Transcripts For CSPAN3 President Holds Infrastructure Meeting 20180216

At least 1. 5 trillion in Infrastructure Investments with state, local and private partners. President trump then held a meeting with state and local leaders to discuss his infrastructure proposal. This this is what he had to say about the proposal. [ applause ] hello, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Sit. It is a great honor to have everybody with us, and we have some very exciting things to be talking about and things that you have been waiting for, for a long time for many, many years, and now, lets see how badly you want it. Because if you want it badly, you are going to get it, and if you dont want it, that is okay with me, too, but we have to rebuild the infrastructure and i said this morning as of a couple of months ago, we have spent 7 trillion in the middle east. 7 trillion, and what mistake. And but it is what it is. This is what i took over. And we are trying to build roads and bridges and fix bridges that are falling down. And we have a hard time getting the money. It is crazy. But think of that. As of a couple of months ago, 7 trillion in the middle east, and the middle east is far worse than it was when they went in, and not so intelligently i must say went in. I am being nice. So it is a very sad thing. The budget was recently passed and the reason that it was passed is because of our military. Our military was totally depleted, and we will have a military like we have never had before. And we are going to have an incredible military, and to me that means a couple of things. Number one, it does mean jobs, but number one, it is safety and security, because without the military, and we may have very strong views on spending which i have, but without the military, it is possible that there is no reason for us to be meeting, and maybe we would not be here, so we will have the Strongest Military we have ever had by far where we are increasing the arsenals of virtually every weapon, and modernizing and creating a brandnew Nuclear Force and frankly, we have to do it because others are doing it, and if the they stop, we will stop, but they are not stopping, so if they are not fwog to stop, we will be so far ahead of everybody else in the nuclear like you have never seen before and i hope they stop. And if they do, we will stop in two minute, and frankly, i would like the to get rid of a lot of them, and if they want to do that, we will go along with them, and lead the way, and go along with them, and we will have a Nuclear Force that is going to be absolutely modernized and brandnew and hope we never have to use it, and reduce it in the years ahead, and that depends really on what other people are going to be doing, but we will be number one in that category, certainly as long as i am president. We will be far and far in excess of anybody else. I am honored the be here with the governors, with kocounty executives and mayors from around the country. Secretary chow and secretary zinke and administrator ross, thank you for joining us. I a greatly appreciate. We are here to discuss the critical need to address the crumbling infrastructure, and one understands and the people in room understands better than most that probably hopefully better than anybody that the problem with the states have and the local leaders have with funding the infrastructure is horrendous, and we will build, and we will maintain, and the vast majority of americas want to see us take care of the infrastructure, and Trucking Companies are complaining that they used to take trucks from los angeles to new york and there was no damage, and now they bring them from los angeles to new york and there is tremendous damage to their trucks. Because our road s as are in ba shape, and we are going to get the roads in great shape, and very important. We are going to the make the infrastructure modernized and we are really way behind schedule and way behind other countries. We led the way for many, many year, and then, the number of decades ago, it slowed down and then over the last eight years and 15 years to be honest, it is coming to a halt. This morning, i submitted legislative principles to congress to spur the biggest and the boldest infrastructure in American History. The framework is going to generate unpresented 1. 5 to 1. 7 trillion investment in american infrastructure and a lot of the Public Private and that way it is done on time and on budget. And it is going to speed the permit approval process from ten years to two years and maybe the to one year, because when we give you as governors and mayors and people representing your great states give you money, and you cant get your approvals, i guess that we will take the money back or you wont build and some of you are sitting around the table and some of you governors are going to get the permits and a couple of them, i see they wont get them so fast, but you have to get it or you cant build, because we cant give you money if you dont have a permit. One state, it took 17 years for a basic roadway to get a permit, and the cost was many, many times what it was supposed to be. We cant have that. We want you to get going and working the permitting process, and from the workforce and environmentally and Everything Else that we have to dond a scott is here, and we will get your permits very quickly. It provides 50 billion for Rural Infrastructure who have been left out. The rural folks have been left out, including Broadband Internet access which they cant have and they want it, and the farmers want it. It will create thousands and thousands of jobs an krins ed training for the Great American workers. And a return of power to the staet and local governments who know best what their people need, and washington will will no longer be a roadblock to progress, and washington is now going to be your partner. Your partner. And a lot of money, and up to 1. 