I can tell you from personal experience, countless hours working in these two major fields--and we finally culminated all of these hours of many, many people in a program or a plan--the kind of choices that some politicians would rather talk about than make. You deal with deadlines in your business, and I can recall vividly going to many smaller communities in my district on a Wednesday to talk with people in those communities, and I always stopped by the local weekly to chat with the editor. I soon learned that Wednesday was not the time to do it. If I wanted to lose points rather than make them, I did it on a Saturday or on a Monday. As I said, you deal with deadlines, and if those deadlines are not met, then you cannot serve your readers on time. It is my judgment that the Congress must respond to some very real national deadlines. I asked, for example, for action by April 1 on the rebate of 1974 income taxes for individuals as well as for business. There has been much discussion on who should receive the tax rebates--a discussion based too often on purely political considerations. I do not think we can look at this rebate on a political basis. We have to look on how a rebate will affect all Americans. It is sometimes fashionable to talk as if what is good for the American economy is not good for the American people. This tendency to treat the economy as an abstract idea divorced from the lives of the citizens leads to some unfortunate piecemeal proposals. When the economy is sound, it means the people of this Nation are able to live comfortably without fear of inflation and with jobs. To meet the proposed April 1 deadline on the tax cut, which is a program to stimulate the economy to provide jobs, the Senate must act before it recesses March 21, and the House of Representatives before its March 26 Easter recess. The tax cut is only a part of the program that this Administration--that I proposed in January, and there has been more response from Capitol Hill on this proposal than on many others. But as necessary as the tax cut is for the reasons that I have given, it is only a very small piece of the total action that must be taken and taken quickly. It is my judgment that the Congress must act on other parts of this total package, especially in the field of energy. In the State of the Union Address, I called for action in 90 days on a more comprehensive tax program.


First, I am able to announce two acceptances on the Farm Board Mr. Teague of California, about whom we will give you a note, and Mr. Legge of Chicago. Legge probably makes as great a sacrifice as any citizen ever made to enter public service. It will reduce the gentleman's salary from something over $100,000 a year to $12,000 a year, as an evidence of his desire to be of service to the American farmer. Teague likewise makes a very great sacrifice in income. I do not know precisely what his remuneration is as the head of the two largest farmer cooperative associations, but it is certainly far in excess of $12,000 a year. Legge will be the Chairman of the Board for the first year, and Mr. Stone will undoubtedly be the Vice Chairman. You will recollect that in the selection of an outstanding businessman for the Board we consulted with some 150 farm organizations and found that they were desirous that that should be done, and I further consulted the leaders or had the leaders of numbers of those associations consulted on the question of selecting Mr. Legge, and they were very desirous that he should be secured if possible. We ought to have some more acceptances in the course of a day or two, but that fills five members of the Board out of the eight.1 While talking of sacrifice I should include also the other three members of the Board, who also are making a tremendous sacrifice to come into this Board each one of them. All of the men whom I have invited to come on the Board have considered that here was an opportunity to do probably as great a service as will come to our generation, and that there was no call upon them to which they should not respond. With the exception of Mr. Legge, all of the men so far chosen have been at the direct proposal of farm organizations. I have a question of possible tax reduction. We are giving a great deal of study to the possibilities in that direction, and we all hope that a situation may work out on the safe side of a surplus for tax relief. But we must determine three essential things before any conclusion could be arrived at. First, we must know what the effect will be of the legislation during the last 12 months, which has greatly increased the expenditures for the present fiscal year beyond the amount budgeted.

The President's News Conference


The new enlarged program for naval armaments, the increased expenditure for ENTITY and Navy aviation, the rebuilding of the ENTITY posts, increased expenditures to veterans' services, in addition to the necessities for the Mediterranean fly which by the way, may be a considerable item on the farm relief-have all intervened since the budget for the fiscal year that we have just entered was passed by Congress, and we are not yet certain as to what the volume of those expenditures will accumulate to. And we must know how far we can reduce expenditure in the Government in other directions to partly compensate for these increases that have been imposed by the legislation of the last 6 or 8 months. We do know that the expenditure during the past fiscal year just ended exceeded by $200 million the amount budgeted and passed by Congress as the budget. The completion of the budget for the year beginning the first of next July will give us a fairly clearer idea as to what the permanent burdens of the increased legislation may be and again as to what we can save in other directions. And then beyond that on the revenue side, we must have some experience as to whether or not the increase in revenue is due to temporary stock exchange activity or other temporary causes, and then we can come to a final conclusion. All of those things ought to develop during the next 4 or 5 months. By the first of November we ought to be able to see fairly clearly where our commitments and income are likely to land us. I have one announcement to make. I have decided to call a White House conference on the health and protection of children. That conference will be comprised of representatives of the great voluntary associations I have a rough note here, and Miss McGraph will take this, so you do not need to bother taking it together with the Federal and State and municipal authorities who are interested in those problems. The purpose will be to determine the facts as to our present progress and the future needs in this field, and to develop such measures for more effective official and voluntary action and their coordination as will develop further care and protection to children at large. That conference will not be assembled for another 9 months, and perhaps 12 months, in order that there may be time to complete an exhaustive advance study of the facts and forces in progress and of the experience with the different measures which are now in progress over the country, which, as you know, are a very large activity.

The President's News Conference


And in order that we may make an effectual determination of those things, we will set up a series of committees in each special field of the leaders in those fields, with expert assistance. The subjects to be covered embrace such things as the problems of dependent children, of regular medical examination, of school or public clinics for children, hospitalization, adequate milk supplies, community nurses, maternity instruction and nurses, teaching of health in the schools, facilities for playgrounds and recreation, voluntary organizations of children, child labor, and scores of subjects of that character. Now, to cover the expenses not only of the preliminary committees and of the conference but also of the follow-up work that needs to be done for a national effort of that character in order to secure that it results in some definite and positive influence I have received the sum of $500,000 from purely private sources. This will be the first national conference in review of this subject since the conference called by President Roosevelt in 1909. I propose to include all of the interested groups, amongst them the educational associations so far as they relate to the teaching of health, et cetera, but it is not the purpose of this conference or its work to invade the obligations or the province of parents and their responsibilities. I have communicated with a great number of voluntary associations throughout the country. They are all very anxious that such a conference should be called in order that there might be a new platform and a new basis for more coordinated and renewed effort in those directions. The country the Nation is fundamentally concerned with the equality of opportunity, and the very first step in equal opportunity is health in children. The work of .the conference will be under the direction of Dr.Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior, and with the cooperation of Secretary of Labor Mr. Davis. Harry E. Barnard, who was formerly State Commissioner of Health of Indiana, will be the Executive Secretary. A preliminary committee is in process of assembling, who will lay out the chart of the work and assist in selecting the members of special committees. And that is all that I have today.

The President's News Conference


We are honored tonight by the visit of Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, and His Royal Highness the Prince of the Netherlands. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the fact that we have with us what I like to refer to as the fairy Queen. We had the fairy Princess with us the time before, before she became the Queen of England. We appreciate the fact that our friendship with the Netherlands has been long and lasting. The largest bay on the North American Continent is named for a Dutchman, and his name was Hudson. One of the most beautiful rivers in the country--I say one of the most beautiful, not the most beautiful, necessarily--is named for this same Hendrik Hudson. The Dutch made a great contribution to the settlement of this great Nation of ours, and the Dutch also made a great contribution after we became a great nation, because they were willing to invest their money in this country of ours--and did--for its development. They put on a point 4 program long before I was old enough to know what it meant. They built railroads, ranches, buildings--one of the greatest apartments in this area of Washington was built by Dutch capital. We are grateful for that. We want to show our gratefulness, and we have been trying to show that by the fact that we were--and are--willing to help free Europe recover and meet the world menace east of Poland. We have succeeded, to some extent in getting that done. We have stopped them at every perimeter in which they have made the attempt to make slaves out of their neighbors. We have a different situation here on this western continent. The United States is credited with being at this time one of the strongest nations in the history of the world. It has neighbors on the south. It has neighbors on the north. Those neighbors are not afraid of us. They do not think we are going to try to take them over, or make them colonies, or make them a part of our own territory. We hope to see the whole world set up on that basis someday--and I think we will. And one of the great assets in our efforts to get that done is the great country that these lovely people represent. I hope they will enjoy themselves. I hope they will take back a good opinion of this Nation of ours, and that when they go home they will feel more friendly to us than when they came--if that is possible.

