 Thank you for being here and thank you everyone for being here. This is a great great day for Pennsylvania But but more important. This is really a great day for Pennsylvanians Right. This is really a great day for all of us. I am going to sign a bill I'm going to say a few words then some people who have been very instrumental in making this happen we'll sign we'll say a few words. Hi Mike. Good to see ya and and then I'll sign the bill and Then I just want to Go out and say hi to all of you. I think that's what we all want to do This is a big big day I think I said this on Wednesday night, but there's three things that I think this says about our system first of all First of all, it says that we can work together Every once in a while in fact it happens a lot right here in this building We don't think about whether this thing is a Republican thing or a Democratic thing or a conservative thing Or a liberal thing or a Senate thing or a house thing This is something that's good for Pennsylvania and that's what we thought about here This is a show that not just one time but in things that really matter we can and do work together And I think that's a great thing Second thing this says is that and I said this again Wednesday when you have people who represent a cause as Elequently and in as heart fell the way as the advocates for this have done it shows that we can actually get something done That means something we're not Responding to a special interest here. We're not responding to somebody who makes campaign contributions We're responding to people here who are telling us that there is a real human need here in Pennsylvania And we did that we responded to that so I want to thank the advocate And the third thing is that once again We can do things that matter to a lot of people Really matters and we did that here. So I just want to congratulate all of us. Let me say one final note When I before I came to work on Thursday Guy I know friend of mine a construction worker came up to me and I said, okay, what did I do now? He said hey Tom. I Okay, first of all, where's the respect? He said Tom. I said he said I have a friend Who has ms? He's an advanced stage of ms. He's in a wheelchair And he told me he wanted me to tell you something and I said what he said. Thank you Cuz because of this because of this he said This liberates him it liberates his doctor because of this bill they can now He can be treated with with not hard drugs that he believes and his doctor believes might be hurting him But with something that actually might be more effective And all we're asking here is to have the ability to have that doctor make a decision in conjunction with his or her patient That will make that patient's life better. That's all this bill is about So I am going to pass that thank you on to everyone here senator fulmer Thank you I'm just passing this on I'm the messenger here. Thank you senator leach Representative vera. Thank you Representative Petrarcha Everybody here senator teplets everybody who's been part of this but most of all most of all All of you who have been advocates for this Thank you very much that comes from So before I sign this there are a few people who want to say some things and I think need Really deserve to have some time and I'm going to turn it over first to senator fulmer Mike fulmer This is about the people of Pennsylvania, this is your day and I am so so grateful to be part of this So much has been said a lot has been said and I've been thanking everybody But today if you would just bear with me for just a tad longer just a tad longer I will try to keep my comments. I'm trying to have a better carbon imprint With with less hot air and so forth but my point is is that there's so many people that that and there were so many things that made this work and Going forward going is in the very beginning two mothers came to me and They came to me with a message and they came to me with what they were going through with their children And those two mothers was Lolly who you're gonna be hearing from a little bit later, but I'd like to And Dana and Know I know you want to say a couple things here and I just want to give a little time to Dana because Okay, all right. All right ADHD. I'm sorry squirrel. I took on that You know last year at the farm show We were able to have a stand that we educated a bunch of people on on this issue. I mean thousands of people But you see folks that stand would never take in place would never happen Except for two small business people from my County, Lebanon County Dennis Ball back and Monica Klein and their alpaca farm. They're over there And I just want to say this Monica fought real hard For us to get this into the farm show and I'm gonna thank all the folks over at the farm show for allowing this to happen because there Was some resistance Because it's a very controversial issue But because of their hard work and their sacrifice they paid for the stand They gave it to us to advocate and we did a great job that week and we met thousands and thousands We handed out almost four thousand pieces of literature to two folks to help educate on this issue So I'm gonna just say thank you very much and by the way Monica I have your dad's watch here her father was lieutenant governor Ernie Klein And she gave me his pocket watch and that was like my good luck charm So I kept on rubbing it and I was rubbing it really hard the last couple of days I have to tell you in all honesty, so I'm gonna say that and then I'm gonna do something out of the ordinary. They always tell you that your staff is there to make you look good I'm blessed with One of the best staffs anybody could ever have And I'm gonna start out with my my my blood in district office staff who? Marie Tribioli Andy Denonzi on Barb Shutter who had to listen to me moan and groan and vet and and so forth as we Were trying to get this done and taking all the phone calls in the district. I Also want to thank in the Harrisburg staff. I gotta say Fallon binner. I don't know where you are. You're out there somewhere but Fallon Sometimes felt that she wasn't part of this because she did my scheduling and she took all the phone calls and had to put up with me and And and did a great job and finally you were a major part of this and thank you so much from bomb my heart Gwen Gwen dando What can I say? Even while you were getting your your daughter's Next meal you were reading drafts she breastfeed so and I didn't mean to embarrass but But my point