7 trillion which is more than a lot of people thought, and we will have great people work, and Great Companies investing and building and they will build for you because sometimes the states are unable to do it, like we can do it. Or like other people can do it or like i used to do it. When i did the wellman rink, it took seven years, and took forever to get it done and i did it in a few months at a much smaller price. They had invested 12 million in building an ice skating rink in the center of central park and somebody told me about this the other day, they had never forgotten it. It was a big deal at the time. And it was a big deal. A and so it took many, many years and una able to the open it. I said, you know, i would like to have my daughter ivanka who is with us, id like to have her go ice skating some time the before she does not want to ice skate. I got involved and i did it in a few months, and we did it for a tiny fraction, tiny fraction of the cost. It is no different with the roadway or the bridge or the tunnel or anything else that we are going to be fixing. The returns of money, and investment to the states and the local government will be incredible. And nobody knows better than you people where you want the money invested if the that is the other thing for the federal government to say, gee, this is what we want in wisconsin, and you know what you want and where you are going to do it, and you know exact ly where the money i going to go. And what about the new Company Moving up there, fox cocon and y make the apple iphone and i said a long time, i want those companies to be making their product here, and they went to the wisconsin. Scott did a great job to do the presentation. They had a great site and it was an old auto spot, and i said that is a great site for you in wisconsin, and i hear that is where they are going, so you have done a fantastic job. But this is a common sense, and bipartisan plan that every member of congress should support. I look forward to working with them, and we are going to get the American People roads that are fixed and bridges that are fixed and if for any reason they dont want to support it, hey, that is up to them. What was very important to me was the military, and what was very impo rnt to me was the tax cuts, and what was very important to me was regulation. This is of great importance, but not nearly in that category, because the states will have to do it themselves if we dont do it. We want to help the the states out, and we are going to do it w with this budget. And we are going to to as i mentioned with the military, and we will take care of the military like never before and general mattis said, wow, i got what i want andn i said, yes, no excuses. Buy twice of what you want for half of the price and maybe we will get involved in the buying, and twice as many planes for half the price. And believe me, we can do a lot, because of the procurement process is very outdated to put it nicely. We will have something special. But what was important with the budget is daca. I did not want it in the budget, but separate so we could talk about it and make a deal. I hope the be able to make a deal. I ohope that democrats are not going to be using it as a campaign. They have been talking about daca for many years, and they have not produced. We have started to talk about it, and we will produce. If the democrats want a deal, it is up to them. We want tremendous Border Security, but we have to have the democrat support for daca and they are starting that process today. We did not want it in the big budget because it would get mixed up with other things. And so today, we are starting the daca talks. And speaking for republican p party, we would love to do the daca and get it done. We want Border Security and the other elements that you know, the chain migration, and the visa lottery you know about, but we think that there is a good chance of getting the daca done if the democrats are serious and actually want to get it done. But they didnt want the tax cuts and not one vote for massive tax cuts that have been unbelievably popular, and what came up which is even a surprise to us were the Big Companies stepping up and millions and millions of people have gotten tremendous bonuses that nobody knew would happen. That is just the beginning point. Not one democratic vote for that, and that that, and that is a big political problem for them. They are going around saying that they made a mistake, because the tax cuts and you can see what is going on, it has spurred the economy. Unemployment at virtually record lows and black unemployment is the lowest in history and hispanic unemployment is at the low nest recorded history which is so great. And so we are very, very, and it is amazing what is going on with the economy. I just wanted to end by saying that it is an honor to have all of you with us. We will have a few of you make statements and this then we will all stay around and if you want, question leave the press or have the press leave immediately, and i will leave it up to scott walker, because you are going to be the first speaker, and would you like to say a few words . Sure. Thank you, everybody. First off, mr. President , on behalf of all of us, the state and local leaders and the democrat and the republican alike, thank you for the administration to host us all. Before you came in we were having a good lively discussion about answering the questions that many of us have. And you alluded to foxcon and you were great to help to us announce here as i mentioned to many of the folks assembled here today for the first time ever, the lcd panels in the future will be big, and made by sharp to be made in the United States, and proud to be made in the state of wisconsin and about a 10 billion investment, and we are hoping with 3 billion of incentives when we think of infrastructure, it is going to tie into that as it does all over the state of wisconsin. And in the past few year n the recent budget, we have made a 24 million and billion investment in the state of the transportation infrastructure and it is about 3 billion more than the previous year, and so we understand what you are trying to do here. One of the projects which is a 1. 5 or 1. 