Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi holds a press briefing to slam President Trump's economic record on Cost of Living Day in San Francisco, California.
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00:00Good morning, everyone, and I want to thank Laurie Poston for her cardio produce for hosting
00:22us today.
00:22This is a remarkable place.
00:24I hope you had a chance to see the force of it all.
00:28Small businesses like a cardio are the lifeblood of the American economy with a great optimism,
00:35entrepreneurialism, and courage.
00:37It is a privilege to join so many small business owners and community leaders during this cost
00:42of living week in America.
00:44All over the country, House Democrats are having events with the community about bringing
00:51down the cost of living.
00:53That was something the former, the President promised in the campaign, but the exact opposite
01:00is happening now.
01:02So this cost of living week is part of a drumbeat of the national opposition to Trump's reckless
01:08economic policies.
01:10Well, I've always said because the Democratic Party for a long time has been so enthusiastic
01:17about small business, we see it as the ultimate job creator, wealth creator for our country,
01:23and those who engage in small business are the most optimistic.
01:28What is more optimistic than starting a small business?
01:32Maybe getting married, but maybe you have some more confidence there about what might happen.
01:38So thank you for your courage, your optimism, because that, again, is the lifeblood of our
01:45economy.
01:46We look forward to hearing your story.
01:49The Trump administration's ineptitude is tanking our economy in a self-inflicted disaster that
01:57leaves hardworking Americans bearing the brunt of the pain.
02:00Make no mistake, President Trump's senseless tariffs are driving prices higher, draining retirement
02:07savings, which look at 401Ks, and pushing us to the brink of recession.
02:13Here in San Francisco, Trump's economic policies are hurting small business owners and their
02:19employees by instilling fear and uncertainty.
02:22But business has enough uncertainty as it is when you go forth.
02:27You don't need civic uncertainty of this magnitude.
02:31And across the country, working families could see their costs go up as much as $4,600 a year,
02:39the largest tax hike on American families in history.
02:44I'm fond of certain quotes from Ronald Reagan.
02:47He made the best speech of anyone on immigration.
02:51I recommend you see that.
02:53It was the last speech he made as President of the United States.
02:57And it's on, he says, I want to communicate a message to a country I love.
03:02And he talks about the Statue of Liberty and immigration.
03:05When I quote that to the Republicans, they don't applaud.
03:08But nonetheless, now I quote this to them.
03:12In 1988, President Reagan said, America's most recent experiment with protectionism was a disaster
03:21for working men and women of this country.
03:24When Congress passed the Smoot-Harley Tariff in 1930, we were told that it would protect America from foreign competition
03:38and save jobs in this country.
03:41The actual result was the Great Depression.
03:44He continued, we should beware of the demagogues.
03:49This is Reagan talking in 1988.
03:51We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy,
03:59our national security, and the entire free world while cynically waving the American flag.
04:06Ronald Reagan.
04:07He then goes back to the 1930s when it was Smoot-Harley.
04:12He said, when he made his first vote for President of the United States as a young person,
04:19he voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who overturned the Smoot-Harley.
04:24I just thought I was reading that part.
04:26Ronald Reagan's words were true then and in 1988, and they are true now.
04:33With the Trump tariffs fully in effect, and again, all the uncertainty,
04:39now you see it, now you don't, well, maybe so, maybe not.
04:42San Franciscans will pay more for grocery shoes and clothing, household necessities,
04:47auto parks, recreational items, you name it.
04:50While Trump doesn't care about the pain of the American people,
04:54he should have recognized the fear that he is causing
04:59and that House Democrats are gathering across the country
05:02to stand united against his reckless economic policy.
05:07So again, really, that's what we're doing across the country this week.
05:14This is a week.
05:15Some of you were with us when we had the hands-off our Medicaid,
05:20hands-off our Social Security, and now we're talking about our economy writ large.
05:26The best way to talk about that, though, is to hear from our small business folks.
05:32It's now my pleasure to introduce Lauren Crabb, founder and owner
05:36of an incredible small business in San Francisco, Andytown Coffee Roasters.
05:43Thank you, Lauren, for being with us, and I yield the floor to you.
05:52It's an honor to be here, and I'm going to move this mic up a tiny bit.