Toasts of the President and Queen Juliana


I told you not to tell the Elvis story. She told it anyway, did not she? Every President since Harry Truman has presented this award, Teacher of the Year Award. When you are in the company of some of the Nation's finest citizens, our greatest teachers, you are in the company of people who give their hearts and their careers to improving the lives of children. You are in the company of the best of our country. I want to congratulate the teachers who are here from around the country. It is a great experience for Laura and me to greet you in the Oval Office. I guess the word I would describe the teachers as they came through is, they are joyous people. There is such a joy that radiates on your face and in your character. And on behalf of our Nation, I want to thank you for what you do. You make a great contribution. In spite of the fact that she told the Elvis story, the best decision I made was to marry a teacher. Laura is a great First Lady for our country, and I am really proud of her. Besides the distinguished teachers who are here, I see we have got some other distinguished citizens with us today. Gene Hickok is the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education. From the great State of Kansas, Senator Brownback and Congressman Dennis Moore-I am honored you both are here. I appreciate the fact that Lindsey Graham from South Carolina is here and Congressman Gresham Barrett. I see Maria Cantwell, Senator from the State of Washington, is with us today and Congressman George Nethercutt-appreciate you all being here. I appreciate so very much the Governor of the great State of Rhode Island, and the first lady, Sue, is with us. Thank you both for being here today-honored you took time to come. I appreciate the fact that Senator Chafee-Senator Linc Chafee and Senator Jack Reed have joined us. And Congressman Jim Langevin is with us as well. Keil Hileman from DeSoto, Kansas; Jason Fulmer from Graniteville, South Carolina- you have been there, have not you, Senator?- that is good--Dennis Griner from Palouse, Washington; and of course, our honoree, Kathy Mellor I also want to congratulate Kathy's family, Duke and her three children who have joined us today. I know there are some friends here with Kathy. Chris Sirr is with Kathy.

Remarks to the 2004 National and State Teachers of the Year


She came all the way over, and I know there is other friends as well, and I am honored that they would take time out of their lives to support their friend and honor their buddy in what is an important moment for our Nation, as we honor those who dedicate their lives to teaching. I want to thank Tom Houlihan, who is the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Ernie Fleishman, the senior vice president of education of Scholastic, Inc., thank you for being here. I want to thank the Council of Chief State School Officers and Scholastic, Inc., for organizing this program. I also want to thank Peter McWalters, who is the chief state school officer of Rhode Island. It is fitting we have this annual ceremony because teachers are charged with a great mission. You do the vital work of teaching our children. You give them the skills that will help them succeed. You lay the foundation for realizing the American Dream. You do more than that, though. You kindle imaginations. You foster a love for learning that can last a lifetime. The best teachers treat every child with dignity and fairness and insist that their students treat others the same way. And through your encouragement and caring, you teach the students to respect themselves. To a child, it is a special feeling when a teacher knows your name and asks your opinion, cares what you think and gives you encouragement. For some students, unfortunately, you might be the only person who does that. Anyone who has visited the classroom can see that teaching demands poise and warmth and, oftentimes, extraordinary patience, as my fourth grade teacher had to show. Yet, only the family members of teachers know some of the other traits that define great teachers. They have seen you stay up late rewriting lesson plans. They have seen you seek new ways to advance your skills. They have seen you somehow summon the energy to make an after-school game or a play. For you, teaching is not just a profession; it is a calling you have answered. And we thank you for that. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We ask a lot from our teachers, and you are right to expect a lot from society. I oftentimes say to people that if you are interested in being a responsible citizen and you are worried about the quality of the education in the community in which you live, do something about it.


As opposed to sitting on the outside complaining, get involved, help people search for excellence. State government has got a responsibility as well. I used to say when I was Governor of Texas, education is to a State what defense is to the National Government. If people are worried about the quality of the education in the State in which they live, get your Governors to make education the number one priority of the State. And finally, the Federal Government has got a role to play as well. We have increased spending here by 43 percent. The next budget will make it 50 percent over the past 4 years. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, we are making sure that Federal money actually goes to help students learn. I love the spirit of the No Child Left Behind Act, by the way. It is what I call challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. You see, the reason you are Teachers of the Year is because you set high expectations. You know in your heart of hearts every child can learn. You are willing to raise that bar, to set high standards. I appreciate so very much the willingness for teachers also to use the accountability systems to determine whether or not what you are doing is working. But make no mistake about it, we understand here in Washington that the people who really make student achievement possible are the good-hearted teachers who work hard every single day to make sure that no child is left behind. And that is why we honor you here in the Rose Garden. Our 2004 National Teacher of the Year is Kathy Mellor. She embodies the qualities that all students and parents hope for in a teacher. For nearly 20 years, Ms. Mellor has taught English as a second language in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Kathy redesigned her district's ESL program to better integrate students with their English-speaking classmates, and the educational benefits of her innovation have been clear. As the parent of one of Mrs. Mellor's students wrote, My daughter's English improved unbelievably that year. At the end of the year, she was able to finish her regular class assignments. The mom said, she is able to do so alone or with a little help from her. Mellor's creative approach extends well beyond the classroom. She applied for and received a grant to teach English to the mothers of her ESL students. Working with two colleagues, Ms. Mellor taught a group of women for 2 1/2 years.


Before I discuss the meeting that I have just had with Prime Minister Maliki, I just want to make a brief statement about Afghanistan. I had the opportunity to speak with President Karzai this morning, and I wanted to congratulate him on accepting the certification of the recent election. As we all know, this has been a very difficult time in Afghanistan, to not only carry out a election under difficult circumstances, where there were a whole host of security issues that had to be resolved, but also postelection, a lot of uncertainty. President Karzai, as well as the other candidates, I think have shown that they have the interest of the Afghan people at heart, that this is a reflection of a commitment to rule of law, and a insistence that the Afghan people's will should be done. And so I expressed the American people's appreciation for this step. You have violent forces opposed to democracy in Afghanistan. And yet despite these very difficult conditions, what we have seen is elections take place. We have now seen the IEC and the ECC in Afghanistan complete their work. We have seen the candidates expressing a willingness to abide by constitutional law, and there is a path forward in order to complete this election process. I want to give particular thanks to Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and his team, who have been working tirelessly throughout this process. I also want to commend Senator John Kerry, who was in the region traveling and ended up working extensively with Ambassador Eikenberry and was extraordinarily constructive and very helpful. So I think he deserves great congratulations. Moving forward, we will continue to work with our ISAF partners as well as the Afghan Government, however this election turns out, to ensure that we can move the Afghan that we can move Afghanistan towards peace and security and prosperity and that the will of the Afghan people is ultimately done. So we are pleased with the steps that have been taken today, and we hope that we can build on this progress. I finally want to thank the incredible work of our U.S. military and the young men and women who are stationed in Afghanistan who are doing so much to help bring about a more secure and prosperous and democratic Afghanistan. I am grateful to have the opportunity to see Prime Minister Maliki once again. We had a wide-ranging discussion about the continuing progress that Iraq is making. We have seen in the last several months a consolidation of a commitment to democratic politics inside of Iraq.

Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq


We are very interested, both of us, in making sure that Iraq has an election law that is completed on time so that elections can take place on time in January. That is consistent with the transition that has been taking place, and I reemphasized my commitment to Prime Minister Maliki that we will have our combat troops out of Iraq by August of next year and all of our troops out of Iraq by 2011. But we did not just talk about military and security issues. What is wonderful about this trip is that it represents a transition in our bilateral relationship, so that we are moving now to issues beyond security and we are beginning to talk about economy, trade, commerce. The business and investment conference that is taking place is going to be very well attended. It includes not only Prime Minister Maliki but business leaders from both the United States and Iraq. We have seen over the last several months progress being made on providing clarification about investment laws inside of Iraq. There are, obviously, enormous opportunities for our countries to do business together. And so I just want to congratulate Prime Minister Maliki on what I am confident will be a successful conference and to reemphasize my administration's full support for all the steps that can be taken so that Iraq can not only be a secure place and a democratic country but also a place where people can do business, people can find work, families can make a living, and children are well educated. And that broader sense of a U.S. relationship with a democratic Iraq is one that I think all of us are confident we can now achieve. And I do not know if you maybe we could translate the last part just about Iraq, as opposed to Afghanistan, just in case there is some Prime Minister Maliki. Thank you, ENTITY, and this opportunity to hold the business investment conference is a big economic demonstration and manifestation of the importance of this event that brings together more than 1,000 business entrepreneurs and a very distinguished, high-level Iraqi delegation. I have also discussed with ENTITY the various issues and the fact that our relations today have moved along and not only confined to the security cooperation but today have moved to the economic development and to providing prosperity for the Iraqi people. We have discussed the issues of common interest to our bilateral relations under the that are today framed under the strategic framework agreement and the various sectors, and all this is important for broader relation of our two nations.


my good friend Bill Daley from Chicago and former Congressman Bill Frenzel from Minnesota, who have agreed to lead this fight for our administration on a bipartisan basis. It is an honor for me today to be joined by my predecessor, President Bush, who took the major steps in negotiating this North American Free Trade Agreement; President Jimmy Carter, whose vision of hemispheric development gives great energy to our efforts and has been a consistent theme of his for many, many years now; and President Ford, who has argued as fiercely for expanded trade and for this agreement as any American citizen and whose counsel I continue to value. These men, differing in party and outlook, join us today because we all recognize the important stakes for our Nation in this issue. Yesterday we saw the sight of an old world dying, a new one being born in hope and a spirit of peace. Peoples who for a decade were caught in the cycle of war and frustration chose hope over fear and took a great risk to make the future better. Today we turn to face the challenge of our own hemisphere, our own country, our own economic fortunes. In a few moments, I will sign three agreements that will complete our negotiations with Mexico and Canada to create a North American Free Trade Agreement. In the coming months I will submit this pact to Congress for approval. It will be a hard fight, and I expect to be there with all of you every step of the way. And I'd like to tell you why. First of all, because NAFTA means jobs, American jobs and good-paying American jobs. If I did not believe that, I would not support this agreement. As President, it is my duty to speak frankly to the American people about the world in which we now live. Fifty years ago at the end of World War II, an unchallenged America was protected by the oceans and by our technological superiority and, very frankly, by the economic devastation of the people who could otherwise have been our competitors. We chose then to try to help rebuild our former enemies and to create a world of free trade supported by institutions which would facilitate it. As a result of that effort, global trade grew from $200 billion in 1950 to $800 billion in 1980. As a result, jobs were created and opportunity thrived all across the world.