6 billion transportation project from interstate 84 through the state lines to the largest county milwaukee county. We have completed a good chunk of it. I think that 13 of the 19 interchanges have been completed with half of the miles done, but one major portion done to have a new 10 billion ecosystem that we are working on in the state, and the budget put one quarter of a million on top of the money spe spent, and through the help of the federal government with the infrastructure of America Funding that we can finish off the rest. And get this, the best part is that the local roads that we are helping out with, and beyond that is done in about eight months time, and we believe and the time schedule that we are on, the remainder can be done in less than two years with the ideal completion date being before the fall of 2020, and a day i am sure that you are interested in, that it is going to be completed by that time and we are thrilled and good example of the partnership of the federal, state and local governments and so i would add that when you were coming in my friend from iowa was talking about the Rural Infrastructure and rural interests that we have good part of Rural Partnership as well, but particularly for the broadband and wed love to have with the white spaces or the Fiber Networks or whatever you name it, there are plenty of opportunities for us to grow and expand the internet capacities all throughout the United States. It is unfair of what has happened with the broadband in terms of the middle west and rural as you know, and you were a victim of it, but we are going to take care of it and spending a a great deal of money on it and it is only fair. They want it. They know how to use it, and we will get it. How many jobs will be created because of the foxcons new plant . About 35,000 in total. 13,000 in direct, and another 13,000 indirect. And direct jobs 13,000 and talking about rural is bigger than 96 of all of the municipalities in the state of wisconsin. That is great. Everybody wanted foxcon and frankly, they werent going to be coming to the kcountry, and hate to say it but if i was not elected, they would not have been doing that in this country, and out of curiousty, and 20,000, 25,000 jobs and one of the biggest Economic Development jobs in the country, and how will you go about training and getting the people there. And even before those jobs, up to 10,000 construction jobs which fits in what you are talking about today. We have people in our state and adjoining states, and we have made visits to ivanka who v visited the technical college, and many of the technical colleges are stepping up the program because this is not only for construction, but hightech advanced manufacturing and this is a whole new way for us. So, not only people in state being train and recruit people from other states as well. And other people will be recruited as well . Yes. Congratulation, and you really did. You told me the other day, that you were really, really great. The state of wisconsin, im not surprised, but you did a great job, and thank you very much. Thank you, mr. President. And adding to that, apple as i told tim cook in the campaign and before i was elected. You know, i dont know fi make it or not, but if i do, you have to build some plants and big plant, and i wont consider this a Great Success unless i see the big plants that i see all over china and other places, but in particular china, and you will hopefully build them here. He gave us a big surprise two weeks ago with 350 billion and not million, but 350 million would have been a nice plant, too, but it is 350 billion of which he is taking 245 billion back, and that is no knee that we talked about coming back into the country. I think it going to be about 4 trillion and it was 2. 5 trillion, but i have been using that number for years, so i know that the number is larger, and maybe more than that, but a lot of it is coming back. And another Company Announced they are bringing billions back into the country, but r, apple is bringing about 240 billion back in. They are going to build a tremendous campus, and going to build new plants, and it is beyond anything that anybody thought that even possible. It is exciting. And you add that on to foxcon and it is a whole different world out there. So, scott, thank you very much. Governor martinez. I would like to have you talk about some of the Great Strides that you have made in new mexico. And what we are doing in some of the things that are happening, because it is a very exciting state. What is going on. Thank you. Thank you, mr. President. First id like to start by thank you of what you are doing with the states and the may r yors and the commissioners to have a part of the conversation and it did not exist in the previous administration, and because of that we are at the table to give our different ideas of how they impact our states. I am very grateful for that for you and your willingness to allow us to participate. Thank you. And so, i also want the to let you know that the tax reform taking place is bringing millions into the state and with that kcomes the Economic Growth and our Economic Growth for example, we have just brought facebook to new mexico and keep in mind that new mexico is a 2. 