and are. And our mayor came in with a knowledge, a knowledge of how to get things done and a plan to do so. And she has, again, because speaking from her own experience, shes connected so well with all of the people of our city, recognizing the beautiful diversity of San Francisco. I always say the beauty is in the mix and, mayor, youre an absolute reflection of that beauty of leadership, brilliance and respect. Thank you, madam mayor london breed. [applause] its wonderful to be here with so many members of the official family of San Francisco. And of our state. And also just everyone is part of the family when we talk about the census. We want everyone to be counted. And the mayor mentioned how important it was, and i want to thank you for your leadership in this initiative. And to naomi, thank you for yours as well, and carmen and annie, and annie and i have been working together for like 40 years. She still looks the same, but i dont know how. She still has that energy. And mario paz, thank you for your leadership. Good samaritan Family Resource center, a perfect name for all of this. Because one of the fears that people have about the census is wellfounded because this administration wanted to have a Citizenship Question on the census. In total violation and defiance of what our founders had intended in the constitution of the united states, that everyone would be counted. So, madam mayor, im going to talk about your grandma saying that she didnt want government in her business, from the standpoint of immigration thats a real and a legitimate fear. Thats why we fought so hard and working with some of the groups and with our own standing in congress in the Supreme Court to win that case in the Supreme Court. [applause] and even after the case we later learned the intention, the political intention, that was there to have a Citizenship Question so it would have an impact on politics. Yes, it does have an impact on how Many Congress people from a certain state come to washington, d. C. But as the mayor indicated, and naomi alluded to, this is about meeting the needs of the american people. Meeting the needs of the american people. And all the ways transportation, housing, food, whatever it is why the numbers are an imperative for how the resources will flow. Shameful that people would say that we dont want to know our numbers. But San Francisco can be a model, not only for ourselves, but also to the bay area and lets say that we want every person in the bay area counted and every person in california counted because that is really one of the targets of the administration. Now i know that in the 1990s and you can remember this one there was an assault on our immigration system. And they would go to the schools to see the little children, and the children, they thought that an official was coming theyd run and hide. And we were trying to get, you know, more food in the schools and the School Lunch Program and all of that and we were trying to document the need. But these children would run and hide if they thought that an official was coming because they were not fully documented. Thats not the point. The point is that if youre here, you should be counted. And dont think that because if you may not be documented that youre any less important in this count. Believe in you believe in you youre being counted is not only good for you, but it strengthens the entire community. What the mayor said is very, very important. People may there may be fear of technology or the government and this or that, but the Community Groups who have standing not only standing officially, but standing with people, culturally, linguistically and geographically, appropriate and familiar, have a big role to play in making sure that everyone knows how important he or she is. So that everyone is counted. This is the life blood of america. Who we are as a people. Some people may have a fear of how that is changing. We think that is the beauty of our future. And, again, any obstacles must be removed and thats why we were very proud in the fight we had to fight to get over to 7. 5 billion more for the census so that the resources that were necessary were there. [applause] so this is the enabler of it all. This is the liberator. This just cuts everything free to say im as important as anyone else. And i will be counted. And this San Francisco committee for total counts can be as i say a model to others. But isnt that just like San Francisco, to be a model to others in terms of the respect that we have and the dignity and work of every person. [applause] and were proud of our leader mayor breed for making this a priority. Thank you, madam mayor, for making this such a priority, because everything depends on that count. Again, people just have to know how important they are, each and every one of them. So i thank each and every one of you for what you are doing in this regard. Dont give them a victory. They want to scare people into not being counted. Dont give them a victory. Give yourself a victory by being counted. Thank you all very much. Thank you. [cheers and applause]. Thank you so much for standing for me. [laughter]. Welcome, everybody, and good morning, my name is carmen chu and i serve as the San Francisco assessor. Many of you associate the work that i do to make sure that we bring in the resources that San Francisco needs to do all of the work that we are trying to accomplish here. But today instead of talking about money, which the census does have a connection to money and, believe me, for every Single Person who doesnt get counted, San Francisco loses out. But i come here to talk to you as a daughter of immigrants and the importance of coming