Remarks at the Signing Ceremony for the Supplemental Agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement


But make no mistake about it, our decision at the end of World War II to create a system of global, expanded, freer trade, and the supporting institutions, played a major role in creating the prosperity of the American middle class. Ours is now an era in which commerce is global and in which money, management, technology are highly mobile. For the last 20 years, in all the wealthy countries of the world, because of changes in the global environment, because of the growth of technology, because of increasing competition, the middle class that was created and enlarged by the wise policies of expanding trade at the end of World War II has been under severe stress. Most Americans are working harder for less. They are vulnerable to the fear tactics and the averseness to change that is behind much of the opposition to NAFTA. But I want to say to my fellow Americans, when you live in a time of change the only way to recover your security and to broaden your horizons is to adapt to the change, to embrace it, to move forward. Nothing we do, nothing we do in this great capital can change the fact that factories or information can flash across the world, that people can move money around in the blink of an eye. Nothing can change the fact that technology can be adopted, once created, by people all across the world and then rapidly adapted in new and different ways by people who have a little different take on the way the technology works. For two decades, the winds of global competition have made these things clear to any American with eyes to see. The only way we can recover the fortunes of the middle class in this country so that people who work harder and smarter can at least prosper more, the only way we can pass on the American dream of the last 40 years to our children and their children for the next 40 is to adapt to the changes which are occurring. In a fundamental sense, this debate about NAFTA is a debate about whether we will embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow, or try to resist these changes, hoping we can preserve the economic structures of yesterday. I tell you, my fellow Americans, that if we learned anything from the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the governments in Eastern Europe, even a totally controlled society cannot resist the winds of change that economics and technology and information flow have imposed in this world of ours. Our only realistic option is to embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow.


I believe that NAFTA will create 200,000 American jobs in the first 2 years of its effect. I believe if you look at the trends-and President Bush and I were talking about it this morning-starting about the time he was elected President, over one-third of our economic growth and in some years over one-half of our net new jobs came directly from exports. And on average, those exports-related jobs paid much higher than jobs that had no connection to exports. I believe that NAFTA will create a million jobs in the first 5 years of its impact. And I believe that that is many more jobs than will be lost, as inevitably some will be, as always happens when you open up the mix to a new range of competition. NAFTA will generate these jobs by fostering an export boom to Mexico, by tearing down tariff walls which have been lowered quite a bit by the present administration of President Salinas but are still higher than Americas'. Already Mexican consumers buy more per capita from the United States than other consumers in other nations. Most Americans do not know this, but the average Mexican citizen, even though wages are much lower in Mexico, the average Mexican citizen is now spending $450 per year per person to buy American goods. So when people say that this trade agreement is just about how to move jobs to Mexico so nobody can make a living, how do they explain the fact that Mexicans keep buying more products made in America every year? Mexican citizens with lower incomes spend more money-real dollars, not percentage of their income-more money on American products than Germans, Japanese, Canadians. And there will be more if they have more money to spend. That is what expanding trade is all about. In 1987, Mexico exported $5.7 billion more of products to the United States than they purchased from us. We had a trade deficit. Because of the free market, tariff-lowering policies of the Salinas government in Mexico, and because our people are becoming more export-oriented, that $5.7 billion trade deficit has been turned into a $5.4 billion trade surplus for the United States. It has created hundreds of thousands of jobs. Even when you subtract the jobs that have moved into the maquilladora areas, America is a net job winner in what has happened in trade in the last 6 years.


When Mexico boosts its consumption of petroleum products in Louisiana-where we are going tomorrow to talk about NAFTA-as it did by about 200 percent in that period, Louisiana refinery workers gained job security. When Mexico purchased industrial machinery and computer equipment made in Illinois, that means more jobs. In this same period, Mexico increased those purchases out of Illinois by 300 percent. Forty-eight out of the 50 States have boosted exports to Mexico since 1987. That is one reason why 41 of our Nation's 50 Governors-some of them who are here today, and I thank them for their presence-support this trade pact. I can tell you, if you are a Governor, people will not leave you in office unless they think you get up every day trying to create more jobs. And the people who have the job of creating jobs for their State and working with their business community, working with their labor community, 41 out of the 50 have already embraced the NAFTA pact. Many Americans are still worried that this agreement will move jobs south of the border because they have seen jobs move south of the border and because they know that there are still great differences in the wage rates. There have been 19 serious economic studies of NAFTA by liberals and conservatives alike; 18 of them have concluded that there will be no job loss. Businesses do not choose to locate based solely on wages. If they did, Haiti and Bangladesh would have the largest number of manufacturing jobs in the world. Businesses do choose to locate based on the skills and productivity of the work force, the attitude of the government, the roads and railroads to deliver products, the availability of a market close enough to make the transportation costs meaningful, the communications networks necessary to support the enterprise. As it becomes Mexico's strength and they generate more jobs, they will have higher incomes, and they will buy more American products. We can win this. This is not a time for defeatism. It is a time to look at an opportunity that is enormous. Moreover, there are specific provisions in this agreement that remove some of the current incentives for people to move their jobs just across our border. For example, today Mexican law requires United States automakers who want to sell cars to Mexicans to build them in Mexico. This year we will export only 1,000 cars to Mexico.


Under NAFTA, the Big Three automakers expect to ship 60,000 cars to Mexico in the first year alone, and that is one reason why one of the automakers recently announced moving 1,000 jobs from Mexico back to Michigan. In a few moments, I will sign side agreements to NAFTA that will make it harder than it is today for businesses to relocate solely because of very low wages or lax environmental rules. These side agreements will make a difference. The environmental agreement will, for the first time ever, apply trade sanctions against any of the countries that fails to enforce its own environmental laws. For people who have been asking us to ask that of Mexico, how do we have the right to ask that of Mexico if we do not demand it of ourselves? This is the first time that there have ever been trade sanctions in the environmental law area. This ground-breaking agreement is one of the reasons why major environmental groups, ranging from the Audubon Society to the Natural Resources Defense Council, are supporting NAFTA. The second agreement ensures that Mexico enforces its laws in areas that include worker health and safety, child labor, and the minimum wage. And I might say, this is the first time in the history of world trade agreements when any nation has ever been willing to tie its minimum wage to the growth in its own economy. What does that mean? It means that there will be an even more rapid closing of the gap between our two wage rates. And as the benefits of economic growth are spread in Mexico to working people, what will happen? They will have more disposable income to buy more American products, and there will be less illegal immigration because more Mexicans will be able to support their children by staying home. The third agreement answers one of the primary attacks on NAFTA that I heard for a year, which is, Well, you can say all this, but something might happen that you cannot foresee. Well, that is a good thing, otherwise we never would have had yesterday. I mean, I plead guilty to that. Something might happen that Carla Hills did not foresee, or George Bush did not foresee, or Mickey Kantor or Bill Clinton did not foresee. Now, the third agreement protects our industries against unforeseen surges in exports from either one of our trading partners. Economic change, as I said before, has often been cruel to the middle class, but we have to make change their friend.


NAFTA will help to do that. This imposes also a new obligation on our Government, and I am glad to see so many Members of Congress from both parties here today. We do have some obligations here. We have to make sure that our workers are the best prepared, the best trained in the world. Without regard to NAFTA, we know now that the average 18-year-old American will change jobs eight times in a lifetime. The Secretary of Labor has told us, without regard to NAFTA, that over the last 10 years, for the first time, when people lose their jobs most of them do not go back to their old job; they go back to a different job. So that we no longer need an unemployment system, we need a reemployment system. And we have to create that. We have to tell American workers who will be dislocated because of this agreement, or because of things that will happen regardless of this agreement, that we are going to have a reemployment program for training in America. And we intend to do that. Together, the efforts of two administrations now have created a trade agreement that moves beyond the traditional notions of free trade, seeking to ensure trade that pulls everybody up instead of dragging some down while others go up. We have put the environment at the center of this in future agreements. We have sought to avoid a debilitating contest for business where countries seek to lure them only by slashing wages or despoiling the environment. This agreement will create jobs, thanks to trade with our neighbors. That is reason enough to support it. But I must close with a couple of other points. NAFTA is essential to our longterm ability to compete with Asia and Europe. Across the globe our competitors are consolidating, creating huge trading blocs. This pact will create a free trade zone stretching from the Arctic to the tropics, the largest in the world, a $6.5 billion market with 370 million people. It will help our businesses to be both more efficient and to better compete with our rivals in other parts of the world. This is also essential to our leadership in this hemisphere and the world. Having won the cold war, we face the more subtle challenge of consolidating the victory of democracy and opportunity and freedom. For decades, we have preached and preached and preached greater democracy, greater respect for human rights, and more open markets to Latin America.