1 million population and to bring facebook and the investment with 1,000 construction jobs and of course, have been preparing for those additional jobs with our Community Colleges and our twoyear institutions and the vocational schools to make sure that workforce could take on that number. As you know, new mexico is a very big piece of the National Security as well as natural and Energy Resources in new mexico. The infrastructure is very important, because we used to have twolane highways for the amount of what we were developing in the Energy Sector as well as the military bases and the National Labs now are requiring four lanes and possibly turning lanes, because there is so much traffic because of the energy in the southeast and the northwestern part of our state is so big and booming that we have private vehicles going to merge into the traffic, an unu unfortunately right now, kit ca be dangerous. And also, we had the Waste Infrastructure Program down in the southeastern part of the state bringing the transatlantitransatlantic waste from one part of the state to another, and traveling on narrow roads with the public. Thank you for including us to be a big part of that. Sure. And the funding has been private and public and National Infrastructure a dollars coming together. We have been insisting on that r for the last seven year, because we dont want a Single Source of fu funding to take care of our needs. So we are contantly asking for the project to be put together what is the city putting in or the private sector putting in or the state putting in so together we can begin the project and complete it. Great job that you have done. And for the people new mexico have been terrific, and one of the things that we are doing separate from the meeting and it all sorts of amount s s to the thing that is a reciprocal tax, and we are going to charge the taxes outside of the country, and countries that take advantage of the United States, and some of them are socalled allies and allies on trade, and they will have not charge them anything, and we send them the same product they are sending us, and they are going to charge us 15 and 25 tax, and that is one of the examples of the taxes of Harvey Davidson that is treated unfairly in various countries, and you know the countrieses and so we will be doing a reciprocal tax and you will be ha hearing of that in the coming weeks and months and not fair when we are taken advantage of, and that is why we have the big trade deaf sits and tremendous trade as we are renegotiating nafta now and we will renegotiate it or terminate, and bob lighthouser is doing a fantastic job on that and hopefully the renegotiation is going to be successful, and hopefully going to be more successful, but nafta is going to be that we lose a tremendous amount of money, and at least 1 71 billion with mexico and canada does not treat us right in terms of the farming and crossing the borders so they will treat us right or we will just have to do biz answer little bit differently. We cannot continue to be taken advantage of by other countries and we cannot continue to have people come into our country and rob us blind and charge us tremendous tariffs and taxes and we charge them nothing. We can not allow it to happen. We cannot allow it to happen. We lose vast amounts of money with china and japan and south korea and so many other countries. And they understand where i am coming from. I have talked to all of them. They understand it. It is a little tough for them, because they have gotten away with murder for 25 years. But we are going to be changing the policy, and you know, we have an incredible country, but we cant let that happen. It is really affecting our workers, and everything, so that is a big part of what is happen ing over the next month, and everything is related to the meeting, and i wanted to mention that specifically. I would like to have a county commissioner of miamidade say a few words of the progress being made there, also. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you. And you would appreciate knowing miamidade the way that you do, the gridlock are experiencing, and the gridlock could be one of the biggest detractors to the economic investment. Miamidade county has embarked on the miami smart plan and that is miamismart willplan for those following. But we have skin in the game, and created a t. I. T iff legisla and so our biggest concern, mr. President , is that quite honestly the environmental regulatory process delays our ability to deliver project, andly the tell you what i consider a horror story. Many of the corridors that we are examining now that wed like to develop transit or expand the Transit System have been studied since 1970. That is right. And mr. President , i was in Elementary School at the time that this was being talked about in my county. We have grave concern and i represent an area of laborers and what does the gridlock do to them, the construction man r or the plumber or the carpenter who is losing jobs, because he cant get to five appointments, but three, and the other two are going to other places and we will get you the federal permits and get you the environmental and the transportation permits and get them for you so fast that your head is going to spin, and the question is you going to be able to get the local permit, because that is up to you. And mr. President , our board of county commission, and the major, and the governor of the state of florida cannot allow the projects to be completed. It seems that the pyramids in egypt were completed before that that. And look at the projects that i a approved the first week and being built and one situation going to be solved very soon, and the 48,000 jobs, and the two big pipelines, and that i were go going to be dead for years and probably never going to happen. Environmentally bet toter to be underground than trains or trucks all over the place. So we can do it. But they have people waiting for 25 years for permits. And by the way, 25 years and 100 times the original cost. If you think about it. We will get you the the permits that you need from the federal agencies, and i know miamidade very well and it is great, and great people, but you are right, very tied up. You will be able to produce them locally and if not, the money is going to if go to somebody else. Because if you cant get the permit, you have a certain area, and i know that phil bryant is going to get all of his permit, i have no doubt about it. You will have no problem, i know that. But if you kapt get the permits and get them quickly, the money is going to go to somebody else because we are notayears, becau you have a local dispute. That is a good incentive. And mr. President , this is my daughters birthday and this is serious enough to make shure tht we are here, and i will be home i know you. You will get it done. All right. Very good. Thank you very much. Phil, you have anything to say. Thank you, mr. President , and you are sitting next to my favorite mayor