Transcript - Remarks: Donald Trump Signing H.J. Resolution 38 - February 16, 2017 | Factba.se

Donald Trump

00:00:00 - 00:00:30 (30 sec)

Okay. We had an exciting news conference before. And some people loved it. I think nobody hated it, but it was -- I think it was very productive. And thank you all for being there, that was very nice. And thank you, all of the wonderful politicians, but -- right, Mitch, especially the miners that are with us, right? So I just want to thank you. Seriously. [Applause] We appreciate it. We appreciate it very much.

Donald Trump

00:00:30 - 00:01:07 (37 sec)

And this is our second bill signing this week as we continue to work for the American people. This is H.J. Resolution 38, and that will eliminate another terrible job-killing rule, saving many thousands of American jobs, especially in the mines, which I've been promising you. The mines are a big deal. I've had support from some of you folks right from the very beginning, and I won't forget it. I went to West Virginia and I -- we had 17,000, 18,000 people that couldn't get into that big arena, right? You were a few of them. But that was some day and some night.

Donald Trump

00:01:07 - 00:01:29 (22 sec)

I want to thank Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop -- thank you, Rob -- and Representative Bill Johnson, who worked very hard on this bill. And they really did, they worked very hard. This was a tough one.

Donald Trump

00:01:29 - 00:02:10 (41 sec)

I also want to thank the great members of Congress who have joined us today. We have a lot of them. In eliminating this rule, I am continuing to keep my promise to the American people to get rid of wasteful regulations that do nothing -- absolutely nothing -- but slow down the economy, hamstring companies, push jobs to other countries -- which is happening all over, although I must tell you, we've stopped it. You've seen all the factories, all the plants that are moving back. They're going back to a lot of places. So you know that, right, fellas? They're moving back fast. Ford, General Motors, Fiat -- so many. Very happy.

Donald Trump

00:02:10 - 00:02:46 (36 sec)

Compliance costs for this rule would be over $50 million a year for the coal industry alone, and it's unnecessary. I want to also thank the incredible coal miners who are with us today. I think we can maybe thank them the most, right, for -- political leaders. [Applause] You folks have put up with a lot. And you know, in other countries, they love their coal. Over here, we haven't treated it with the respect it deserves. Even for defense, having that coal is a very important thing for us. So I want to thank you all.

Donald Trump

00:02:46 - 00:03:03 (17 sec)

This rule we're eliminating it's a major threat to your jobs, and we're going to get rid of that threat immediately. We're going to fight for you like I promised I would in the campaign. And you were very good to me, and I'm going to be even better to you, I promise you that.

Donald Trump

00:03:03 - 00:03:39 (36 sec)

And we're going to fight for, also, low-energy prices for all Americans. There's a spirit of optimism rising across the country. It's going to continue to grow as we sign more and more bills. We're going to make our nation more than competitive -- not just competitive, we're going to be more than competitive. And we're going to win at many, many industries. We're already starting back with the automobile industry. We had the airline industry in the other day. They have rules and regulations that by the time they get through it, it's -- nothing left, and they have to get rid of a lot of jobs. We had a great meeting, actually.

Donald Trump

00:03:39 - 00:04:02 (23 sec)

We had the unions in. We had the workers in. We had a lot of people in, and they were all very excited about what's happening. And I haven't looked yet at the stock market, but it's been going up at record clips. We have a tremendous streak going on. And that's only because of the optimism. They feel the optimism. And that optimism is creating a lot of jobs.

Donald Trump

00:04:02 - 00:04:09 (7 sec)

So it's an honor to have everybody with us, and, in particular, the miners. We appreciate everything you've done, fellas. Thank you very much.

Donald Trump

00:04:09 - 00:04:19 (10 sec)

Would anybody like to say a few words? How about one of the miners saying a few words? I hear these guys all the time. I hear Rand all the time. [Laughter] Come on. Who'd like to -- come on, Mike.

Michael Nelson

00:04:19 - 00:04:36 (17 sec)

President Trump, we thank you very much for everything you've done for us. Everything that you're doing for our industry is very much needed. I've been mining in this industry for 40 years, and this is a very exciting time for our industry. Thank you very much.

Donald Trump

00:04:36 - 00:04:38 (2 sec)

Thank you very much.

Joe Manchin

00:04:38 - 00:04:40 (2 sec)

Tell him where you're from, Mike.

Michael Nelson

00:04:40 - 00:04:44 (4 sec)

I'm from Morgantown, West Virginia, but I work at the Marion County Coal Company.

Donald Trump

00:04:44 - 00:04:48 (4 sec)

How did I do in that area?

Michael Nelson

00:04:48 - 00:04:50 (2 sec)

Oh, you did great. [Laughter and Applause]

Donald Trump

00:04:50 - 00:04:51 (1 sec)

Good. Good. Say something.

Shelly Moore Capito

00:04:51 - 00:04:51 (0 sec)

Well, President Trump --

Donald Trump

00:04:51 - 00:04:51 (0 sec)

You're a -- you represent.

