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And uh I really uh appreciate so many of my friends being here, so many great friends are here. This afternoon we're gathered to celebrate the deep and abiding ties of history, family, and friendship that bind together Ireland and the United States of America. The Irish American patriots have been part of our national history in our country's earliest days. Amazing history they have with our country. Irish Americans fought heroically in our war for independence, served with honor in the crucible of the Civil War and won fame and valor among. Theodore Roosevelt's famous Rough Riders, they were rough riders by some estimates more than 2000 Irish American warriors have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is an amazing statistic. Because, uh, who would ever think that's even possible? It's more than 50% of the medals of honor were won by the Irish. I'm gonna have to check that. That sounds like that's like, uh, that's an awfully good statistic. We're gonna have to check what's going on over there, huh, but that's an amazing statistic actually 50%. This includes the great Eddie Murphy, the most decorated enlisted soldier in American history whose service in the Second World War, earned *** Medal of Honor, 2 Silver Stars, *** bronze star, 3 Purple Hearts, and the Legion of Merit. Quite *** person, became *** movie actor. The movie actor stuff wasn't quite as good as the soldier that he did, but, uh, he was great, became *** very famous person actually. America's truly been blessed by the courage and unstoppable spirit of the Irish over the generations, Americans of Irish ancestry have helped build our railroads and raise our cities and man our factories and enrich our culture with art and music and literature. We see that all over. And protect our communities by joining the proud tradition of Irish American police officers and firefighters. If you have done more for the stars and stripes and the sons and daughters of the Emerald Isle, and I can tell you I know your father was *** great boxer and uh they have *** lot of good fighters. I know so many Irish fighters, they like to fight and they're damn good at it too, but your father, his father was *** great fighter actually, so that means genetically I'm not gonna mess around with you. You understand I'm, I'm *** believer in that. But as you know, on Monday, millions of Americans will celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. We love Saint Patrick's Day, maybe especially in New York. Hundreds of thousands of citizens decked in Irish Green will parade through the streets of Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and of course New York, *** site that I've witnessed many, many times. In Manhattan, the people will stream up 5th Avenue and march past the magnificent. I see it so much and I love it, especially when you're looking down upon Saint Patrick's Cathedral because it's to me one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world, and it's *** monument not only to God but also to the patriot saint of Ireland, patriot saint. It's really an extraordinary testament to the connection between our two countries that after more than 1500 years, the shining legacy of Saint Patrick's still rouses city blocks half the world away. Think of that and fills our people with incredible love and pride. We have *** lot of pride in that cathedral. That cathedral is something to me, so beautiful. Uh, I think maybe my favorite, they have larger, you know, it's very large, but they have larger, but I think it's truly one of the most beautiful. The Irish spirit is, uh, truly alive and thriving in America and as we see today, the friendship between our nations is strong and it's really unbreakable and that includes all of you, you know, it's all of you, we, uh, we love you all. So to hook, I wanna just thank you once again for being here. It's an honor and hopefully we're gonna be doing this, uh, at least 3 more times, OK? We're gonna be doing this 3 more times at least and when I say at least they go absolutely crazy. So thank you very much for being here, Mary. Thank you very much for being here. It's *** great honor. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, everybody. Thank you.