from vicksburg, mississippi and i better talk about his intermodal port, because continue nental tires i going to be building the most advanced plant in the United States and the plant of the year in the southeast, and i won a gold shovel and i can tell you more about that, and 2,500 empl employees are going to be there and so ports are critically important, and 155 mile s away from jackson and the gulfport was destroyed by ka trtrina in august of 2005 with the 25foot surge completely destroying the port, and we are rebuilding and 300 million and h. U. D. Is kind enough to allow us to put 300 million into it, and it is a vibrant port, but we have to have the highway 49 which is unfortunately a farm road. It is a narrow dangerous road with 69, i think 59 red lights between jackson and most dynamic port i believe in the gulf, and so we are going to widen that, and make it a great big beautiful highway so that the people can get to goods and s services to the port of the future. Good. And we have a 3. 4 billion Energy Project plant in the future for that port. We will put a broadband crescent around the port for new technology for the air force base there and the manufacturing of 70 of the navys warships right there. And how are you doing with the permitting . How is that . Not one problem. After katrina, we were able to compress that permit time, and thanks for the epa now, and now, we had to live eight years of a pretty difficult time. And you know that other administration, it would have been at least 20 years on the project, and now about two months. This past year with the great help of your team, it has been remarkable what is happening. We have not fully recovered are from katrina and the spill came along, but this new plant, it is going to be really the catalyst that will have change states like mississippi and the mother of all rural states so talking about the rural investment, it is something that warms our hea heart. So i want to thank you, mr. President , because this is going to b and i know that the dynamic effort that you are going to be putting in it and the team and all of us working together is going to be generational. I hope that 100 years from now they are thinking of the day that we were in this room and what happened this day. Well, phil, i just left mississippi and i was with phil rekre recently at the africanamerican museum and i want to tell you that the job you have done is incredible and it is doing record business and fantastically well and we were there for the Ribbon Cutting and the opening, but the job in mississippi is inspiring to a lot of opeople. So congratulation, phil. Thank you, mr. President. George, would you like to say a few word sfs. Thank you, mr. President. I am glad that you are allow in a guy from vicksburg, mississippi, to be in the room to repgt 20,000 people, and the then we talk about a Company Going to the state with 35,000 people, and the governor has already spoke to our situation as a proud port, but the other thing is that we need some release on the infrastructure as it relates to the Water Treatment plant. The water plant, and the court dekree is draining us, and speak ing for most municipalities that this money could not have come at a better time to help to us twop through the Economic Development and creation of jobs. That is the thing. I am asking you the to krcreati jobs and hopefully in the next four or five months, we can get unemployment and be lower than 4 . Thank you. Thank you very much, george. I appreciate. You are doing a good job. Elaine, what would you like to say . Transportation . It is at lot of this money is going to transportation, so you are the big power that you always are. Are well, mr. President , your cabinet members have been working very diligently are over the last year. We have epa administrator pruitt here. We have secretary zinke, and we have secretary ross, and we have plan that will fix the crumbling infrastructure and we look forward to getting to work. Are thank you, elaine. And scott pruitt, can you talk about the environment and how we maintain a perfect, clean, better than ever environment and at the same time go quickly. Yes, mr. President , at as the mayor said that from vicksburg that washington is going to be a partner and he hit on a water infrastructure, when you think of the drinking water, and small towns and counties need investment with respect to the Water Treatment facilities, and this is a major part of the package. I want to echo what governor brian said earlier, we are looking tatter p mitting of the epa by the end of 2018 that we will process every permit up or down in six months and combined with the changes of the legislation to have an outside period of two years is radically going to transform how we see investment for this package. The leadership has been extraordinary, mr. President , and the cabinet has worked very well to put together this package together. And thank you very much. I know that when we are finished with the meeting, probably you wont see it for some reason, you will see all about daca and talking about my remarks on daca that lasted about ten seconds but we are serious about the daca, but you will be hearing about the daca, but this is so important for what we are doing. Gary cohen, what would you like to say, gary . Is alook, mr. President , as we were talking about before you got here, a big team effort with the white house cabinet and the white house putting together a plan to work with many of the mayors and commissioners and the governors in the room, and many of the legislator and we believe that we have a robust plan to get everything that you want and over the trillion and a half dollar investment and shorten the approval process to less than two years and happy to have you launch it here today and get to work on it as secretary chow said. And ralph, congratulations on the victory. And your opponent was not a trump person, i have to be honest with you. If he was, he would have done much better and does not mean that you would not have won, but he was not a trump person, but i would like the to congratulate you and what would you like the say about the infrastructure. