Care about jobs. If youre american and you want to work, were going to put you back to work, businesses. Why should the people out here care about this issue . Starting with you, scott. Thank you, lawrence, and im so happy to be here with you all at cpac. You know, the president has set forth policies that give the people of america inside of the communities an opportunity to start businesses, to build new homes, you know, to be selfsustaining, to be selfgoverned and fulfill the American Dream and really to fulfill their godgiven potential. I have the honor of the white house the opportunity and revitalization council, which works inside the nations Opportunity Zones. Opportunity zones bring stake holders together inside of communities that havent seen investment in decades. Youre talking about elected officials, community leaders, faith leaders, education leaders with developers and entrepreneurs sitting at the same table at the same time having a hard conversation. You know, whats the pain of this community . Why is this community, you know, vacated and blight . And also whats the promise here . You know, whats the potential of the community . And to see all of these people coming together to bring viable solutions, job creation, new businesses, new homes. Theyre willing to listen to you. This is not a partisan issue. No. Youve got everybody involved. Yes, and the good thing about Opportunity Zones, you know everyone, ive learned doing this job, ive been to almost 60 cities in the last 11 months, and poverty has no color. Poverty has no party. It doesnt matter if theyre republican or democrat. Poverty affects our country. It is affects all of us indirectly or directly. And so when you look at poverty and say our goal and our vision is the eradication of poverty, to help people to rise up. When youre in poverty, you dont care about party. But the good thing about revitalization, that means to bring new life. Revitalization doesnt have a party. It starts inside the heart of every man and every woman. So im proud to steward this initiative, you know, Opportunity Zones for our country. Administrator, we hear about it, about the regulations that were in these communities, that were stopping the growth from the epa. How bad was it . We had a lot of regulations that were stopping growth around the country, and the important thing about these Opportunity Zones is going in with some federal money under a program and cleaning up these communities and then attracting private sector dollars into these communities. President trump really cares about the forgotten americans of this country, and these Opportunity Zones are in inner cities, and they are in Rural Communities. And what weve done over the last three years is invest in these communities, and when we invest a little bit of money from the federal government to clean up these sites, the private sector then comes in, and they invest more money. Were seeing after weve cleaned up a site, the local tax revenue goes up [inaudible]. Weve created over 155,000 jobs in these communities by cleaning up these sites in the Opportunity Zones. But the regulations under president trump, we have we have deregulated we have taken away 51 regulations, saving the American Public 6. 5 billion dollars. [applause] just from that alone. Amazing. Administrator, i know this audience, and when they hear about the federal government coming in, giving out money, how can you confidently tell them that the money is not going to be abused or wasted . We watch very carefully how the money is being spent, but there are these Old Industrial sites around the country. They are in the inner cities. They are also in Rural Communities that need to be cleaned up. They have contamination. Some of the companies that may be 100 years ago are no longer in existence, but we dont want these blighted city blocks. We dont want these blighted buildings where nothing is occurring. We want them cleaned up. We go in and make sure the people who are hired to clean them up are doing it under the Environmental Standards that we have, and then those properties can then be redeveloped and repurposed, and were seeing new development come in to these communities, and its just its incredible. Its not just the inner cities, but it is also the rural areas. We listed a new superfund site last year in menden West Virginia which has about 650 people in it. It was the site of a lot of mining 75, 50, 75 years ago. That city has been decimated. Its a third of what it was. And they now have some new hope that were going to be able to help clean up the waste that they had in their city and maybe attract some new jobs. Scott, before thats amazing by the way. Scott, before you joined the white house, you were a state representative. You were a pro football player. And you were a businessman. And when i go out in the community, the equalizer is the green. Everybody cares about the money. So what are you doing with the Opportunity Zones as it relates to entrepreneurship, because theres a lot of people where i come from that are business people, they just dont know what to do. Right, and thats a great question, lawrence. You know, when you look at Opportunity Zones, the spirit of this law, and this came about because of the