is Hey, it was all real man, and it was all real Organic right it couldn't be better than that and then Michael tortino Michael you hear Michael Michael's the what was my earth expert? She probably forgot more about earth and a lot of us know and and that's for the regulation side and then finally To a chief of staff who? kept me focused I'll get his name who kept you kept me focused Who told me things that I needed to hear not what I wanted to hear and kept me strong It was actually the perfect chief of staff by the way, and that is Fred Senbach And I was one big fan of all that They did a great job and and in such And finally before I bring Dana up here I just want to say that I'm just honored to be able to be part of this and to all the friends that we made I mean I met all the moms I could go on forever with the names and I didn't mean to leave anybody out Because this was a total total team effort, and this is again I'm gonna close with this before Dana comes up This is your day and one more time we won All right, my next you're gonna talk with sorry I'm really sorry about this is my I do have ADHD So I'll be the first to met it. I'm gonna introduce my cold heart in crime Was real on to work with your brother Blessing Senator Daly Leach Thank you. Thank you. I would start off by noting that ADHD is not one of the 17 conditions that are covered So we can't help you out Mike But we have done it Marijuana is medicine and it's coming to Pennsylvania and when I say we that's exactly what I mean This would not become law today if it was not for Governor Wolf Obviously senator Fulmer and his staff Leader Reed and dozens of house members and staffers some of whom were here today My entire staff who I will name because they were such an integral part of this day today Zach Hoover Mary Pat to me John to Steve Hohenstein Samantha Altoff Judy Chombetta Zach Isaac Deb Barol Charles Brukowitz Caroline Edith Zoe Allen and Chad Hoffman and You know my staff when they said when when Mike said your staff is to make you look good I am really just the eye candy of my operation My staff is the brains behind it all and I thank them for all of their hard work Obviously, I want to thank all the moms Lolly and Kristen Bran and Dana and the hundreds of advocates who turn this building into their home over the last Couple years to make this happen when I first introduced the medical marijuana bill in 2010 I couldn't get a single co-sponsor. I Could not have imagined that a team like this would eventually a rally around this bill It is truly a humbling experience and as many of you know, I am not given to bouts of excessive humbleness The pain of illness touches us all eventually and so we all united to defeat it one by one My favorite right wing lunatic in the world Mike Fulmer We worked together we studied we begged we cajoled and we argued and we convinced our fellow legislators to join us It was a long and difficult process and it was not without its moments of pain and disappointment But we persevered and now let us pause to actually reflect on what happened here in this place Because it doesn't happen often enough We stopped being Democrats And started being caregivers We stopped being Republicans and started being patients We stopped being liberals and started being problem-solvers And we stopped being conservatives and started being compromisers and we stopped being politicians and Started being human beings The result is the most significant passive piece of social legislation to pass in generations It is among our proudest moments, and it is our gift for generations to come And as I behold this I can't help thinking this is what government is supposed to look like the marrying of our profession and our common humanity as President Kennedy said our most basic common link is that we all inhabit the same planet We all breathe the same air we all cherish our children's future and we are all mortal And today we are all healers Finally I'm gonna remove some of what I'm wearing. I know you've all been waiting for that Specifically the screen campaign for compassion bracelet. I Was given this three years ago by a mother with a sick child. I Promised I would not take it off until this bill was signed into law, and I have worn it every moment since Instantly the same is true of the rest of my wardrobe So I remove this as a symbol as a promise of a promise made and a promise kept I'll donate it to the Smithsonian or the Hard Rock Cafe Whoever asked for it first, but I've never watched it not once not one time, but we will walk out of this building today Into a new world Here's to our future together. Thank you And next I would like to introduce my second favorite wing lunatic representative Mike Burr. Where oh, there you go Right winger down home. I'm called a rhino What a great day to be here at this Capitol a Sunday governor, thank you for two reasons one I Got out of yard work for three hours The bad news is it's they're waiting just like a lot of other legislation. We have to get done Secondly, it gives a great chance for all these families who have just crossed this state on Every level to lobby us for the work that they wanted to see Don and Harrisburg So it gives a chance for those Who can't get here during the week the lobbyist and I think it's a great courtesy governor He did that today to allow all these families to be here so a little over two years ago a Mother Erin McCann and her son Ryan came to my office and For those you do not know my original issued night stick is on my capital office desk And I live eat and breathe law enforcement So imagine his family coming into a former narcotics officer talking about Daniel Leach kind of talk You know our job is led legislators the easiest thing to do is just say no The hardest thing to do is be patient and listen and educate yourself on the issue And you try to become yes We held a public town hall meeting at orange request and I'll never forget my phone called a senator fulmer. I said, you know, they call me a rhino. What are they calling you now that you? introduced this bill Marijuana Mike So we put you know real quick town hall together we packed the lower province township meeting hall and Then we got to meet Heather and Hannah Heather and her daughter Hannah who came down from Pittsburgh and then returned to Pittsburgh that night I'm my district is right outside of King of Prussia in Montgomery County And I sat and listened to testimony and I'm seeing a mother and her child Drive