06:02Thank you so much for that introduction, and thank you, Madam Speaker,
06:05for inviting me to share my story today.
06:08My name is Lauren Crabb, and I'm the co-owner of Andytown Coffee Roasters
06:12in the outer sunset of San Francisco.
06:14My husband, Michael, who is here making you all coffee this morning,
06:18also an immigrant.
06:20I'm just going to put an asterisk on there,
06:22because immigrants build small businesses here.
06:24My husband and I met working as baristas,
06:28dreaming of one day opening a shop in the neighborhood that we love.
06:32In 2014, we made that dream a reality with Andytown.
06:36From the start, our goal was simple, build the kind of business
06:40we always wished we could work for,
06:42one that pays a living wage, offers health care and paid time off,
06:45and creates a welcoming, inclusive work environment.
06:48Over the last 11 years, we've grown Andytown from a tiny cafe
06:52to nine locations with a bakery and roastery,
06:56and we've kept our headquarters where we all started, the outer sunset.
07:00We've faced a lot in those 11 years.
07:02We've bootstrapped our business, survived COVID,
07:06and weathered supply chain breakdowns.
07:08Coffee is an international product,
07:10and the industry is constantly shaped by global forces,
07:14climate change, labor shortages, and now tariffs.
07:18The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration
07:20will significantly raise the cost of coffee,
07:22because you simply cannot grow coffee in the continental United States.
07:26Our beans come from partners around the world,
07:30Guatemala, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Rwanda,
07:34the Philippines, and Indonesia, just to name a few.
07:37We prioritize sourcing from women-owned coffee farms
07:40and farms committed to environmental sustainability
07:43and uplifting their communities.
07:45We pride ourselves in sourcing the same coffee year over year
07:49from our partners, and we have seen in person
07:52how our relationships have positively impact our suppliers
07:55from around the world.
07:57Back home, we don't want to raise prices,
08:00especially on our customers who are already stretched thin.
08:03In the past, I've had to raise prices for good things,
08:07offering health insurance to our employees, raising wages.
08:11Those were good reasons, but the tariffs,
08:14but raising prices due to arbitrary federal policy,
08:18that's unfair to us and to our community.
08:22Small businesses like ours don't have lobbyists.
08:25We don't get to sit at the table like billionaires and big tech,
08:28but we deserve to be heard.
08:30We serve our neighbors every day.
08:32We build communities.
08:34We keep going even when things get tough.
08:37So I'm asking, don't tax our coffee.
08:41Don't put this burden on small businesses and working people.
08:45I'd like to remind everyone that a few hundred years ago,
08:49American patriots dumped tea into Boston Harbor
08:53to protest unfair taxation.
08:55So the message still rings true.
08:57Do not tax our caffeinated beverages or there will be trouble.
09:01Thank you very much for your time.
09:05Thank you so much.
09:08Thank you very much, Lauren.
09:10You're reminding me, and again I refer you,
09:13because we want to hear from our guests,
09:15to a speech by Martin Luther King when he talked about trade.
09:20He said, just remember that every morning when you go to have breakfast,
09:25you have coffee from overseas.
09:27You have marmalade on your toast from other places.
09:30And he goes on to list all the things at your table at breakfast.
09:34Lauren, you gave that presentation very well.
09:38Next, again, there's a lot I could say about each of them,
09:42but I want you to hear from them directly.
09:45So Jeannie Taggart-Bose, CEO,
09:48General Manager of the San Francisco Flower Market.
09:52Thank you very much, Jeannie.
09:54Thank you, Speaker Emerita Pelosi and your team for spotlighting
10:04how cost of living is squeezing small businesses that give San Francisco its heartbeat.
10:10I'm Jeannie Taggart-Bose, Executive Director of the San Francisco Flower Market,
10:14now proudly operating as a sister organization to the produce market.
10:19And we've helped this city bloom for 113 years.
10:23We're home to 22 small businesses supporting 350 blue-collar jobs
10:29and have 4,000 registered buyers in our market who represent small businesses from florists,
10:36interior designers, restaurants, hotels, churches, and everything in between.
10:41The Flower Market is more than a place of commerce.
10:44It's an anchor institution in a creative and service-based economy that defines San Francisco's identity.