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you. And being in this meeting and infrastructure is so important. I want to start by thanking you for what you do with the military, and we build the finest warships and news, and we have the Largest Naval base in norfolk, and the infrastructure is so important to us, and you are visiting Rural America and virginia and broadband is very, very important to us, and mr. President , what i would like for your help with is the port of virginia and the position of virginia to be the best port and we want to make sure that we are the best. They would be the best of the world not investing that much money relatively speaking. Right. And we are in the process to dredge the channels to 55 feet and that has been in the process for many years now . Yes. How many years, ralph . I dont know, mr. President , but we are ready to get it done. Put it high on the list. I love are it. And all about the exporting and keeping the economy going. Thank you. Good luck, ralph, and good luck with everything. I think that you willyou, mr. P good luck with it. I think you will do a great job. Very important what you said about the port because ive been hearing about the port for many, many years and ive heard one of the best ports of the world and locationally you cant do better and they cant get there dredging permits and scott, youll work on that and hopefully youll get them quickly. Thank you. Wilbur ross, please . Were looking forward to playing a big role in the transform ti transformative projects with commerce with the big transformative projects. We hope all of you will have a good deal of imagination and determination at the transformative level. Thank you. Do you agree with what i said about the tax with countries coming in and taking advantage of our country, if i assume. If you dont, would you be in trouble. Can you imagine if he said no a reciprocal tax. How do you feel about that . We gave away so much unilaterally that we have to claw back. A lot of these trade things are selfinflicted wounds. It wasnt that other countries made us, we volunteered concessions that were mindless. They might have been good Public Policy right after world war ii when we had to rebuild europe and rebuild asia, but thats a long time ago and the concessions that were a priority then are singularly inappropriate now. So when i look at some of these trade deals, i say you how could this have happened, and the truth is it was laziness. After world war ii we helped germany and we helped all countries, and you had the korean war, we helped south korea. We helped everybody and nobody changed. They had no money, no anything and they were rebuilding from the war and the rebuilding stayed basically where they were and they became very wealthy and they could pay a tremendous amount and they could pay us back, but Nothing Happened and the reason Nothing Happened is number one, no imagination. Number two, the people that were in my office and other offices were lazy. They just let it go, but were not going to be letting it go because its truly affected our country. When we have 21 trillion in debt. Were not going to let that go and when people want to send their cars into our country, but they wont accept our cars, and so many other products. Cars are the least of it although cars is a big category, we cant do that. We cant do that. We will no longer do it. I will tell you that i would like to ask bill to say a few words because you have been very, very i would never use the word progressive, but you have been very good at what youve done. Be careful, please. When i do use the word progressive ill use it in a much different stance. And the mayors would say, too, there is a whole different attitude today when we talk with your departments and its instead of heres whats best its how can we help and what do you think we should do, and i cant tell you how much all of us appreciate that. Its a whole different mindset. Thank you, bill. We very much appreciate it. Second, from what you will hear from everybody in here, there is a perspective on what the private sector should do and what the sector should do and transportation infrastructure and nobody can build their own interstate system. Nobody can build their own network that this nation relies on. So we are very encouraged and last year in tennessee, we combined the largest tax cut in history with increasing revenue toward transportation because our infrastructure was so out of date with everything from getting our agriculture product to market to making certain youve made a big difference in tennessee. So were with you, and we want to encourage this to actually be fulfilled as quickly as you can because were getting quickly behind the rest of the world. Thats right. Thank you very much, bill. To me this is a very, very sexy subject. The media doesnt find it sexy. I find it sexy because i was always a builder. I always knew how to build on time, on budget and thats what we want here. One of the reasons why we like the Public Private is well get some of that involved in getting these things done quickly, much more rapidly than you would get them done as a government as good as some of these governments are, so i very much appreciate that, bill, but tennessee is keeping up and theyre doing a good job. I looked at some numbers yesterday and theyre doing a good job. Would anybody like to Say Something . Yes, sir. Go ahead. The mayor of columbia, South Carolina. Thank you for having us here. Thank you. I look forward to learning more about the plan d. J. And billy and everyone and the entire team have been very helpful in communicating over the last several months and we met in december 2016 and right after the election, you reassured us that you would support the Tax Exemption on mini bonds and youve done that and i want to say thank you for that and the way in which you build the vast majority across america and almost 80 of it done. Thats helped out a lot and thank you for your support of private activity bonds and how thats