tax cuts and jobs act in 2017. The spirit of Opportunity Zones is both Economic Development and social impact. And so when you look at Opportunity Zones and you look at the development thats going on, theres real estate development, but theres also operating businesses which is just as important because we know in america, you know, small to medium businesses, that drives our economy, and thats the american way. So i mean, you are talking about like in cleveland, ohio, theres a new bakery thats coming online in the Opportunity Zone, a firsttime Business Owner that has, you know, private capital and Public Investment coming together to start a new business in the area of cleveland ohio. Thats one example of entrepreneurship. The president is very driven and very supportive, if you will, from his background and also from his heart about entrepreneurship and people starting and owning businesses, and so thats a huge driver. Just yesterday at the white house, we had nearly 150 black entrepreneurs and Business Owners at the white house for a summit to talk about entrepreneurship, you know, what policies are helping you . Whats working . What do we need to do better because were not just about checking the box. You know, theres been a lot of programs in america, right . But this is an initiative. The Opportunity Zone is a longterm sustainability. When people come to the white house, we want to hear whats working for you, what can we do better . How can we help you to be successful in your business, to take care of your family, to be an impact in your community . Because long after all of us are gone, the vision is there will be a generational impact in our country. Thats why im here. Thats why were all here; right . [laughter] [applause]. Thats the heart of it. And entrepreneurship is a big driver of that. You give someone who has a skill set, like someone who can cut hair or maybe a lady who is a beautician or even somebody thats good with their hands and they want to be a plumber or a welder, and we build career and Technical Centers to teach the trade, to teach somebody how to draw blood, to teach cosmetology, to teach somebody how to be a fireman, right, and they go out and have an honest job and great living and maybe even start a business that could ignite something in their community. It may even ignite look, conversations around the Kitchen Table are changing. Thats right. When you Start Talking about i know i can own this i came from a broken home. Right . When you get these young people inside the inner cities and they now Start Talking you know im good with my hands, maybe i can start a business one day. Those conversation ss around the table are changing. [applause] and when they start changing, then generations start changing. I want to let administrative wheeler talk, but entrepreneurship is not only driving our economy, but it is literally changing families and futures and generations, and thats something that we as a country and as people together need to continue to drive and to pray for and to ignite and to invest in because we will see a Greater America when that happens. Absolutely. [applause] you know, this is an antisocialism conference. But there has to be an alternative, administrator, to the people that want socialism, and what scott is saying is that the government is not saying im going to give you this. You are not just giving grants away. Yeah. Youre making sure people have the education and are partnering with the local businesses and n the community. In the community. Talk a little bit about that. Yes, we are. One of the other programs we have at the epa is under the clean air act. If local communities, particularly cities, clean air standards, it is hard to attract new businesses in those communities. We are now working more proactively with cities all over the country to get them from nonattainment on the air standards to attainment. And under president trumps leadership, we have moved 38 communities from nonattainment to attainment over the last three years. [applause] that is lifting a lot of the regulatory burdens on our cities so that they can attract new businesses, so they can bring in new when a business looks to see where they want to settle or start a new facility, they look to see whether or not the community is in attainment with the Environmental Standards, but so by helping these communities attain these standards, its helping attract new businesses into our cities, and particularly inner cities, but the one thing i want to make sure everybody here knows and understands is our environment is cleaner today than it has ever been. Epa [applause] is 50 years old this year. Our air pollution is 74 lower than it was in 1970. Wow. [applause] 74 . We measure six criteria air pollutants. We have been measuring for 50 years, and all six have gone down under president trumps leadership. Our air is cleaner today. Our water is cleaner today. [applause] in 1970, 40 of the Water Systems failed to meet epa standards. Today over 92 of the Water Systems meet the standards every single day, and were working with the other communities that occasionally have a problem with their Water Systems to make sure we provide clean water to every american regardless of their zip code and