10:52In 1970, San Francisco was home to more flower shops and flower stands than any U.S. city.
10:59Today, many florists have been priced out of retail spaces
11:02and now work in garages or shared warehouses just to survive.
11:07However, when the pandemic shut down this city, flowers filled a void.
11:12Brightening home offices, decorating quiet spaces, and helping people express feelings they could not.
11:19When retail reopened, we were at Astro, West Portal, the Sunset, North Beach, and Union Street,
11:26helping revive corridors that were struggling.
11:29We helped launch Union Square and Bloom, now going on in Union Square,
11:34and worked to revive American Tulip Day, where 80,000 tulips are dispensed to San Francisco.
11:41San Francisco is a flower-consuming city, conventions, events, restaurants, weddings, hospitality.
11:56Flowers are part of an economic and cultural fabric, but our small businesses are being pushed to the brink.
12:03Rising labor and fuel costs, soaring rents, unfair competition from abroad.
12:09Where flower farms often operate with fewer labor protections and environmental standards,
12:15they're making it hard for our businesses to survive.
12:18And many aren't.
12:19Last year, California's largest tulip grower closed its doors.
12:23This week, another major flower grower listed their greenhouses for sale and stopped production in our state.
12:30There are no carnation growers left in the United States.
12:35Of what was once a thriving rose industry, only three rose growers are left in the U.S.,
12:42and one of them is currently for sale.
12:44While we haven't yet felt the full impact of new tariffs, importers are preparing to pass those costs on,
12:51which will hit our small businesses.
12:54But what's really affecting us right now is our current weakening dollar.
12:59The unstable exchange rate, driving up the costs of imported flowers and supplies,
13:04making it hard for our vendors to plan, price, and stay competitive.
13:09At the flower market, much like the produce market, we move perishable products on tight timelines.
13:16When a flower fills a ballroom, it sets off a chain of reaction of work, of pastry chefs, musicians,
13:24bartenders, baristas, linen services, and more.
13:28This is what makes San Francisco special.
13:31It's not just innovation, it's interconnection.
13:35That's why we fight, not just for floriculture, but for every small business trying to hold on to its place in San Francisco.
13:43And thank you for listening to our story.
13:46Thank you so much.
13:48Beautiful.
13:50I mentioned Laurie Poston at the beginning.
13:53I'm going to yield to her now.
13:55Again, Laurie is a board member of the San Francisco market.
13:59Thank you, Laurie, for being with us.
14:02On behalf of the Board of Directors, merchants, farmers, and our community partners,
14:11we thank you for joining us here today.
14:13My name is Laurie Poston, and I am the treasurer of our Volunteer Board of Directors.
14:18Thank you, Speaker Emerita, for joining us today, and thanks to all of the businesses that are here for this important discussion.
14:24An important thank you to Arcadios for welcoming us to this perfect space for this conversation.
14:33The SF Market is San Francisco's only wholesale produce market and a vital hub for our city's food system.
14:40We're home to nearly 18 independent merchants, and together with Arcadios, they work overnight to provide fresh produce, a million pounds,
14:49to various restaurants, grocers, caterers, schools, and other food-related businesses.
14:55We also play a vital role in the Bay Area's food infrastructure.
14:59We connect 350 growers over 38 counties to the vital food community of San Francisco.
15:06And our award-winning food recovery system, which accounts for the most amount of recovered food in San Francisco,
15:13is delivering or redirecting nine million pounds of quality produce to food-insecure Bay Area residents through our partners.
15:22So we're very pleased to have you all here today, and again, thank you for joining us.
15:29Thank you, Laurie, for your leadership and for your hospitality today.
15:37And now it's appropriate for having heard from Laurie about the San Francisco Market,
15:43I want to hear more specifically and share with you some of what we saw on our tour.
15:48Juana Posadas and Manny Orozco.
15:52Juana is the general manager of Arcadio Produce.
15:57Manny is the co-owner of Arcadio Produce.
16:00Let's hear from both of you.
16:01I thank you very much.
16:07Hello everyone.
16:08My name is Manuel Orozco.
16:09I'm a co-owner with my brother Luis.
16:11We started this company as a dream in 2010.
16:15We're only a few customers.