reflected in your budget. I want to thank you for your support of the military. Fort jackson is the largest Army Training place in the world. Victory starts in columbia, South Carolina. We train over half of the women in columbia, South Carolina and columbia is not atypical. We have the same tax rate that we had teb years ago and five of the last seven years we finished with the Budget Surplus and we created an environment where private sector capital is well and we treat it well. Weve increased the Police Department budget by 60 , and i will tell you that what we need and well spend some time raising the flag on some of our priority projects. You may remember in october 2015, we had a massive flood a thousandyear event in colombia South Carolina. I do. It did damage to our canal that as we work through fema and ferc, and well spend time raising that to the top of the priority pile as we are working with this, but i want to tell you again, americas mayors are happy to be around the table. We look forward to talking about the expedited nature of the plan and working closely to make sure were protecting the environment as you do that, but happy to be here. We look forward to continued dialogue. I would be remiss if i didnt talk about the fact that Public Pensions are very interested in getting into the infrastructure business and if there is a possibility to leverage out the 200 billion i would be interested in having that. Thank you. The areas that have military will be greatly affected in a very positive way because the number that we were able to get, 700 billion and that was the key to what we did. I hated to give away certain money and some of it i consider it to be terrible, but we needed 60 votes. We needed 60 votes. So in order to get the military taken care of which is to me number one by far we did that, but those areas that are heavy on the military, you will see a tremendous difference. When i was in the private sector i used to get listings all of the time for fort, military forts and military installations that would be for sale, and i used to say to myself, this is ten years ago and five years ago. How can we be selling so much . Now ill bet they wished they didnt sell some of them. They would sell them as surplus, and i would say how many do we have because youd get a lot of listings and well be expanding ones that we have and those areas, the towns and cities and states are really going to be a tremendous impact and one of the other things is jobs. Well be building this equipment. We dont go out to other countries to build our military equipment and when we have allies especially people that we help or we give aid to which well have to start looking at also, but they go out and order military equipment to other countries and i say no, youre not. If youre not going to order it from us youre not getting any aid and thats why Defense Companies and jobs again, its all job, but theyre very happy because, i mean, we were giving out money and buying helicopters from different countries. I dont want to say which country, specifically one. I said so were giving you money to buy military equipment and youre buying military equipment in another country. How does that work . And i remember the president of a country laughed when i said it and he said finally, somebody gets it and they were actually restricted from buying from us. So we could give them money, and they were restricted for human rights issues and other issues. So a lot of things are changing and theyre changing very fast. Yes, sir. Mr. President. Rob locky, chairman of the county commissioners in bucks county, pennsylvania. I know you know where bucks county is. [ inaudible ] and we won the super bowl with the philly special, right . So nick foles and doug peederson and i have a special for you when it comes to transportation. I know everyone is aware of i95 and one of the biggest missing links in that interstate highway has been the connection of the turnpike in i95 and after 40 years of planning and approvals and permitting theyre finally making the connection and there is a picture on these slides up here, but the problem is theyre making a connection only on two of the eight ramps. So if youre going north on 95 i know where those connections are. So you want additional connections . And all of the permitting is done. That sounds good. You jumped to the head of the line. Its how much . About 515 million. Get the price down a little bit. Get it down. [ laughter ] we can do that. It sounds like a lot of money for connections. What do you think, phil . You can do it for 550. Were ready to go. The last thing about the permitting that is so important, you know, in bucks county we have 115 bridges and small country bridges and we closed one seven years ago which is not far from my house and it used to be my quick short cut to my daughters soccer field practices so my oldest daughters finished middle school and finished high school and graduating this year and going to the United States Naval Academy and she finished both of those things and we havent even started building the bridge. Well replace that bridge, but because of the historical process and the reviews and the consulting processes. Is it permitted . Its not. We cant get then youre not going to get a bridge. The permitting process that youre talking about. Yeah. Were going to do it. Look, youve been doing this for years, as you say and its been a pretty unpleasant process, but well do it quickly and if its local, historical, youll have to take care of that yourself. Id love to get it done for you. We have a lot of bridges and amazingly, a high number of bridges that are considered unsafe and idea theyre being used. I dont want to see it happen. They need paint and some fixing and not even a lot of money. They need to be fixed or theyre going to go down and those are the things. Safety first, but you want to resurface your roads. I like fixing rather than building new. Ive seen so many roads where they rip out a road, a highway i can tell you 78 and they ripped it out and went on for years, just ripped the hell out of it and