NAFTA finally offers them the opportunity to reap the benefits of this. Secretary Shalala represented me recently at the installation of the President of Paraguay. And she talked to Presidents from Colombia, from Chile, from Venezuela, from Uruguay, from Argentina, from Brazil. They all wanted to know, Tell me, is NAFTA going to pass so we can become part of this great new market-more, hundreds of millions more of American consumers for our products. It is no secret that there is division within both the Democratic and Republican Parties on this issue. That often happens in a time of great change. I just want to say something about this because it is very important. I am going to sit down when you talk, so I am glad you got to do it. I am very grateful to the Presidents for coming here, because there is division in the Democratic Party and there is division in the Republican Party. That is because this fight is not a traditional fight between Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives. It is right at the center of the effort that we are making in America to define what the future is going to be about. But if you strip away the differences, it is clear that most of the people that oppose this pact are rooted in the fears and insecurities that are legitimately gripping the great American middle class. It is no use denying that many of our people have lost in the battle for change. Every single solitary thing you hear people talk about, that they are worried about, can happen whether this trade agreement passes or not, and most of them will be made worse if it fails. And I can tell you it will be better if it passes. Are we going to compete and win, or are we going to withdraw? Are we going to face the future with confidence that we can create tomorrow's jobs, or are we going to try against all the evidence of the last 20 years to hold on to yesterday's? Are we going to take the plain evidence of the good faith of Mexico in opening their own markets and buying more of our products and creating more of our jobs, or are we going to give in to the fears of the worst-case scenario? Are we going to pretend that we do not have the first trade agreement in history dealing seriously with labor standards, environmental standards, and cleverly and clearly taking account of unforeseen consequences, or are we going to say this is the best you can do and then some?


We love this section of the world. We appreciate it very much, and I am thrilled to be back in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, so much. This is the state where the story of American independence began. And three days from now, this is the state that will save the American dream. On November 3rd, we are going to win Pennsylvania, and we are going to win four more years in that very beautiful White House. We gather today in a very special place. In the harrowing days of December 1776, when the American revolution seemed lost, General George Washington made his headquarters as this Bucks County farmhouse to plan his famous crossing of the Delaware. On Christmas night, he led what remained, and just very little remained, of that rag tag continental army on a daring midnight raid. They marched through nine miles of ice and snow, many without boots on their feet, leaving a trail of blood in their wake. At dawn, they seized victory at Trenton. Their sacrifice turned the entire tide of the war. Those soldiers came from every walk of life, but what united them all was their devotion to the principle of self-government. They were determined to live in a country where power belongs to the people. That priceless inheritance is at stake just three days from now, and a great red wave is forming. As sure as you are there, as sure as we are here together, and they see it. They see it at all sides, and there is not a thing they can do about it. This is the fundamental question facing every voter in American. Do you want to be a nation ruled by the corrupt political class, or do you want to be governed by the American people? I ran for office four years ago because I could not sit by and watch any longer as a small group of Washington insiders continued to get rich bleeding America dry. They are just bleeding America dry. Closing our factories, opening our borders, outsourcing our industries, and letting foreign countries ravage our middle class. Career politicians spend trillions of dollars fighting foreign wars, while letting our own cities crumble and decay. Here in Pennsylvania, you know this bitter and very painful betrayal all too well. The corrupt Washington class launched an economic war against this state. For decades, they targeted your steel mills, shut down your plants, and sent millions of your jobs overseas, all while lining their pockets with special interest cash, and no one embodies this betrayal and treachery more than Joe Biden.

Donald Trump Rally Speech Transcript Newtown, PA October 31


And worst of all, the suppressed media and big tech refuses to cover the crime. We have learnt so much over the last two weeks. For 47 years, he supported every disastrous trade deal that enriched his cronies and impoverished your state. He wiped out Pennsylvania Steel. He was the cheerleader of NAFTA, and China's entry into the World Trade organization. Pennsylvania lost 50% of your manufacturing jobs after those Biden disastrous. Then Biden pushed the job killing Paris Climate Accord, an economic nightmare for Pennsylvania miners and every worker in our country. He backed TPP, which would have extinguished the American auto industry forever. These betrayals not only made Biden's donors rich, they made his family rich, and as we know, he profited from the misery of unleashed work and horror given to Pennsylvania workers. He made a lot of money, his family made a lot of money, and nobody knew about it until just recently. At the debate, I looked at him and said, Joe, you were here for 47 years, and you left only three and a half years ago. Why did not you do these things that you want done? Why did not you fix it, Joe? And as you know, because I assume a number of you watched the debate but as you know, he just looked at me and shrugged. In fact, the anchor looked up and said, Why did you do it? She could not believe it, and she was on his side. She said, Why did you do it? Why did you do it and why did you say it? In 2016, Pennsylvania voted to fire this failed and corrupt political establishment, and you voted for an outsider's president who is finally putting America first. And if I do not look like a typical politician, that is very simple. If I do not always play by the rules of Washington and the Washington establishment, it is because I was elected to fight for you, and I fought harder for you than any president in the history of our country. From day one, Washington insiders have been trying to stop me because they do not own me and they do not control me. They want control. They do not like what I am doing. They do not like what I have said to the big pharma, the drug companies, the number one lobbyist in the world, number one lobbyist in our country.


They did not like that I instituted Favored Nation so that we now pay the lowest prices in the world for prescription drugs, instead of the highest prices in the world. If these corrupt forces succeed in electing Joe Biden, Washington will see to it that another outsider never becomes president again. It will never happen again, and nobody has done in three and a half years, nobody, no administration, no president, what we have done and what we have accomplished, and it is not even challenged. Nobody even challenges that. They will take back control and they will never, ever give it up. This once in a lifetime opportunity to beat the corrupt politicians will be lost forever, and they know it. They are fighting so hard and they hate what they are seeing because they are not looking at fake suppression polls anymore. Now they are looking at the numbers that are pouring in, and they do not like the numbers that they are seeing in Florida and in Ohio and in North Carolina. And we think in Pennsylvania, although those numbers come in late. We think in Pennsylvania. They do not like it. They do not like it, they do not like what they see, and I just want to tell you that we have really, things have worked out so well for our country. Nobody had any idea that anything like this could ever happen. If you look at what is going on over the last four years, we have been building the biggest, strongest, and most secure middle class in human history. We built the most powerful military anywhere in the world. And over the next four years, we will make it even stronger. Do not be intimidated by our opponents' angry and menacing tone, because if we were, we would never have been able to accomplish what we have accomplished. In truth, they are actually terrified of you, the people. They are terrified that you will discover that you have the power to end their corrupt rule once and for all. We have to do it. When you see what is going on, we have to do it. We do not have a choice. Somebody said, Do you enjoy this? I said, It is not a question of enjoyment. Believe it or not I do. Have to go check something, but I should not . But you know, today we are doing three rallies, tomorrow we are doing five, and the smallest crowd will be 25,000 people.


Then on Monday we are doing five or six, and I cannot tell you what is going to happen there, but I think we will just go home and rest. But they do not get to decide this election. We have to be very, very careful, especially in this state, more than any other state. What happens in Philadelphia, we have to be extremely, everybody has to watch, vigilant. Your decision, your future is at stake. As your president, I do not answer to the special interests. I have no interest in it. I do not take instructions from donors and lobbyists. I do not care about them. I do not care about them. I do not take my orders from the media, or as I affectionately call them, the fake news media. The word fake is not strong enough, especially after what we have seen where stories, major stories, the biggest story anywhere in the world, is absolutely not covered. It is hard to have scandal when you have no coverage, and they work in conjunction with big tech, and they protect each other, and they protect the democrats, because with the democrats, you do not have somebody up talking like I do about them, so they can do whatever they want, and this will only lead to very bad things. I do what is right for America. I do what is right for America. It is made me a lot of enemies in Washington but I wear their opposition as a badge of honor. Winston Churchill once said that it was a nation that had the lion heart. I had the luck to give it the roar. I gave it the roar, and there is a roar, and people hear it all over. They heard it four years ago loud and clear. They talk Brexit, they talk many numerous things, but this is always number one. And I will say, 2016 was an incredible earth shaking event, but 2020, and I never thought I'd say this, 2020, what we are doing right now through Tuesday, what we are doing is far bigger. I never thought I'd say it. I never thought four years ago, and you never did either, somebody would say that this is going to be the most important election perhaps in the history of our country. The greatest threat to American democracy is the concentration of power among a small group of unelected special interests. The big tech CEOs who have been put in a position by us giving a law to them, Section 230.


