WEBVTT

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It is my honor to introduce the host of

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the 2024 Mh Srs , the

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honorable Lester Martinez Lopez ,

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Assistant Secretary of Defense for

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Health Affairs for his opening remarks .

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Good morning .

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Wow , good morning . All right , that's

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better now . Welcome to the 2024 M hr

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s . It is an honor to open . This is

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this symposium and be here with you

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today . This is such an important event ,

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not on , not only for the opportunity

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to share information among this elite

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group of scientists and researchers ,

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but also for the chance to recognize

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the contribution you have made are

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making and will continue to make . Our

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work does not always get the attention

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and gratitude it deserves from advanced

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trauma care to vaccines , to cancer

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research . The cutting edge research

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done by the heroes in this room from

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industry , academia and our military ,

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medical R and D professionals have made

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a dis a tremendous difference in the

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life of those we serve our fellow

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citizens and the people from around the

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world . I could not be more proud

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of the impact we have made together

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our success . It stood to manufacturers

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resilience being one of the most

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important . The military culture

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depends on resilience in our facilities ,

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our equipment , our doctrine and

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policies , but most importantly , our

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people , our recent organizational

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effort to fuse our research

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capabilities with our poly health

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infrastructure and health care delivery

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help us maintain resilience through a

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system approach . The Department of

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Defense is built on the system approach

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and the MH S is not an exception .

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Working as a system allows us to

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benefit from the strengths of each

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component while executing a common

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vision and sharing resources and

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information to achieve maximum impact .

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There are three topics on my mind today

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that I would like to share with you .

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First is the need to anticipate and

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plan for our response to trauma care on

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our next battlefield . We are learning

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a great deal from our current war in in

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the Ukraine . Deepening our

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understanding of the growing challenges

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of providing medical care during modern

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large scale combat operations .

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The increase in lethality of weapons

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results in higher casualty rates and

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evacuating the wounded is complicated

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by advanced air defense systems are

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more dispersed uh warfare .

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This means we have to provide more

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complex care for longer periods of time

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in the battlefield itself . In addition

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to developing new logistics

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capabilities and the resourcing plans

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to provide for them , we have to

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meet the needs where it is not where I

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used to be . One of the key challenges

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of the changing nature of war is

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providing life saving blood and blood

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products at the point of need , new

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technologies to extend the shelf life

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of these products and transport them

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while protecting their usability ,

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present both logistics and medical

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challenges . Our investment in blood

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product research are critical to

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meeting this need . I am very pleased

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to report that . Just this month , the

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FDA approved the use of Octa plus G

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powder under emergency use

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authorization . This solution from auto

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pharma extend our ability to provide

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life saving treatment in combat

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operations and is part of a larger

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freeze dry plasma demonstration

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partnership developing and fielding

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strategy . This accomplishment

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is a result of more than a year of

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extensive interagency collaboration

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between DOD and the FDA and

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represents the strength of such cooper

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operation efforts but improving the

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provision of blood itself . Well , it

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is important is not enough . We know

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that within 30 minutes of injury , an

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inflammatory response sets in , we need

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to learn more about this response ,

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trauma , its effects through the body

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and develop measures to delay if not

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suppress it . The second area of

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concern I will discuss with you today

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is brain health in all its facets

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including traumatic brain injury ,

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chronic , traumatic encephalopathy and

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blast overpressure . Brain health is a

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priority research area for us . As we

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seek to increase our knowledge about

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the brain , how is it injure and how we

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can recover . We know there is much to

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learn in this area and we understand

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the frustration about what we don't

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know yet . The traumatic brain injury

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center of excellence supports a network

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of military hospitals and clinics and

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Department of Veteran Affairs medical

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centers with research initiatives .

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This collaboration is designed to

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support clinical innovation and

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research along the continuum of care of

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TB I from initial injury , post acute

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staging and finally rehabilitation .

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Earlier this month , you may have seen

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the coverage of the Deputy Secretary of

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Defense Directive on new steps to

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protect brain health including baseline

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cognitive test , and more protection

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from blast during training exercises .

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These directives builds on existing

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efforts across the services to mitigate

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the effect of blast over pressure .

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Secretary Hicks said his best . We owe

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it to our service members , civilian

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personnel and their families who defend

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our nation and entrust us with their

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care to ensure that we're using every

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available resource to advance research

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to better understand the effect of

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blast of pressure and to provide the

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best care possible . I

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know I can count on you to uphold this

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duty in bringing your talents and

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energy to bear on these complex issues .

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Finally , I would like to touch on

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overall mental health . Well , we have

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made incredible progress in lessening

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the stigma associated with mental

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health in seeking mental health care .

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We're not there yet . There are still

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too many of our people who suffer in

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silence , who hesitate to acknowledge

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their mental health care needs , who

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fear judgment from peers and superiors

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and worry about jeopardizing their

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careers . All of us in

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dod in the MH S in leadership or

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influential position must be united in

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delivering this truth . Mental health

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is health period and we must

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break down the social and cultural

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barriers that stand between patients

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and the care they need . While we are

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doing that , we must also work

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diligently to build the capacity

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required to meet their needs . We need

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more mental health care givers , more

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training for our front line medics and

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other professionals , better system to

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understand the level of care needed and

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get patients seen by the right

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resources . Technology advancements can

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play a critical role here as we expand

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access and allow our mental health

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professionals to focus the majority of

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their time on patient care while we

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work to supplement their ranks .

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None of this is easy , not the mental

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health care advancement . We need the

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brain injury care and knowledge . We

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need to improve the advance in trauma

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care . We need to develop for the next

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battlefield . Tackling each of

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these issues require a deli delicate

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balance of resources and energy

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advocacy and understanding what is

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possible now and what we strive to make

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it possible . Tomorrow , I take heart

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in remember and celebrating our long

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record of accomplishment in the face of

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enormous challenges from the

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development of surgical and blood

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transfusion techniques to vaccines , to

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prosthetic , to telehealth . But I

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know that you share with me the

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understanding that our most important

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contributions lie ahead I

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am confident in your ability to take

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these challenges as that I've discussed

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today . And those are , I cannot even

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imagine yet . I thank you for

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your attention this morning and for

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everything you do every day . Thank you .