they started building a new road in exactly the same location because they wanted the surface to be higher and they could have stripped the new asphalt and put beautiful new asphalt and when they built it it started to settle all over the place and whereas before it settled, so you didnt have the problem and i would rather see resurfacing. I would rather see before we start doing the big, new projects i would like to fix when we have through resurfacing and other things like the bridges. Fix them. A lot less expensive and in the end its probably better and then we start the new projects maybe with another fund, but we start the new projection, but maybe with this one, but i would like to see proper resurfacing and new mediums, and i would like to see a competitor for the ones that makes the greats and the guardrails and i talk about them all of the time and whoever represents the company i think is the greatest salesman on earth because they put this stuff in and within two weeks its all bent and corroded and terrible. I want the salesman that represents that company to represent the United States of america because that guy does some job. I wish they could come up with an alternative to the it looks like aluminum or probably cheap steel, but when it gets hot it bends, when it gets cold it bends and it looks terrible and i never understood why they didnt come up with a better system and those are the kind of things that id like you to look at and they can come up with a better system probably for less money, but somebody should come up with a better system than that. So thank you very much. Work on the bridge. Gary, what would you like to say . [ inaudible ] go ahead. Just press the button. I was i was starting to make my kind, so i want to thank you very much, mr. President for recognizing the importance of Rural America, and broadband in particular and for people working from home in our small communities and making sure we have access. The workforce is so important and we have 2. 7 unemployment in the state of iowa. Great. A historic low and we need everybody to have the best skills they can possibly have so uptrading our workforce will be a big piece of it and i heard the ports mention and i would like to add that the locks and dams are very important and the modernization of locks and dams are critical to the midwest and moving the agricultural products. We have that planned, as you know. We appreciate that and its critical. We do have the interchanges that were ready to upgrade. We have about 200 deaths that have been suffered on the i80 and 380 200 deaths . You do have a lot of that. You have a lot of intersections where people die because they cant get a permit and its just crazy and i would like you to make that first priority. Like you say, theres one particular and i heard about it in iowa. Its a particularly dangerous intersection and there are accidents all of the time and with a slight difference in design and you could get that permit very easily. We have to get it done. So id love that to be a priority if thats possible. Thank you. We appreciate it. Flood mitigation is a big deal in iowa, too. Cedar rapids had a terrible flood and theyve got a wonderful project and theyve had a lot of private dollars ready to be invested and so our new mayor of city rapids is with us today and i know thats priority for him. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you, linda. Thank you very much. On behalf of everyone here, obviously youve taken an enormous interest in infrastructure and youve been on us since day one. I think you have a great plan and everyone can see how much interest you have. You delivered your plan to congress and theyll be digesting it, and it will wanot come as anything new to them and your your team has been working with the senate and the house for the last month or two so they know whats coming. Thank you very much for your time and effort this morning here. Thank you very much. [ applause ] appreciate it. [ applause ] thank you. I would like to add one further thing and its good to speak with your congressmen and senators and the people who rapt you to get the push you will need to get things done because they are working on a lot of things right now in all fairness to them. This is one youll have to get a little push and everybody in this room wants this very much and i want it very much, but you will have to call your senator and your congressmen and women to get it done, and its something that can happen, well get approval ask well create a lot of jobs and well have great infrastructure in our country once again. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. [ applause ] tomorrow night on cspan, former Florida Governor and president ial candidate jeb bush talks about School Choice and education savings accounts. You can catch his speech at 8 00 p. M. Saturday on cspan. This weekend on American History tv on cspan3. Saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder at virginia commonwealth university. I have a oneword definition that i use for politics. Can anyone guess what that is, and ive said one word would define politics. Money. Give me something thats a prob session before any tribunal that doesnt involve mono pep. Sunday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern from the west point center for oral history. Henry hank thomas, a combat veteran during the vietnam war. My grandfather served in world war ii. My father served in world war ii. Always for a black man, whenever you served it was your military service you hope would confirm your bona fides as a firstclass, redblooded american citizen entitled to. At 4 00 p. M. On real america with the cpac conference we look back in 1988 when president reagan spoke at a cpac dinner. The American People know what limited government, tax cuts, deregulation and the move toward privatization has meant. Its meant the largest peacetime expansion in our history and i can guarantee you, they wont want to turn that away for a return to budgets behold into the liberal special interests. Watch American History tv every weekend on cspan3