We have given them that power, and you know that can be taken away. I see it better than all. I see it so obviously. I see it because of what I do on social media. For me, it is very easy to see. I see things that nobody would believe. The corporate media and the mega donors in Washington and Silicon Valley, they are all lining up behind an opponent that is going to do whatever they tell him to do. You know, if you look, we look at the amount of money that he has raised. But I could've been the greatest of all time. I could've been the greatest political fundraiser, because as president all I had to do was call Wall Street, the big banks. I could've called the oil companies, I could've called all of the big companies. Every single one of them, and I know many of them would've given me whatever I wanted, but I chose not to do that, and we did plenty. We have plenty. You can only buy so many commercials. When the air waves are full and you cannot buy anymore, I say, Where are we going to spend it? Although we did spend in our case a lot on ground game, which they, I think, forgot this part. As much money as they have, they are screaming in Florida, Where is our ground game? Well, it takes a long time. It took us a year and a half to build that ground game, so we will see how it all works out, but they did not do that. They decided to go a different route, but they took in massive amounts of money. I could've taken in much more than that. They did 350. I could've done that within an hour. He'd like you to send 25 million dollars, please. Who is going to tell me no? But the problem is, the problem is when they call in six months needing a favor that is worth billions, it is very hard, especially me being a loyal person, not a dishonest person, but a loyal person, it is very hard for me to say, No, I do not want to take his call, his or her call, no, I do not want to do it. It would've compromised our nation, so I did not want to do that. Joe Biden works for them. I know them very well. I know them far better than he does.


I know him far better than he. But he works for them, and when you see those numbers, 300, 350 million, so much they do not know what to do with it, where they are spending 25, 30 million dollars on a congressional race that used to spend 500,000 dollars, you know something's going on, and it is not a good thing, and it is not the way I want to work. This was one opportunity to do something special. This is not a company, this is not making some money. This is one opportunity to turn our country around, and we are not going to blow it. He works for them. Not for you, and it is I who work for you. I am working for you. It is like, not used to that, too much, but I have gotten used to it, and we have this great opportunity together, and our people tend to vote, in particular this state, you tend to vote on the 3rd. I could say, Go in and early vote, do not wait til Tuesday, vote today, vote tomorrow, vote on Monday. But I am wasting a lot of time, because you want to go. It is the history of this state. Look at what you have done with this state. Look at the history of this state with respect to our country, and you want to go, I will not even say go today, go tomorrow, go the next day, or go on the 3rd. We want election day. And we have others like that, too. We have others like that, too. They want election day. The more these corrupt forces oppose me the more I know we are delivering real change, real progress, and historic victories for the American people. We have done great things with the country including our military, our vets. We just received a poll, this was a real poll, not a suppression poll, where the vets gave us a 91% approval rating for the job that we are doing. we have been building the strongest and most secure middle class in human history. We have built the most powerful military in the world by far. Nobody has ever built what we have built. And when I came in, we had a depleted military. We had old planes. We used to get parts by going to the airplane graveyards and taking the old parts out of old planes that were sitting there rusting of the sun. And crazy weather where they store them in the deserts.


And that is what we were doing. We had a depleted, a terribly depleted military. And now we have the best equipment anywhere in the world by far, all made in the U.S.A. And as I say, we are the envy of every world, we are the envy of every world power, from China to Russia, North Korea. They look at us and they say, Wow, what they have done? And just hope to God that we never have to use it. Hope to God we never have to use it. But it is less likely that we will ever have to use it when we have it. Okay, when we have it. We were in very bad shape militarily, a general came to see me, highly overrated general came to see me actually, one of the world's most overrated generals. And he said, Sir, we have no ammunition. Right at the beginning, you know what I am talking about because we could have had conflict. He said, Sir, could you hold it off? We have no ammunition. And I said, General, no president should ever hear that statement again. We have no ammunition. Well, now we have so much ammunition. Our problem is, we have no storage. And over the next four years, we will make it even stronger, going to keep us safe. Last night, our brave special forces rescued at American hostage in a far away country. And I was in Fort Bragg yesterday and I met a lot of the incredible, these incredible, talented, strong, both physically and mentally, the strongest, the best in the world. But we had a mission sent to a far away land where they kidnapped an American citizen. And the kidnappers wished they had never done it. And they went in with a large group, zero casualties. We got our American citizen, young man, we got our young man back. But the other side suffered gravely, I can tell you that. Our nation salutes its courageous military, which brilliantly executed this operation. Very few people would have been able to do it. We celebrate the safe return home of an American hostage. We have got many hostages home. And I pay nothing, nothing, cannot pay. Once you pay, you will have many, many more. We are 40 Robert O'Brien who is doing a tremendous job said to me, Sir, you are 48 and 0. 48 and O, think of that, we have brought many, many of them home.


Some mostly in pretty good shape, some in very, very, bad shape. Specifically, you know who I am talking about. But we have brought many home, but we do not pay. We are boldly standing up to China. We achieved the most secure border in American history, our Southern border. We have obtained in just a short period of time, American energy independence. And if it were up to the opposing side, with the Green New Deal, the Green New Dealers. AOC plus three and you add Pelosi and Schumer, and you add Joe Biden, who really does not understand so. They will tell him what to do and he will do whatever they tell them, whatever it takes, he will say whatever it takes. With the sunglass-, I saw the sunglasses. I said, I do not think I am going to do that. But I watched those sunglasses. I do not know, to me it did not work. We are bringing our jobs, our factories, our wealth, and our troops all back home. And instead of endless wars in countries that even you very sophisticated people in some cases have never even heard of, we are achieving one historic peace after another, if you look. Middle East, we already have three signed up. We have many countries who want to sign, we are signing them rapidly. And even with Kosovo and Serbia, we are doing a trade deal with each, a routine trade deal. When I heard about it, I said, Wait a minute, they have been killing for decades. They have been killing and killing for decades each other, fighting all the time. We are doing a trade deal, they want it. They always want us, all of them want us, the whole world wants us. So we are in a great negotiating position. But I said, Kosovo, Serbia, we are doing a trade deal. You tell them we are not going to do the deal unless they make peace. Then all of a sudden they were hugging in the Oval Office. And it came through common sense and it came for no money, could not make a trade deal. We said, no, we are not going to make the deal unless you two start getting you are killing each other for decades and decades, that is all they do is they kill each other. And when I saw the two leaders hugging in the Oval Office and I mean, I think they were exhausted, frankly.


I think it was time, it was time, but somebody had to say do it, just seemed to make a lot of sense. I said, Wait a minute, let us do it. And we did it, so I am very happy about that. We are now just weeks away from a mass distributing of a safe vaccine. We have got it, we have get great companies, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer, all with a vaccine. All with a different, little different versions of it, some similar, some similar concepts. And many other companies and we are ready, we will have that, and we will have it. But even if you did not , and I say, it drives them crazy. We are rounding the turn, we are rounding that turn, we are rounding it. And our economy went down less than any economy anywhere in the world. They keep hearing about Europe, Europe, Europe, well, they are not doing nearly as well. Seniors will be first in line for the vaccine. China did this to us. And our vaccine will eradicate the virus and end the pandemic once and for all. Americans will return to school and to life. By slashing red tape and cutting bureaucracy, we are producing this vaccine in record time. If Joe Biden were president, you would not have this vaccine for four years. And he had his chance with the H1N1, he calls it in reverse, swine flu, which was a disaster. We have moved heaven and earth to produce the vaccine ahead of schedule and manufacture hundreds of millions of doses in advance, all ready to be shipped. And we have our military is going to be shipping it. Logistics, we have a general, that is what he does. He delivers troops. It is the most advanced medical operation anywhere in the world and in history. Thanks to the therapies we have accelerated, we have already reduced the mortality rate. And our excess mortality rate is 40% lower than Europe's. And Europe has done a good job, it is a very brutal thing. Right now you see what is going on over there with France, again, Spain and Italy. But we are doing great, but we just do not get credit for it. We do not get credit. And I do not want the credit personally, but I want the generals and the admirals, and our great Vice President Mike Pence, who worked so hard.


All of the people on the task force and Jared Kushner, what he did, he is here someplace. But he was fantastic on the ventilators. Oh, look at that, Jared, and he wants no praise, he could not care less. No, we had a tremendous just a quick story, we had a tremendous ventilator problem because we were not equipped for a thing like this. This is once in 100 years, 1918, we are talking about, the Spanish Flu. And we were not equipped for that. And all of a sudden we are getting calls. We need 40,000 ventilators. Like in New York, they needed far less than that, but they needed many, many ventilators. And other states are calling, we need ventilators. And it is a very complicated piece of equipment, as you can imagine with pipes going down, heavily computerized. And people did not know what to do, making them on a mass scale like this, hospitals had very few of them. And Jared called up some of his genius friends, his brother is one of the most important people in Silicon Valley, smart family. I mean, some of them were wearing undershirts, they were wearing a. They are wearing a baseball cap. How much are you worth? They had founded companies, sold their companies, but they were brilliant. One of them had roller skates on and they wanted to throw him out of the White House. But Jared called a whole group of people down. And to them, to us, to all of us, a ventilator is very complicated. To them it is like the simplest machine they have ever seen. And they went to the automobile companies where they had excess plant capacity. And they went to various companies. And we started producing within a short period of time, ventilators. And this story is just never told, and I do not think I have ever told it, not in this detail. We started producing ventilators in a short period of time at a level that nobody thought was thousands and thousands nobody thought was even possible. And in a relatively short period of time, after that, all of our hospitals were sent tens of thousands of ventilators, tens of thousands of ventilators. They did a fantastic job. They'd line up with a small ventilator company, and we make the best ventilators, I mean, they say they are the best.