16:17Right now we have more than 300 customers.
16:21And we are working basically with restaurants, hotels, caterings, non-profits, senior centers, and schools.
16:31Because the amount of customers we have, we have very diversified customers.
16:36So our products is sourced from the U.S. the most.
16:41But at the same time, we need to search for those items out of some other countries to supply what customers need.
16:50And we've been having a lot of questions from customers and calls.
16:55And Juanita is going to talk a little bit more about that.
17:04Hi.
17:07Good morning.
17:08My name is Juana.
17:09I'm the general manager of Arcadio Produce.
17:11As Manuel Orozco already mentioned, we received calls from our clients asking about the impact that the small businesses are going to have about the topic of the tariffs.
17:28So they're a little concerned because they're asking us if the prices are going to increase, like, so much.
17:37They need to figure it out.
17:38What are they going to put in their menus?
17:41If they need to increase the prices because they are worried that their food cost is going to go, like, super high.
17:49So at that moment, we don't have the answers for them because we don't know when is this going to take place.
17:56Like Manuel Orozco mentioned before, in order to supply their needs, we need to get products from different countries to sell them.
18:06So they're a little worried.
18:08I think everybody's worried because the tariffs are going to impact everyone, not only the small businesses.
18:14They're going to impact everyone here and whatever, any place, too.
18:21So that's it.
18:23Thank you so much.
18:27Marma and Manny tell us the interconnection of it all.
18:32Their customers are largely, well, nonprofits, but also restaurants and the rest.
18:37Because the economy is impacted by these reckless trade policies, it has an impact across the board.
18:45If the restaurants cannot thrive, then the flowers and food and all the rest are affected by this.
18:55So now we're going to hear from Kevin Tang.
18:57He has a very interesting small business.
19:01You have to hear it directly from him.
19:03I'm another generation to understand exactly what it is.
19:08But I do appreciate it.
19:10Thank you, Kevin, for being here.
19:16Hello and good morning to everyone.
19:18My name is Kevin.
19:19I am a co-owner of a small business called Saranghello.
19:23We are a K-pop store based in San Francisco.
19:26We're along Towerville Street.
19:28And if you don't know what K-pop is, you've probably heard BTS and Blackpink.
19:31So we are a 100% import business.
19:36And thank you, Madam Speaker, for having us today and giving us the opportunity to kind of share our story for the small business.
19:42Me and my co-owners, Pip and Chess, we started this business back in 2020, right before the pandemic hit.
19:49And we had no choice but to push through with the plans of starting our business.
19:54We are the first K-pop store based here in Northern California.
19:58We're also one of the largest.
20:00And I'm pretty sure we've also pioneered a lot of other small businesses to open up their own K-pop store.
20:05We decided to start our business with one goal in mind.
20:10We wanted to create a safe space for the younger generations to come in, express themselves, feel safe, and just share their love and experience for music.
20:22It could be anything.
20:23South Korean music, pop music, anything.
20:25But we specialize in K-pop.
20:28And we're about to hit our fifth year next month, which is great.
20:34I think for a small business, achieving that fifth year is a very big goal.
20:40And we personally have been through a lot already having to start a business during the pandemic.
20:47But we also took that as an opportunity to be creative, to put ourselves out there, and to basically fill in a lot of shoes that we couldn't at that time.
21:00With the whole tariff discussion, even just a mention of tariff, we ourselves have been already affected 100% and right away.
21:10Because we offer a service where we allow people to pre-order items, pre-order albums.
21:17And those things are already prepaid, but with the whole tariff situation, it changes our whole pricing model.
21:23And not only does it affect us as a small business, but it also affects our community as well.
21:29Our community, as you already know, everyone's stuck in social media.
21:32Everyone has their phone in their hands.
21:34They're on TikTok, Instagram, whatever, consuming all these media.
21:38They have also expressed to us about how afraid they are of all the uncertainty, of all the confusion, of just not knowing what to do with their future.
21:52And it's difficult for us as business owners, who is that positive force, to continue to be positive because we ourselves are feeling that fear.
22:03And so I know as a small business, you know, it's part of our job to kind of tackle all these challenges, but it is getting a little bit more difficult as the days go by.
22:17And we're taking it a day at a time, but we're not a 9 to 5 business.