where they live. Everybody deserves clean air and clean water. [applause] administrator, i have to ask you because you know being in this media business, you dont hear ive noticed that tell me what data do they have that you dont have, and youre the epa administrator . Can i Say Something real quick . Absolutely. Administrator wheeler is doing a tremendous job at the epa. When you think about the epa, who thinks about the epa literally . I do. [laughter] i know you do. But people need to understand that this is a businessminded leader, in a businessminded administration. When you drive by brown fields, when you drive by blighted communities, you drive by there, you take all of that for granted what he sees is opportunity because developers do not want to develop in a place that is dirty, that has contamination, and so what he is doing is literally clearing the way for development to come inside of these communities that have not seen development in a long time, because its clean; right . Its cleaned up. [applause] so it is very important, right . What hes doing. I do want to point out. I want to make sure everything is cleaned up for more development and for people to have jobs and opportunities, but we also care about the environment. Im an eagle scout. I still go hiking, camping. And i want to make sure that the environment is safe and preserved for future generation. Thank you, sir. This is not an epa secretary administrator that sits behind the desk. Hes been on the road with scott turner, making sure, looking at the community, seeing whats going on and clearing the way, getting Big Government out of the way, checking them so these businesses can come back to the community. Another crucial part, scott, is education; right . We want people to have jobs. We want entrepreneurship. But we want quality businesses. So what have you guys been doing to make sure that these people are ready to go out there, be in the workforce, and then create be job creators . Thats a good question. And im sorry for interrupting you. Go right ahead. I would rather listen to you speak. Were good friends. You are doing a tremendous job. It is one thing to have jobs to be created but you have to train the people to take the jobs. So Workforce Development is a tremendous and Important Initiative of the administration. And ivanka trump is leading that effort when it comes to workforce or workforce training. [applause] and so, you know, on the opportunity and revitalization council, theres 14 federal agencies and three state and regional partners. And we have different pillars inside of the council from entrepreneurship to Economic Development to safe neighborhoods and to labor and education. You know, workforce training, and so that is a tremendous and a big priority to make sure that people are trained for the 21st century workforce because if you look at the young people today, in the high schools and the middle schools and even those in the colleges and universities, thats the generation of leaders, that workforce thats coming. We have to do our best job, the administrator, myself, you, lawrence, and others to make sure they are ready to take the baton of leadership and trained up in the right way so education is very important, and listen, weve had a deal in our country where were encouraging young people and saying you have to go to a fouryear college. Listen, all young people are not going to go to a fouryear college. But it doesnt mean they are not going to be successful. [applause] we need to change that narrative and change those conversations because some people become some young people become discouraged. Thats right. And thinking well, i am not college material. I dont want to go to college, but i still want to be successful. We need to let them know you absolutely can be successful and have a prosperous life, you know, if you dont go to college. [applause] im going to let the administrator im going to interrupt you now. Were doing that at epa as well. You know, right now were looking to hire new risk assessors, recent College Graduates in our North Carolina facility. So if youre a recent college student, youre from North Carolina, were looking to hire new risk assessors to help us. At the same time, were training across the country people to go into the Water Management systems jobs, public water works. The public water works workers today, 40 to 50 percent of them are eligible to retire. Were going to have a shortage in that area, so were trying to get out there and you dont necessarily have to have a College Education to work for a water supply company, on that side. Theres jobs across the whole spectrum. Thats great. But 40 to 50 percent of those people are eligible to retire today. We have to make sure we have people trained to run our Water Systems, public water, drinking water, sewer Water Systems, going into the future to make sure we have ensure clean Safe Drinking Water for all americans. So administrator, you are the epa administrator, and what is your message to conservatives because, you know, im a conservative, but i believe that god entrusted us to be good stewards of the earth . [applause] absolutely. What is your message to the conservatives out here, in the state of our environment . As i said, our environment is the cleanest its ever been, since we have been measuring it for the last 50 years. 