And they were sent all over our country. And think of it, and that was done so quickly. But these brilliant young people were able to do it. Regular people could I mean, you could never do a thing like this. So we made thousands a month and not one person, think of this, in our country, not one person who needed a ventilator did not get a ventilator, how incredible is that? But they will not tell that story. That is not me, that is Jared and a whole group of very brilliant people, together with the military and with a lot of great companies. We have had a tremendous relationship. It is the biggest mobilization since World War II. Now what we are doing is we are making we continue to make thousands a month and we are sending them to foreign countries who were desperate for ventilators. And would have no idea, there would be no way they could ever get them. Including, I mean, we sent them to France and we sent them to Spain, and Italy, but we send them to countries in Africa, who are really having a terrible hard time. And we are sending thousands of them to other countries. And it is something that we did that we are very proud of. And I did something that nobody talks about. You do not hear about you do not hear the word ventilators anymore. You know why you do not hear about it because we solved There was a period of time, ventilators, for three, four or five weeks until they sent these super geniuses in. For three, four, five weeks, all you have heard about was ventilators, ventilators, ventilators. Well, we took over something, the cupboards were bare. And the hospitals in the states, the cupboards were bare too. Nobody was prepared for a thing like this. But now all over the world we are sending them and I think it is just a tremendous story, I really do. It is a story that is untold, you will probably never hear that again. And as soon as we started making all of these thousands of ventilators, you have not heard the word ventilator just like and there is one other quick story. ENTITY promised the wall, will he ever give the wall? We have over 400 miles of wall built. And now you never hear the word wall. They never say, Oh, he got the wall, he did it.


And we built it exactly to the specifications of the border patrol. And they were tough specs, I will tell you. No, sir, we need steel, we need rebar and we also need concrete. But we got it built and they have to have vision. They have to have slats because they have to be able to see through what is on the other side. You cannot have once you realize this, I mean, they are right. So we built it to those specs. Very, very they have done an incredible job. We are doing 10 miles a week. But you never hear about the wall anymore. It would be a brutal time for your president. Because of our relentless efforts, the recovery rate right now on ENTITY or the China virus or the China plague is 99.7%, think of that, 99.7%. And these two great people whose property we are using today, what a historic property. And all I know is they said we just drove up the road, they have been here a long time, but not as long as George Washington, right, but they have been here a long time. And they said, and you have probably many of you said, do you see the crowds along It looks at Broadway, except a slightly more picturesque, slightly more picturesque. But it is thousands and thousands of people lined all the way down to the highways, it is incredible, and they are all waving flags. Most importantly, they are all waving flags and they are proud of our nation. And I guess it has something to do with Pennsylvania. But no, it is a beautiful site and they were very proud, and thank you very much for everything you have done. We are allowing younger, healthier Americans to resume normal activities while strongly protecting the elderly and those at high risk. And we are making the powerful antibody treatment that I received available to anybody that needs it, free, free. But I had that and I did not feel good. And test positive, and I am the President of the United States, I could not bury myself in a basement of the White House as nice as it is. I actually got to see it one time, it is very nice. Like you would expect, it is a beautiful basement, it is in the White House. But I could not do that. And I could not put myself in a beautiful room upstairs, beautiful bedroom, and stay there for a year and a half.


And I go to meetings, I'd say That is a lot of people. I said, Tested positive for what? And they said, For ENTITY, for ENTITY. He actually used the term ENTITY, he is more politically correct than I am. But I did not feel good and we went over to Walter Reed Medical Center, which is phenomenal. I see the work they are doing, young men coming back so badly, and women, so badly wounded. I see what they can do, what they can do and nobody can do what they can do. We had a lot of doctors gathered around. But I did not feel good and they gave me something, Regeneron, and Eli Lilly makes a very similar kind of a thing. The concept is based on antibodies. And I woke up the next morning and I felt so great, I wanted to rip that Superman shirt open. I wanted to start doing a new trade deal and campaigning simultaneously. They said, Sir, how about taking it easy for a couple of days? What we have been able to do is and I do not even know. Maybe now I am saying, well, it probably was not the drug, it is just that I am in such perfect physical condition. And I am very young, if you are young, so I said that. They said, He is not young and he is not in perfect shape. They did not like it when I said that. They do not like those kind of things. But I can tell you it is incredible what they have been able to do. But shows you, maybe I serve as an example, First Lady got it also and she is better. Barron, Barron got it. So he has it. Then I go, this was at the beginning, I go, I say to the doctor, like 12 minutes later, Doctor, how is Barron doing? Oh, he is okay, sir, he sloughed it off. That is why I say, get back to school, get back to school. We will terminate the virus with science, medicine, and groundbreaking therapies and cures. All he does is talk about ENTITY, ENTITY. He is got nothing else to say, ENTITY, ENTITY, ENTITY. It is serious and we have done an incredible job. And at some point, they are going to recognize that.


I said we have done an A+ job, but I give ourselves a D or maybe an F in terms of public relations, but now I will start talking about it a little bit. When Joe Biden was Vice President, his failed approach on the swine flu was, as I said, a total disaster and his chief of staff said that he had no idea what he was doing. I do not know why this guy said this. And now, they are thinking about bringing him into the administration. I guess, probably this is maybe before the flu came along or something because I am saying, Why would he say this? He goes, quote, We did every possible thing wrong and 60 million Americans got H1N1, far less lethal, by the way, far less lethal. And in that period of time, and it is just purely fortuitous that this is not one of the great mass casualty events in American history. This is Biden's chief of staff. Think of what he said. You are going to bring him back? It had nothing to do with anything we did. We did not do anything right. And then he is saying, We want to take over what you are doing. Remember he said, when he first started running, that I did a poor job because I did not act fast enough. I acted in January. We had almost no deaths. And I went up against Dr. Fauci and others that said, No, no. You should not do this. You should not do it. Let us close off China. So I did that. I closed off Europe. I did that and, Fauci will tell you, saved tens of thousands of lives. And then when you think, okay, we saved thousands and thousands of lives and then Biden is campaigning. And he was two and a half months later, he said, We have to get tough, and he called me xenophobic because I closed. Two and a half months later, then he runs and he said, He should've closed the country earlier. I said, I do not think he is going to get away with that. And let us see what happens on November 3rd because, if something happens that is wrong where he did, then he did get away with that.


Now, here is a guy, not the smartest guy out there and he never was, but now in particular he is not doing so well, but here is somebody that says that I did not act early enough and, for two and a half months, he was scolding everybody saying that they should not have closed off China, they should not have done and that nothing bad is going to happen. But remember the statement from his That was his chief of staff made that statement. We mourn for every life lost to the China virus and in their memory and their sacred memory. We will defeat the virus and emerge stronger and more unified than ever before. Our economy is now surging back faster, better, bigger, and stronger than any nation on earth. We just had the best quarter of economic growth ever recorded, by more than double. The press is refusing to talk about it. One of the analysts said today it was the greatest economic number that they have ever seen. That means it grew 33 in a quarter. And the press barely mentions it, not even on the front page of newspapers because that is the game they play. We cannot let them do this. This was according to a certain very important person, Larry Kudlow, who is a terrific guy and other people. Sir, this is the greatest financial number probably ever recorded in our country. And double, more than double a number from 1952 and it is barely covered. And that is only for one reason; because they want us to do very poorly on November 3rd. They do not want to tell the American public about this. The one advantage I do have is I do have a way of getting the word out, but it is very tough when they pick it up. Even this, they will not pick this up. I made a statement, strong statement. They will not pick it up because it is good news. They will fabricate stories. They will make up false stories. They will put you number one on Twitter all the time, stories that are not trending. They will make up The Times will write false stories all the time, and yet they will not talk about the Biden corruption. We just lost the last camera. But they will not talk about the fact that Hunter got $183,000 a month to sit on a board of Burisma and got perhaps $3 million up front, who had no job, who had no experience in energy.