22:22We're a 24-7 business.
22:24And it's not like we can put in our two weeks notice to close our business down.
22:28It takes months, as we all know.
22:30And so I think with all of the uncertainty that's happening right now, we're trying to stay hopeful.
22:35We're trying to be creative.
22:37And we are hoping for a resolution and an answer and hopefully seeing that light at the end of the tunnel.
22:43Thank you so much for having me.
22:45That was wonderful.
22:50Now we understand what young people are sensitive to what is happening in the economy.
22:57Sarah Razavi, we talked about products.
23:03We've talked about music.
23:05We've talked about trade and the rest.
23:08But essential to some business is financing.
23:13And that's what Sarah's going to talk to us about.
23:16Working Solutions Community Development Financial Institution.
23:21Thank you, Sarah, for making small businesses possible with the trust you place in them.
23:32Good morning, and thank you so much for this opportunity, Speaker Pelosi.
23:36My name is Sarah Razavi, CEO of Working Solutions CDFI, a community lender specializing in small businesses, specifically microloans.
23:47We were founded and are headquartered in San Francisco, but serve the entire state.
23:53In our work, we witness the daily resilience of entrepreneurs like Kevin and Lauren and Juana and Manuel,
24:01who choose to locate their businesses here in San Francisco because they care deeply about the city.
24:07San Francisco is a beautiful place with intentions to love and respect all,
24:14but it has also always been an expensive place to do business.
24:19While we appreciate California and specifically San Francisco's leadership on many employment and small business issues,
24:26including base hourly wages, the reality is that the cost of labor and healthcare significantly narrow margins for small businesses operating here.
24:39As a lender, we have always seen the hard decisions business owners have had to make.
24:45But under the current federal administration, we are witnessing how the volatility from incoherent trade policies
24:53is making it even more difficult for businesses, especially the smallest businesses,
24:58the startups, the mom and pops that we serve, to make the careful calculations they need to make to survive
25:06and to do right by their employees and their customers.
25:11Because of the increase in cost of goods and the general cost of living,
25:16we see a cascade of hard choices being made by both business owners and consumers.
25:22People are forgoing one essential for another.
25:26Do they pay the electric bill or the supplier or the staff?
25:31People are nervous about their and their loved ones' jobs,
25:35creating an environment of uncertainty that makes it difficult to sustain both business and livelihoods.
25:42The telling indicators of economic hardships are becoming increasingly visible.
25:49For example, like many lenders, we're seeing delinquencies tick upwards.
25:55When people start missing payments on their cars and lower cost, smaller credit obligations,
26:01these are the early warning signs that the economy is not all right.
26:07So first, we thank these wonderful entrepreneurs for the dedication to their hometowns across the state and our country,
26:16and especially here in San Francisco.
26:19And we thank Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues for fighting for the economic policies
26:25and the support that our local businesses desperately need and richly deserve.
26:31Thank you so much.
26:32Thank you very much, Sarah.
26:37This uncertainty enables us to just take advantage of the situation and plant a flag for small business.
26:47Everyone recognizes that it is, again, the lifeblood of our economy, job creation, wealth creating, and the rest of that,
26:56and is the courage, the optimism, the enthusiasm, the entrepreneurship for risk-taking that our guests have spoken to, have addressed,
27:08is something that is so remarkable for a community.
27:11So we want the administration to hear the voices of those who are affected, not to tell them about it,
27:18but to have the people directly affected tell them about what the uncertainty is doing to business, to small business,
27:28and to families who depend on that.
27:30With that, we'd be happy to take some questions on this subject.
27:34Right?
27:35They'll take the hard ones.
27:37I'll take the easy ones.
27:38Any questions for the press?
27:40Yes, ma'am.
27:41Yes, ma'am.
28:08Well, that's what we're doing this week across the country, to have that drumbeat across America
28:14so that the administration hears the voices of those, not in a partisan way, but in a practical way as to what they mean.
28:23Now, the Secretary of Treasury, was it this morning, he said something like,
28:29they have like a three-step thing.
28:32First, escalation.
28:34We're going to raise the tariffs all over, and that's frightening.
28:37Then, negotiation.
28:40Okay, now negotiation, when is that happening?