out for the census. You know, nancy pelosi spoke earlier very eloquently about the effect on our immigration system and how it is that our immigrant communities are feeling under attack. I will tell you that there is no more important thing to do than to make sure that we say we will be counted and we dont care what youre doing. Were not going to let fear drive us. When we think about all of the communities who have come before us, my parents included, many of the people who have come before you, your families and your mom and dad and your aunt and uncle and grandfather, so many of them took the brave step to come to the united states. They came here perhaps under duress and they came here perhaps because they were fearful of what they had to face in their own countries. But they came here because they believed in a better future. They came here because they believe that when they set their foot down here they would be counted, that their dreams mattered, that they mattered. And thats what this census is about. Its about making sure that all of our families, every single one, whether youre documented or not, whether youre big, youre small, youre rich or poor, that you get counted. And when we think about all of us in this room and what were doing here, you all woke up early this morning to come here and i know that perhaps you came to see the mayor, and shes amazing, and perhaps you came to see our speaker, shes also amazing. But the reason that you came here is because you knew that each one of you has a responsibility and a role in making sure that we have a complete count here. And so as much as we have all of our wonderful nonprofits who are going to do as much as they possibly can to get out the word, as much as we know that theyre going to go out there and to have ads and talk to our Community Members, truthfully, the way that we get counted is when each one of us takes initiative. When we each go back to our homes and we make sure that we count our families, when each and every one of us go back to our communities and help our grandparents, our parents, our aunties and our uncles who cant use the computer and we help them to get counted. So call this a call to action, make sure that you get counted. Lets make sure that we raise our voice when we are faced with a decision to hide as immigrants or to stand up and to say that we should be counted, lets stand up and be counted in San Francisco. [applause] now id like to introduce annie chung, someone who has been a fierce leader for not only our immigrant communities but many of our seniors in San Francisco. Annie chung. [applause] good morning, everyone. So im joined today by my colleague and my cochair of the San Francisco complete count committee, miss andrea short. And can all of the members please stand up, please, along with our census attendees today. [applause] so, thank you. So we are the people of San Francisco. The 2020 census is our opportunity for our Diverse Communities to participate and fight for our fair share fight for the resources and the political representation. For too long and especially in the past few years, communities of color, the poor, seniors, youth, people with disabilities and other underserved groups have been left out. Left out of the housing and economic opportunities, resources and the political process. My group selfhelp for the elderly and our seniors, serve the seniors across four bay area counties. We have a huge and a growing senior population. And we have at least our seniors are at least 150 below the federal poverty line, many of our seniors. Our seniors rely on federal dollars to support our housing and our health care and our news programs and our social services. They have contributed economically to the city and county of San Francisco, and have the right to participate. Each person who participates in the upcoming census will bring enough federal funding to support 222 meals for us, so lets be counted. In 2010, San Francisco was the only county i count in californo reach a goal for the census. Because every community partnered with the immigrant affairs, and with the city and with all of the other partners to bring the census to our neighborhoods and our communities. Thanks to the Community Partners here today and the leadership of our city, we got the job done. This time around will be harder. The mayor and Speaker Pelosi said it, but we can do it again. Thats why were so grateful that Speaker Pelosi and mayor breed are here today along with all of our city and state leaders and taking time out to make the 2020 census a priority and to encourage and to inspire us today. We have to get this job done for the people of San Francisco. And for our communities. Every San Franciscoian has a responsibility to stand up and to be counted by participating in the census. Our seniors, our youth, our families, all count on us. We are depending on each other. Thank you. [applause] and im to introduce mario paz, my good friend. The vice chair of the immigrant rights commission. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Good morning, everyone. And i first would like, again, to thank our fearless leaders, mayor london breed, who is a fearless leader for our city. And our fearless leader for our country, nancy pelosi. Speaker, thank you. [applause] california is home to over a quarter of the nations immigrants and over a third of San Franciscos populations are immigrants. Nearly half of our city speaks a language other than english at home. We know that the 2020 census is going to be hard for immigrants, communities of color, people experiencing homelessness, and many of our residents who lack access to technology and services. B