They will not talk about the fact that the wife of the Mayor of Moscow gave him $3.5 million. They will not talk about the fact that the father went to China and Air Force to where is Hunter? I put his first name, his real first name is Where. We are going to make it Where. Where is Hunter was with him. And in 10 minutes, he walked out with $1.5 billion to manage, which is millions of dollars in fees, millions and millions. And they will not talk about the fact that he was going for the big one next when China asked for $10 million a year for introductory purpose. In other words, he was going to introduce people $10 million a year. And they will not talk about the fact that the father was the big guy. To me, he is not a big guy. Remember when he said a year ago, he said, I'd like to take him to the back of the barn? I went like this. I will take him to the back of the barn. Next year will be the greatest economic year in the history of our country, if we do not raise taxes. If Joe Biden is elected, he will delay the vaccine, prolong the pandemic, close down schools and impose a nationwide lockdown. That is what they are talking Can you imagine going And we are making the greatest comeback of any country by far and they are actually talking He is talking about a lockdown. He has no clue, but he is talking about it. That is his only plan, to make you a prisoner in your home, a prisoner in your own country and, under the Biden lockdown, the recovery will be totally killed. The country cannot afford it. The people cannot afford it, but country cannot . All Democrat governors, you, Michigan, North Carolina, they are all Democrat governors and they are probably doing it because they want to affect the election. They are probably doing it, by November 4th, they will announce, We have decided to open up Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be opened on November 4th. No, because they cannot be so stupid, what they are doing to people. And the countless people that will die from depression and drug overdoses and suicide and abuse and, really, a deferral of medical care. And one thing we have learned very recently, everyone likes the computers and the laptop and, oh, we can learn from the computer.


Well, now we have given it the all-time mass test. A child being in a classroom or, if you are older, a campus, even a college campus, but a child being in a classroom cannot be replaced by a computer. And they are losing potentially years out of their life and it is the important years. It is going to have a great future, but not education. They have to be in their classroom with other students and they have to find their way in life. And this is no future for what they are doing in Pennsylvania, what they are doing in other states. This is no future for American youth. It is going to have a longterm impact on them. Biden's plan will destroy America. My plan will destroy the virus and make America greater than it is ever been. And the skyrocketing cases in Europe have shown Draconian lockdowns, and that is what they are, they are Draconian, do not stop the virus. They have done it. It is a terrible thing that was unleashed on us and we should never forget what happened. We should never, ever forget that China could've stopped it. They stopped it from going into the rest of China, but not from going to Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world. We can never forget it, but the far left is determined to lock down America because what they crave more than anything else is power and control over you. Joe Biden has made a corrupt bargain. In exchange for his party's nomination, he has surrendered his party to the radical socialist left-wing extremists, anarchists, looters. Today's left tolerates no challenge and allows no descent. You see that. You can do horrible things or you can do nothing wrong and they will put in stories. I am actually a victim of the opposite. I am just thinking about when I am talking to you. They do phony stories that are totally false and they will put them up and there is nothing you can do. There is nothing you can do except explain it away. If you disagree with them, they try to humiliate you, smear you, and cancel you, cancel culture. They control Joe Biden, and he is so easy to control, just like they control every Democrat house member and every senator. They purge newsrooms of reporters who do not swear allegiance to their false narratives.


They censor stories that reveal the corruption of their chosen candidate. This is what is happened now and nobody's ever seen anything like it. Nobody's seen anything like it. You do not read anything. You go to the Times, there is no story in it. You go to the Washington Post, you go to ABC, you go to NBC, the worst of all in my opinion, NBC. Made them a lot of money over the years, but they were bad. Thank goodness they have lousy ratings. And I call it MSDNC. What they do is just absolutely It is not even thinkable. They totally close it down and you cannot have scandal when nobody's reporting about it. And the level of power is pretty incredible. And I heard this four years ago, Sir, you cannot compete with big tech. The networks were against us. And now they are at a level that nobody's ever seen before and they are blatant about it. Now they just say, We are doing it. New York Times, they apologized to their subscribers because they were losing, after the last election, tens of thousands of subscribers and they wrote a letter of apology. I could not believe it. And they really got good for about two weeks and then they got worse than ever. I mean, it is every day, a phony story, after story, after story. They have a story about taxes. I do not pay taxes. And I just call my people, What? You have paid many, many millions of taxes, sir, but you prepay your taxes. Well, why are not they mentioning it? I prepaid millions and millions of dollars of tax. That is worse than paying taxes. Because these are estimates when you are negotiating taxes. You are prepaying estimates. Many millions of dollars, millions and millions, but they do not do that. We call them, we tell them and they say, Well, that is prepaying. We are prepaying, but they do not put that in the story. They tell you that writers are peaceful protestors because you are not allowed to have I had it yesterday in Minnesota where we were going to have over 25,000 people. And the Governor of Minnesota, radical left Democrat and the Attorney General, they said, No, the most you can have is 250 people. To my people they said that. And so my people said, So we are going to close it down. We had thousands of people.


You probably all saw it last night. We had tens of thousands. We were going to have 25,000, 30,000 people. And do not forget, they have done a terrible job in Minnesota where they let Minneapolis burn down. And they could've called us a lot sooner. We called them. And they have a very good police or they had a very good police force, but they do not let them do what they have to do. And they shut it down. They said, No, you cannot have 25,000, but you can have 250 people. And I said to my people, No, let us go. Let us speak in front of the 250. What I did not know is that thousands of people were going, anyway. And I think that, had I done a regular rally with because we are getting 25,000, 30,000 people. We are getting much more than that in some. Nobody's ever seen anything like this. Laura Ingraham had a show last night. She said, I have worked for everybody. I have worked for Reagan and nobody's ever seen anything like what is happening. This is supposed to be a little special speech, but you have never seen anything like this. Nobody's ever seen it. And what happened is, I think because of what they did when they said, We are going to silence his voice, it turned out to be a much bigger voice, and I think we now are going to 1972, Minnesota has not been won. Between Omar, Ilhan Omar, who comes from Minnesota I think Omar, a couple of other things, the riots, but I think what happened is they made this into a massive event and people are tired of it. And I think we will win Minnesota. And we should win it, when they let Minneapolis burn. We should win it, but I think we are going to win it. Can you believe that? I think we are going to do it. You are going to know in about Well, I hope, based on the Supreme Court, they do not delay it too long, this decision yesterday. I will tell you, it was not a good decision. You are allowed to wait days to count and days to have the final count? You are allowed to have time limits beyond November 3rd? So what does this mean? You are going to be waiting for weeks? And very bad things can happen with ballots during that period of November 3rd to whatever date they gave them.


So you are going to be watching on November 3rd. I think it is highly likely you are not going to have a decision because Pennsylvania's very big and, as you know, there was another state, but perhaps other states involved. This is a terrible thing that they have done to our country. That is a terrible, political, horrible decision that they made. And you are going to have bedlam in our country and you are going to have this period of nine days or seven days or whatever it is. Ballots are going to be Oh, we just found 10,000 ballots. We just found another 10,000. This is a horrible thing that the United States Supreme Court has done to our country. And I say it and I say it loud and I say it proud. They tell you the police officers are villains. These even tell you that your children must be indoctrinated to believe that the heroes who crossed the Delaware were driven by hatred and malice. They change your history. A vote for Joe Biden is a vote to give this radical movement absolute power and unchecked control over every aspect of American life. You should get a little bit of a larger frame, do not you think? I know those glasses. You have got to get a little I will tell him. He does not want to have people look at that surgery on the eyes. Joe Biden and the socialist left are absolutely convinced of their own moral superiority. Look, let us face it. Who said that? You copied me from another. While their agenda devastates the poor and The American middle class will be devastated. They support crippling shutdowns that crush the blue collar jobs while they stay home and work. They close down your schools, your children while they hire private tutors for their children. They ban you from going to church while they let left-wing extremists burn down your church. So you know what we do? I call this a protest. You cannot go to church, right? You cannot go to church. What they are doing to our churches and our synagogues and all of that is just terrible. Even when the church wants to go into a field and stay apart, they say, No, you cannot do that. Borders that flood your cities with illegal drugs and gangs while they themselves live in walled-off compounds. They want to defund your police and confiscate your guns simultaneously, while they themselves are protected with armed guards.


No, we will protect your second amendment 100%. You must show up on November 3rd, okay? Do not worry about the first or second, because I know you too well. The Biden/Harris economic policies of increasing taxes and regulations, biggest tax increase in the history of our country is what they are proposing. Their plan is projected to hammer the typical American family's income by over $6,500 a year in the Wall Street Journal. By contrast, I cut taxes and regulations at a level nobody's ever done before, and raised middle-class families incomes' over $6,000 in just three short years. And that is not including energy, which is a tremendous, what we have done with energy is tremendous. Joe Biden has pledged a $4 trillion tax hike, socialized medicine, an avalanche of job killing regulations, a return to globalist trade deals. And he vowed the total destruction of the Pennsylvania oil industry and fracking, fracking has gone. He said that loud and clear for a year until he realized that he has to win in Pennsylvania. You saw AOC go out and say, no, no, no, you cannot say that when Biden switched and he never had one question from the press, how could you say it for a year, and then all of a sudden switch when you walk into Pennsylvania. Joe Biden's plan to abolish American energy is an economic death sentence for Pennsylvania. A vote for Biden is a vote to ban fracking and to send your state into a nightmare of poverty and depression, that is what is going to happen. It is your single biggest industry by far, probably a million jobs one way or the other and what it would do to our country because our country has low energy costs. He is running in Texas. We are doing very well in Texas, but if you believe the fake news, they will tell you, Oh, it is very close. He is against oil, he is against guns, and he is against religion. He is against oil, guns, and God, Texas is very close, too close to call. I think Texas, Texas is going to be very strong for us. Can you imagine going into Texas, say we are going to take your guns away, and by the way, we are going to close up every oil well that you have. Under Biden, gas prices will explode, family incomes will plummet, and the fracking industry will be outlawed forever.