74 reduction. You dont hear that in most news organizations or in the newspapers. 74 reduction in air pollution over the last 50 years. At the same time, what were trying to do at epa is make things more transparent. Were working on cost benefit regulation so we can explain to the American Public what are the costs and benefits of the regulations. People have a right to know what they are paying for. If they are paying for a regulation, you need to know what the benefit is of that regulation. Were going to require it Going Forward for all our regulations. Today we are going live with a new database this is president trumps idea where all our epa guidance documents will be publicly access to believe the public. Accessible to the public. Were all about transparency. The third area i want to highlight real fast is our science transparency regulation. Ive gotten beat up on this by everybody in the media. What were trying to do is to make sure we use a Scientific Study to justify a regulation that that Scientific Study has to be made available to the public, so you know how were making our decisions. I think if we do that, that clears up a lot of the mystery and confusion about the epa policies and how we regulate and that will provide more transparency and the American Public can see what their taxpayer dollars are buying because its not government money. Its money from the taxpayer. Thats great. Pla thats great. [applause] scott i opened this up by saying when i got to baltimore, philly, i told them in those communities that the white house cares about them, that the calvary is coming. Tell me about Success Stories from your work in these Opportunity Zones. I only have one minute nine seconds left. I will tell you to Opportunity Zones. Gov. It will teach you about what they are, the activity of the council, some things we have learned along the way and how you can get involved in the Opportunity Zones. I told you about the new business in cleveland, the new bakery, but i think one that really tugs at my heart is in liberty city, miami, secretary carson and i were there because developers there took one of the toughest parts of the city in the Housing Project and are redeveloping into multifamily housing. We saw the first resident to move into her new apartment, the nicest apartment she said shes ever had in her life. Wow. But theres two young men there from that neighborhood, that the developer taught how to be window and door installers. Wow. And during that press conference [applause] one of those young men tapped that window and said i put this window in here. We dont want to be on the streets. We dont want to be on the corner. Now he has a life skill because of Opportunity Zones. [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen, administrator, director, thank you very much for being here. Last thing i will say is this, revitalization is a conservative issue. If we are not there, we open the door for [inaudible] to take place. Theres an entire opportunity that are crying for help, and the white house is saying send me, send me. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] hear this Weeks Supreme Court oral argument on the louisiana abortion case, tonight at 8 00 eastern on cspan 2. Listen any time at cspan. Org. And with the free cspan radio app. And to see a schedule of up coming oral arguments and to watch others weve covered, as well as speeches by the justices, go to cspan. Org supreme court. This weekend on book tv, mayoral leadership, reflections from a watergate lawyer, and the effect of a two Party Political system on democracy. Saturday night at 11 00 p. M. Eastern. In the nation city, former chicago mayor and Obama Administration chief of staff rahm emanuel on innovation at the local level in cities across the country. On sunday at 7 50 p. M. Eastern, in her latest book the watergate girl jill banks talks about her legal career including her role as one of the three assistant special prosecutors in the watergate case. And at 9 00 p. M. , on afterwords, new america senior fellow argues in his book breaking the two Party Doom Loop that the two party system is damaging americas democracy. Hes interviewed by George WashingtonUniversity Professor and author. What would be the chief advantages to having a multiparty democracy . Democracy i mean, democracy is always going to involve conflict as politics is conflict the issues of consensus are not political issues but the challenge is we need to have some system by which we can agree that some set of rules are fair and some set of procedures are fair and we can abide by those outcomes. Watch rahm emanuel, jill banks and afterwords, this weekend on book tv, and be sure to tune in next weekend for our twoday live coverage of the tucson festival of books, on book tv, on cspan 2. A senate panel is investigating the vetting process for International Military students. The review was ordered after a saudi student shot and killed three servicemembers at a naval base in pensacola, florida, in december. This Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing is shared by senator joni ers is chaired by senator joni ernst of iowa