28:43And then, at the end, we may not have an agreement, but we will just move on and have some solution, but it's not an agreement.
28:56And without an agreement, we're just fooling ourselves as to what he has done.
29:03No matter what happens in these negotiations, he still has that 10% out there, which is a big increase in the tariffs.
29:11So this is a really stupid approach that this administration is taking.
29:18And they're saying, well, we're close with this country or that country, but we may not have an agreement.
29:23We'll just have friendship or something.
29:27But that's not the certainty that our small businesses need, whether you're flowers from –
29:33I talked to the former president of Columbia recently about flowers coming from Columbia.
29:38We've been in the Caribbean, where flowers come here from the Caribbean to make sure that, again, that we have fair trade,
29:47that we have fair trade, that what they're sending here is not undermining our workforce.
29:53So you have understandings, but that isn't what escalation created in terms of the uncertainty.
30:06So, again, what we can do is just keep saying, understand this.
30:11When he did the pause, you know, he didn't know what he had done in the first place.
30:16So when the business community, big business community said, look what's happening to the bond market
30:22because of what you're doing to the stock market, he then put the pause on.
30:29And then, you know, he said, this is how I plan to do it all along.
30:34Really? Really? To have that uncertainty?
30:38So it doesn't look – we don't even know who's calling the shot, whether it's the president, whether it's Navarro,
30:43whether it's Secretary of Treasury, but they seem to be saying different things.
30:48So all we can do is recognize the importance of outside mobilization.
30:53Inside maneuvering, all of that is important, but the outside mobilization makes all the difference.
31:00So that's why I'm so grateful to all – for your unselfish, taking the time, but also the courage to come out and speak
31:07of your situations and this is happening, as I say, around the country.
31:12And hopefully they will listen to small businesses as they listened to big business in that room
31:18when they first did the tariffs and then they did a pause because of the bond market,
31:24which was important for them to do.
31:26But we shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with.
31:29Any other questions? Yes, ma'am.
31:31Yes, ma'am.
31:32.
31:55You very rightly put the connection between securities, the immigration issue,
32:02as well as the impact on small business.
32:05First of all, many of our small business people are from immigrant communities.
32:10That's the, that's okay, I'll get it later.
32:12It's from the immigrant community because so much of the vitality of the optimism
32:18of people come in, I could get to Ronald Reagan's other quote on immigration
32:23because they are tied together.
32:26But the fight on immigration is one that has to be bipartisan, secure our border,
32:34but recognize, I mean even our children, even our children are concerned
32:39if they think that officials are going to arrive at their school,
32:43even to come to talk about food and food.
32:47So you're quite correct that it is, has an impact.
32:53I don't know, I can't, I can't measure what that is, but it is a reality,
33:00and it isn't one that makes much difference to the President of the United States.
33:07Look, let me just go back to Ronald Reagan.
33:09Ronald Reagan said, this is the last speech I will make as President of the United States.
33:15Imagine Ronald Reagan, the great communiter, this is the last speech I will make as President,
33:20and I want to communicate a message to a country that I love.
33:24He starts out, you'll Google it, I won't do the whole speech.
33:28You'll Google it, but he talks about the Statue of Liberty, the beacon of hope
33:32that it is to the world, and how America is preeminent in the world
33:36because we have been welcoming to people coming to our country with their enthusiasm,
33:40with their courage, and that, all of that immigration has made America preeminent,
33:51he says, in the world.
33:53Once we close that door, we will fail to be preeminent in the world.
33:57Now, he was very, he and then Donald, what's, George Herbert Walker Bush,
34:04following him and George W. Bush were all very strong respecters of immigration.
34:12This is a switch in the Republican Party not to be recognizing what that is,
34:17and try to have a bipartisan solution to protect our border, to have a path to citizenship,
34:26all the things that are principles of immigration, have been principles of immigration in our country.
34:33But again, elections have ramifications.
34:35We're not here to talk about elections today, but they have ramifications.
34:39And sadly, if you take the trade and you take the immigration and take other things,
34:45but the list is a long one, we have important work to do, and that's what we're doing today,
34:52is to make sure they understand that these tariffs, they're, this is a president who ran on increasing,
35:01no, lowering the cost of living, and what has he done but raised it?