With your vote, I will cut middle-class taxes even more. I mean, we cut them at the highest level in the history of our country, even more, and you saw what it did. That is why we are coming back so quick, because we have a strong foundation, a base. And I will always defend and promote Pennsylvania energy. We are not going to have lockdowns. Joe Biden would appoint the most radical left wing cabinet in history. Beto O'Rourke will be in charge of gun confiscation. Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren will be in charge of the United States Treasury, according to what they say. AOC plus three will run the climate policy. I wonder if she ever even took a course in climate? I do not think so, I did not say it, you did. This can only happen in Pennsylvania. Do not forget, I went to school here. He likes to throw around the Pennsylvania thing. He abandoned Pennsylvania. He went to Delaware, but I am not blaming. He was nine years old or something, you cannot blame him for that, right? But he left Pennsylvania. I went to school in Pennsylvania as you know. Representative Ilhan Omar will be running Homeland Security. How do you like that? I just said that one, but you know what? Ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to announce Ilhan Omar to run national security. She is going to be guarding our border, where we just had the best numbers we have ever had by the way. People can come into our country, we want them to come in. They have to come in legally and they have to come in through merit. Just imagine the insanity that will ensue. Kamala Harris, she makes Bernie Sanders look like a very strict conservative. Kamala, got to say the name exactly right or they excoriate you. So you have Kamala running the White House. Well, she already said that, right? He actually said that, that was scary. He said under the Harris, I never did that. I never said under the Pence/Trump administration. And I love Mike Pence. But he said, he may never say, he also said he is running for the US Senate two or three times. I am a proud Democrat running for the US Senate. And we said, No, Joe, you are running for president. Is this whole thing, I mean, can you believe that, this could only happen to me.


The other thing he does badly, have not done it yet, I hope I never do, but he will be making a speech in Ohio, ladies and gentlemen of Iowa, it is proud to be. The worst is when he is making one in Miami with the palm trees. And you know what I always say? Amazing orator, amazingly, because he was a stutterer in his life. You could give a speech equal to the best that he is ever made. And if you made the mistake in saying welcome, like we are in Pennsylvania, it is great to be in New York. But he does it all the time, and nobody even says it. Under my leadership, we achieved. If he were a nice person, they do commercials on me that are so false. Like with the soldiers, that is the biggest insult to me of any thing that is probably ever happened, like with the soldiers and other things. This so falls based on a phony magazine, an Obama type magazine, that is doing badly. They did a commercial, and we notified them. And we had 26 witnesses, real witnesses. And every one of them is furious, but he is not a nice person. So because he is not a nice person, I do not mind saying exactly what I am saying, which as you know is the truth. He was never considered smart in his prime, but now he is really off. And you cannot have him as your president because he will destroy our country. He will destroy our country. And it probably will not be him because by the time he gets sworn in, he will be pretty much like it'll be over. Do you think they were talking about me? No, they were not talking about me. When she brought that up, they are talking about how to get Kamala in there as fast as possible. And nobody treated him worse than her. If you looked the debate, Kamala was failing fast, she was going down like a rock. Normally you pick somebody that is going up. She did not even make it to Iowa, right? Nobody spoke worse about him, and that is the one that they pick, but they want to get the radical left. They'd love to get her in. I do not know if you can never come back from a thing like that. I am not sure that a country, you look at Venezuela, you look at what is going on, where it was the richest, it was so great 20 years ago.


Now, they do not have food. They do not have water. They do not have medicine. Under my leadership, we achieved the most secure border in American history, the wall. Biden's planned to admit unlimited low wage foreign workers will slash incomes, surge unemployment, and devastate the middle class, all to enrich the globalist donors. As president, my only special interest is you. To protect our national security, I also suspended the entry of refugees from foreign nations compromised by terrorism, just call up President Macron as I do often, and ask him what is happening over there? You saw those horrible attacks this last week, more than one. We are keeping radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country, if I have your approval. Biden has pledged a staggering 700% increase in refugees. This is a deal made between Biden and Bernie Sanders. Crazy Bernie, the manifesto we call it. There is a document, a very thick document, naming things that they are all horrible, but they have agreed. These are some of the most dangerous places in the world. He is also vowed to terminate our national security travel bans, allowing for unlimited migration from war zones and terrorist havens. Biden's extreme migration policies will open the flood gates to terrorists, jihadists and violent extremists. You do not have to worry about it, just get out and vote on November 3rd. Under my administration, I had the ban passed, right? And it was approved by the United States Supreme Court. There, they did the right thing. Under my administration, the safest of our families will always come first. That safety, we want safety, has to come first. The Secretary of Defense under President Obama, Robert Gates, said that Joe Biden has been on the wrong side of every foreign policy issue in his lifetime. President Obama used to say that if you wanted something really screwed up, give it to Joe Biden to handle. This is the guy that we have running. In fact, Obama tried to keep Joe from running. He was very famously quoted as saying, Joe, you do not have to do this. You do not have to do this, Joe, do not do it. You do not have to do this. I could see that. And then would not endorse him until long after the primaries had ended and Joe has lost. He would not endorse him. He was a vice president, would not endorse him.


And then even after he won, it was months before he endorsed him, because he did not want to see it happen. I think he is probably the most surprised person on Earth, Obama. And they said, Sir, Obama's going to start campaigning for him, a couple of days ago. He campaigned for Hillary. For months, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been inciting violence against police officers and riots, like those carried out by Biden supporters in Philadelphia. Look at what is going on in Philadelphia. They should call us into Philadelphia. We will solve the problem, or let their police handle the problem. Let their police handle the problem. If elected, the Democrat ticket will pass legislation to end cash bail, create sanctuary cities nationwide, and defund police departments all across America. In a second term, we will increase funding for law enforcement. We will hire more tough one crime prosecutors to put violent offenders behind bars. For 47 years, Joe Biden betrayed African Americans at every turn. He took your votes. He took you for granted, and then he shipped away your jobs and flooded your cities with cheap foreign labor. He devastated black families with his 1994 crime bill that really locked up tens of thousands of African-American men with unfair sentencing. And he called African American young men, super predators all the time. He would say super predators, a name that has always been something, there has been no name that they have hated more. They hated it with Hillary Clinton and they hate it with Joe Biden. He forged close relationships with pro segregation lawmakers and his trade deals decimated the black middle class. Joe Biden cares more about refugees living thousands of miles away that he does about Black Americans living in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland. He is done nothing. And then he says to me, Oh, we should do this. I reversed the injustice of Biden's crime bill by signing landmark criminal justice reform, prison reform. And under our recently announced platinum plan, we will create three million new jobs for Black Americans, increase access to capital, restore safety to every neighborhood. And we will deliver school choice to every parent in America. And I am also fighting every day for Hispanic Americans. This week, I announced our American Dream Plan, and we are doing very well with Hispanic Americans. You see that? They are saying, What is going on in Florida, right? They like me and I like them. And we are doing very well with the Black community.


They like me now, they are getting to know me better, but I have always liked them. The American Dream Plan, which creates over a half a million new Hispanic owned small businesses and jobs and going to be fantastic for our Hispanic Americans, great people. My administration is also standing proudly with the people of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and their righteous fight for freedom. Biden sided with the brutal socialist and communist regimes. You said what he did. You said that horrible deal that was made with the United States by Obama and Biden. I do not think Biden probably was too involved, if you want to know the truth, keep him out, but it was a terrible deal. It was like the Iran deal. Here is 150 billion for nothing. This year I have laid out the boldest and most ambitious second term agenda in history. We will create 10 million new jobs in the first 10 months, 2021, we will have 10 million jobs over the next four years. We will make America into the manufacturing superpower of the world. We will expand opportunity zones. We will bring home our medical supply chains they are all coming home. And we will end reliance on China once and for all. We will defend religious liberty, the right to life, and the right to keep and bear arms. And we will restore patriotic education to our schools. In our debate last week, Joe Biden said that America has, Never, ever lived up to our founding ideals, right? Pennsylvanians know the truth more than most. When you think of the great history of this state, from Washington's crossing and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, to the Quakers who ran the underground railroad. From the union soldiers who lay at the rest and you lay at rest, they lay at rest in Gettysburg. What a place, Gettysburg, one of the most beautiful places and so gruesome for a period of time, never fight uphill my boys, right? To the workers of Bethlehem and Allentown who forged the steel that won World War II. America is the story of everyday citizens who have given everything to help this country live up to the highest ideals. My fellow citizens, you deserve a president who believes in America, a president who loves our country, and a president who loves you. Everybody knows that Joe Biden is not equipped to lead America.