from Pittsburgh and back hours later So I had to listen and by the end of that hearing I stood up. I grabbed Aaron And I said we're gonna do this. I'm gonna weigh in I'm gonna support this bill I remember talking to senator fulmer who came down to that hearing and Testified and helped me get my way through this because my only observation of Marijuana all along was that it was unriacotic and if you had it I would arrest you So I had some transition But see you can transition if you're willing to listen and you're willing to listen to the facts And I talked with representative Dom Costa who is a Democrat and we talk every single week Who's a former chief in Pittsburgh? He's a co-chair at a law enforcement caucus in the house Mike Regan who's a former u.s. Marshal and I And we talked about how we go about this and we wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page Let me just say this This is a medicine and the fact that some people all of a sudden want to in involve and field at the credible FDA is important to us I was blown away on a floor to hear the rhetoric But it's so important for us to focus on the end goal the day where he takes off the bracelet and a day where this Gentleman here signs this bill in the law and that's where we are here today And if I continue to talk it's never gonna become law But governor, thank you for having me speak this was one of the hardest transitions on policy I've ever had But here's the reality There are no black helicopters in this bill There's no black market. There's already that market, and it's another market that I need all of your help to do And the governor knows this and feels passionately about this We must all of you take this victory and the energy from this victory and work with us to deal with the number one killer in Pennsylvania opioid abuse Opioid abuse has no party has no color has no religion It's one thing in common. It kills and we will work together with this group I hope as you as a coalition will help us because let's face it. That's the killer What we're doing today is the healer. Thank you And the Democratic chairman of the judiciary committee, which I sit in and good friend representative Joe Petraca Thank You Mike obviously fantastic fantastic day to be here I think I'm gonna miss the the marijuana advocates who sat right over there in this capital for For days upon days weeks and months certainly we got we got to where we got to where we need to be if we continue to have Days like this governor. We're gonna need a bigger rotunda Which is which is fantastic 90% of pennsylvania support medical marijuana. I think I think you're all here today fantastic fantastic as Representative verb set verb set in the house when we got this bill from the Senate last summer I think there was a lot of skepticism and we formed a task force in the house Democrats and Republicans All of which are here with us today where we started to talk about these issues Started to talk about what this means what this means to Pennsylvanians and Very early on I got a call from a constituent of mine Diana Briggs on behalf of her son Ryan Who asked me what I think of medical marijuana and I said I don't know that much about it To which he replied well, that's gonna change And and and change it did and and and again here we are here. We are today. It was at times very difficult road As we got toward the end I think so many people realize the benefits of medical marijuana that it just it just certainly carried the day In the house, there's so many people to thank we worked very well together Republicans and Democrats on the task force I too would like to thank my staff Tim Clages who did a lot of work on this and especially Sarah speed Who did tremendous work day in and day out on this issue and again helped us to get to get where we are today And as we as we are here in the final moments before this becomes law I would just like to say as people thank all of us for our work that We want to thank you. We want to thank the advocates. We want to thank the moms without The mothers we would not be here and it certainly reminds me of the famous Margaret Mead quote about Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens Can change the world indeed is the only thing that ever has well. Well, here we are And again as I see this I don't I don't see us as Politicians or Republicans or Democrats or elected officials We are just people finally speaking trying to help other people our veterans our families our children and with that I would like to introduce someone who's getting a very special birthday present today Absolute superstar Absolute superstar a tiger Lolli bench tops this birthday next year. That's very sweet Thank you It's a little bit nerve-wracking to be up here. I didn't really write down a speech and I'm just a wee bit nervous But I think I mostly am just filled with gratitude today and want to just take this opportunity to of course extend Thanks to several heroes in my heart First of all to governor Tom Wolf I'm not sure when the first time was that I met Tom Wolf, but You know at the time we were dealing with a very different administration We actually along with the Dalen over here had to Threaten to sit in in the former governor's office in order to get him to return Any of our phone calls just to get a return phone call So as soon as I met Tom Wolf and you know went back to the group of Corisans said, oh my gosh He's fabulous. You're gonna love him We were filled with hope from that moment forward and we had your back and You've always had our back and we just want to say thank you so much And you know, of course we have several other champions Dalen and Mike here and Champions in the house and Mike Jim. Oh my goodness. There's just there's so many of them And I can't possibly name them all but it's been a pleasure to work with each one of them You know a lot of people have said to us You would have never gotten this issue off the ground had it not been for you know, Mike or or for, you know, whoever I'll be I'll be brutally honest We would have found somebody to take this over the finish line. Okay. No matter what But what we would not have had was so much fun so much fun. These guys have been Just a dream team to work with every single one of them, you know, Joe You kept Diana to speed for us and it was we'll never be able to repay you for it You know all the assurance that we've had we were able to you know, shoot them a text message If we were just you know crying