35:07And again, as you say, it has an, his other policies are connected and have an impact on small business.
35:15Thank you for making that connection.
35:16Do we have time for another question?
35:18Does anybody else have a question?
35:20No?
35:21On this?
35:22Well, wait a minute, I just want to say, see if any of our, I'll come back to you,
35:28any of our guests have any, uh, observations about what you've heard from all these folks?
35:35No?
35:36Any of these questions?
35:37We're all interconnected.
35:38Hmm?
35:39All of our businesses are interconnected.
35:41Everything in San Francisco is connected.
35:43Well, the interconnection of the businesses all connected is, is very important,
35:48and you've made, you've all made that point, uh, very beautifully.
35:53I want to know, how, how did you name it Andy Town Club?
35:56Andy Town is a place in Belfast, in Ireland, uh, where my husband's from, so it's, uh,
36:05yeah, over there.
36:06Um, and he, uh, came to this country in, uh, in the late 90s and followed his American dream.
36:14Um, and, yeah, it's, it's all very, it's all very interconnected.
36:18Again, a connection between immigration and entrepreneurship.
36:22Question?
36:23Um .
36:29Oh, let me just say, uh, that, uh, is the, uh, planning for , uh,
36:36Let me just say that the planning for the trip to Rome for his holiness of funeral
36:44is something that will be put forth by the leadership in Washington
36:49from a security standpoint and the rest of that.
36:52We're not really allowed to talk about that.
36:55But there's a plan.
36:59Of course, as a devout Catholic, I've been taught and I believe
37:04and my family believes that I grew up in that the Holy Ghost has an impact
37:10on the decision-making of the cardinals.
37:14There are 136 cardinals.
37:18108 of them were named by Francis.
37:22So hopefully there will be people who respect the values that Francis has proposed.
37:29But Francis was chosen by cardinals who were selected by Benedict and John Paul.
37:38So you just don't know how it will turn out.
37:43But we'll be prayerful that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will dominate the decision-making
37:49and that will happen sometime after the burial.
37:54Then they'll go into that.
37:56So anyone who's seen Conclave or Two Popes or any of that, we feel like we're experts in all of it now.
38:03But obviously it's something we'll all be studying because I had the privilege of meeting with this Holy Ghost
38:13on a number of occasions, including the first day when he was inaugurated.
38:19That's what I think they call it, inaugurated Pope on the Feast of St. Joseph, around the Feast of St. Joseph.
38:25And as you know, the Holy Family is very important to him,
38:32and that's why he wants to be buried in the Church of St. Mary Maggiore, Maria Maggiore in Rome.
38:39And he went there before every trip.
38:42He went there for the blessing.
38:44After every trip, he went there again.
38:47So that's what his plans are, what he wrote out that he wants to do.
38:52So it's a beautiful story.
38:55I'll just close by saying, every time I saw him, whether it was in a meeting just in his office or whatever,
39:03he would always say, pray for me.
39:06Pray for me.
39:07He had such humility.
39:09And he knew being Pope was a big, you know, major thing.
39:13Pray for me.
39:13And I'm like, you pray for us.
39:15You've got a channel there.
39:17Pray for me.
39:18But now that this saintly man has gone to heaven, we pray to him.
39:26One last thing is, when I went to see him, I had the privilege of this was, you know, I've seen him with my grandchildren,
39:33I've seen him with this, I've seen him in Capitol, you know, different place.
39:37But when I had the actual meeting as a speaker of the house to go there and this or that, it was something very serious.
39:45And they told me as I was going in, now, you will be obeying rules that are 400 years old.
39:52So you have to do exactly as we say as you go to see his holiness.
39:57And so you will go to the door, he will open the door, and you will then proceed.
40:04So I go to the door, he opens the door, and I burst into tears all down my face just seeing him, just seeing him.
40:13And it was just so overwhelming.
40:16His reaction, I would burst into tears, he burst into laughter.
40:21He just laughed.
40:22He said, why are you crying?
40:24I said, why are you laughing?
40:25You're laughing at me crying.
40:27But it was quite, this person was quite overwhelming just to be in his presence.
40:34So may he rest in peace.
40:37Thank you all so much.
40:38And thank you to our guests.