Shelly Moore Capito

00:04:51 - 00:05:28 (37 sec)

Yes. Representing West Virginia as the Senator, and Senator Manchin and I, and we have our congressional delegation here -- Congressman Jenkins, Congressman McKinley, and Congressman Mooney. This is a lifeline to us, and these miners, they mine in West Virginia. It's a source of pride for us as a state that we've been able to power this country, and that we've had the opportunity to provide the energy to this country. And thank you for being a partner with us and being a leader, President Trump, in this. We believe in this, and we believe in your commitment to making sure American miners get back to work. Thank you.

Donald Trump

00:05:28 - 00:05:33 (5 sec)

Thank you. [Applause]

Rand Paul

00:05:33 - 00:05:54 (21 sec)

This is a big day for Kentucky. We want to thank President Trump for getting rid of this job-killing regulation. It was scheduled to cost us thousands of more jobs. Nobody seemed to care about Kentucky, but I can promise you, Eastern Kentucky voted about 75 percent for Donald J. Trump. [Applause]

Joe Manchin

00:05:54 - 00:06:15 (21 sec)

Let me just say something very quickly. There's not a miner here that's not an environmentalist. So when people say that we don't want to do the right thing -- there's a balance between the environment and the economy, these miners would be the first ones to tell you. They're out in the woods, they're hunting, they're fishing, they're doing everything possible. All they want is the respect that -- basically they've given us the country we have because of the hard work of them and their fathers and grandfathers and all of their family has done.

Joe Manchin

00:06:15 - 00:06:21 (6 sec)

So I'm so proud. These are all West Virginians too. Makes it even prouder for all of us. So thank you. God bless you.

Mitch McConnell

00:06:21 - 00:06:35 (14 sec)

Well, Mr. President, you know that the last eight years brought a depression -- a depression -- to Eastern Kentucky, and our folks are so excited to have a pro-coal President. And we thank you so much for being on our side. [Applause]

Donald Trump

00:06:35 - 00:06:38 (3 sec)

Anybody else? Come on. Sure. Absolutely. You deserve it.

Mitch McConnell

00:06:38 - 00:06:47 (9 sec)

Thank you, Mr. President.

Donald Trump

00:06:47 - 00:06:49 (2 sec)

You deserve it. Come on up.

Unidentified Male

00:06:49 - 00:07:36 (47 sec)

Well, Mr. President, this is an example of what you talked about so much during your campaign. This is what is going to make America great again. This is the legislative branch and you working together to keep the promise that you made to put coal miners back to work and to save the coal industry. If we had not overturned this rule, we were looking at nearly 70,000 jobs across the country, and about 80 percent of our coal reserves being unavailable. So thank you for your willingness to work with us to get this done. It's very, very important to the coal miners of this country and to our electricity grid. Thank you, Mr. President. [Applause]

Unidentified Male

00:07:36 - 00:07:47 (11 sec)

As a 45-year miner, I'm very proud to be in this historic building, and I am very proud to be here with my President of the United States, who keeps his word. And we thank you very much, sir.

Donald Trump

00:07:47 - 00:07:54 (7 sec)

It's a great honor. [Applause]

Donald Trump

00:07:54 - 00:08:01 (7 sec)

So I want to thank everybody. And tell your friends back in West Virginia and Kentucky and all the other places where we worked -- Wyoming --

Heidi Heitkamp

00:08:01 - 00:08:02 (1 sec)

Jim Jordan

00:08:02 - 00:08:03 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:08:03 - 00:08:05 (2 sec)

North Dakota. Ohio.

Doug Lamborn

00:08:05 - 00:08:06 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:08:06 - 00:08:25 (19 sec)

You're right about that. They have been fantastic. Everybody's been -- actually, everybody's been great, and we appreciate it very much. Special people. Special workers. We're bringing it back, and we're bringing it back fast. We didn't have to wait a long period of time. It's been very few days since I've been here, and I think this is long ahead of schedule, right? Wouldn't you say even --

Joe Manchin

00:08:25 - 00:08:26 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:08:26 - 00:08:46 (20 sec)

Even you might say -- [Laughter] -- this is about four years faster than they thought would have happened. So it's my honor. And, fellas, go back to work, all right? I think we'll take them into the Oval Office, right? Let's take them into the Oval Office. Let's have a little tour, okay? They've probably been there many times before. [Laughter] Come on. Come with me. Good.

Donald Trump

00:08:46 - 00:08:57 (11 sec)

Thank you, everybody. Thank you, very much.

Aide

00:08:57 - 00:09:00 (3 sec)

Sign the bill here.

Donald Trump

00:09:00 - 00:09:07 (7 sec)

Oh. [Laughter] I could have gotten away with it.

Unidentified Male

00:09:07 - 00:09:17 (10 sec)

It's the important part.

Donald Trump

00:09:17 - 00:09:35 (18 sec)

[The President signs the bill] So how about we give the pen -- it's a great pen -- how about we give that to the miners? [Applause]