uncontrollably is this really happening, you know And and they would give us the reassurance that they need and just say trust us everything's gonna be okay These guys had our back every minute of every day But they made it fun and I think that's what's so important It was so important for our community because you know, although that this whole process has been long and Torturous and it seemed like it was just never gonna end and it was tear-filled And it was heartbreaking because we lost people along the way But we had each other and we were all together and that's what was most important And these guys were just part of family, you know It was just a large extended group of family that fought together and I just want to thank our community of advocates I don't think that a lot of you give yourselves the credit that you deserve, but you do As my mom likes to remind us you weren't between a rock and a hard place You were the rock in the hard place. So give yourselves a hand And we adopted a quote that I think has sort of Carried us through this and we often You know remind each other of this quote I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone into the water that will create many ripples You all created ripples every time you told your story you created a ripple every time you asked somebody to pray for you You created a ripple every time you called your representative or your senator or sent a letter you created a ripple And every single one of those gestures was extremely meaningful and that is why we are here today And I want to remind you that Had it not been such a long journey had it not felt like torture at times today wouldn't be nearly as special If we had just been handed this victory early on, you know two years ago today wouldn't be nearly as special We worked really hard for this and we won compassion won today promise I'll be done soon, but Lastly, I Want to I wanted to just recognize one very very special individual Campaign for compassion is often referred to as the moms the mama bears, you know And we're given a lot of the credit and a lot of the accolades But someone who's always there for us someone who was one of our very early on Co-founding members and who has been really the backbone of this movement is a chronic pain patient named Luke Schultz Some of you may have noticed Luke at some point here in the capital because he's the only one standing in a room He's the only one standing in a meeting and it is because he's in such severe chronic pain that he cannot physically sit down But he gets here for everything. He's driven here in a cot in the back of his van He makes it here every single time he has been dedicated to this cause and he has done everything that we've ever Needed to have done so I'd like to First of all name him an honorary mama bear And I want him to be recognized as the MVP of the medical cannabis movement And with that I think I'm gonna wrap it up. I just want to say thank you again all of you for being here It's been a real honor to be part of this team It was I think a labor of love for so many of us And I'm just so grateful for this day to finally be here. Thank you You know so many people have come up to me today and say can you believe this day has come? I just can't believe it and I keep saying yes, I can I can believe it's here I never doubted for a minute that it would come. I didn't think it would quite take this long But I never doubted for one second that this day would come It's been full of lots of tears and lots of trials But never did I doubt this day would come because I knew that the people in this room The people behind me the legislators that have surrounded us with their love and their compassion I never doubted this day would come and it's here I laid in bed last night and I was looking at my daughter who is the reason I got into this fight And I think a lot of us have gotten into this fight for a loved one and for me It was my daughter Lorelai and I just caressed the little contours of her face And I thank the Lord that she's made it this far to see this day and I just thought over the timeline of this journey and walking into senator Fulmer's office and I thought this is our guy. This is our guy Sorry Senator Leach, I know you were working really hard before he came on to the scene, but I knew that senator Fulmer was gonna be the guy who could could get together with you and make this work And I went back to Lali and I said senator Fulmer is our guy He can help us we can make this happen and we got tons of information together Lali and I and we went back to senator Fulmer and We convinced him that he was our guy It took some time, but we convinced him And so You know the the the events that played out in my mind. I mean they were almost tangible And and I thanked God. I I mean the glory has to go to him first to God For big D here for being brave enough to having you know, I mean clearly he had you know He's a head of the curve on most things But you know for Being brave enough to stand up for this issue before a lot of people were You know and Mike Fulmer I could say he's just being brave enough for teaming up with this guy But they went from being you know crazy Dalen and Marijuana Mike to being true champions to this cause and You know, they will forever be known from this day forward as People that we have always known them to be which are champions to this cause they are saving They are going to save the lives of millions of people from this day on People that they will never meet They're saving the lives of Because they said yes when others said no and I can't thank them enough for that I Want to thank Governor Wolf who did the same thing We had an administration We had an administration that came before that it was always closed doors and turned backs And we never had that with Governor Wolf He was always open-armed and ready to fight for us whenever we needed it And so thank you Governor Wolf from the bottom of our hearts. So today as I finish I Think the most important message I want to put out there is That when you get a group of truly dedicated people together That have the same goal and the same mind and the same hearts you can achieve anything You truly can Don't give up. Don't give in Thank you to all of our legislators. Thank you to all of our patient advocates all of the caretakers Truly from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you so much and God bless you all Okay, I am now going to make it official. Is that all right?