{"id":54094,"date":"2018-02-26T21:54:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T05:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=54094"},"modified":"2018-02-26T21:54:50","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T05:54:50","slug":"president-trump-hosts-the-2018-white-house-business-session-with-our-nations-governors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=54094","title":{"rendered":"President Trump Hosts the 2018 White House Business Session with Our Nation\u2019s Governors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you, everybody.  Thank you very much.  And I want to thank our Vice President for that really lovely introduction.  That was very nice, Mike, and I appreciate it.  This is a time of great opportunity for our country.  We\u2019ve created nearly 3 million jobs since the election \u2014 a number that nobody would have thought possible.  You go back and take a look at what they were saying just prior to the election.  Nobody thought it was even possible.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g4J3UZW3xPQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve done many other things, as you know.  And I won\u2019t go over them because I want to be hearing from you today, but many other things that, frankly, nobody thought possible.  GDP \u2014 3.2, 3, 3.  I think we\u2019re going to have another really big one coming up this current quarter, maybe a number that nobody would have thought would ever be hit.  But I think we\u2019re going to have a very good number because of the stimulus, because of the massive tax cuts that we\u2019re all benefitting \u2014 whether you\u2019re a Republican or Democrat, you\u2019re benefitting tremendously from those tax cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Apple is investing $350 billion in the United States.  And you look at what\u2019s going on, it\u2019s really quite something.  You just read, a week ago, Exxon is now coming in with $50 billion \u2014 and many, many companies.<\/p>\n<p>Also, something that nobody expected \u2014 they\u2019re also coming in with massive bonuses for their workers.  Nobody thought in terms of that.  We know that everybody is going to get a lot more income, and we\u2019ve seen that as of February 1st.  Everyone is saying, \u201cWow, I have an extra $250 in my paycheck.\u201d  And that\u2019s pretty good stuff.  So we knew that was going to happen.<\/p>\n<p>We didn\u2019t know that hundreds and hundreds of companies, millions and millions of people were going to be getting large bonuses because of what we did.<\/p>\n<p>And one of the things we\u2019re working on is fair and reciprocal trade deals.  We\u2019re not being treated fairly.  You, as governors, are not being treated fairly.  And when I get too tough with a country, you\u2019re always calling, \u201cOh, gee, don\u2019t do that.\u201d  But I must say, it\u2019s more senators and congressmen and women that call.  You haven\u2019t been calling so much.  You want to see great deals.<\/p>\n<p>But we have to make the deals fair.  You know, with Mexico, as an example, we probably lose $130 billion a year.  Now, for years, I\u2019ve been saying \u2014 for the last year and a half, I\u2019ve been saying $71 billion, but it\u2019s really not.  And they have a VAT tax of 16 percent, and we don\u2019t have a tax.  And, at some point, we have to get stronger and smarter, because we cannot continue to lose that kind of money with one country.<\/p>\n<p>We lose a lot with Canada.  People don\u2019t know it.  Canada is very smooth.  They have you believe that it\u2019s wonderful.  And it is \u2014 for them.  Not wonderful for us; it\u2019s wonderful for them.  So we have to start showing that we know what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n<p>World Trade Organization \u2014 a catastrophe.  China became strong \u2014 you look at it.  It was going like this for years and years and hundreds of years, it was going just like this.  I\u2019m a great \u2014 I have great respect for President Xi, by the way.  So I\u2019m not blaming them.  I\u2019m not blaming Mexico.  I\u2019m not blaming anybody.  I\u2019m blaming us because we did such a poor job for so many years.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not just talking about President Obama.  I\u2019m talking about many, many, many Presidents \u2014 for 30 years, 35 years.  But the World Trade Organization makes it almost impossible for us to do good business.  We lose the cases, we don\u2019t have the judges.  We have a minority of judges.  It\u2019s almost as bad as the 9th Circuit.  Nothing is as bad as the 9th Circuit.  (Laughter.)  It\u2019s almost as bad.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of that, DACA is going to be put back into the 9th Circuit.  You know, we tried to get it moved quickly, because we\u2019d like to help DACA.  I think everybody in this room wants to help with DACA.  But the Supreme Court just ruled that it has to go through the normal channel.  So it\u2019s going back in, and there won\u2019t be any surprise.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, it\u2019s really sad when every single case filed against us is in the 9th Circuit.  We lose, we lose, we lose, and then we do fine in the Supreme Court.  But what does that tell you about our court system?  It\u2019s a very, very sad thing.  So DACA is going back, and we\u2019ll see what happens from there.<\/p>\n<p>So we want fair trade deals.  We want reciprocal trade deals.  Scott Walker has a wonderful company called Harley Davidson in Wisconsin.  Right?  Great.  So when they send a motorcycle to India, as an example, they have to pay 100 percent tax \u2014 100 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the Prime Minister, who I think is a fantastic man, called me the other day.  He said, \u201cWe are lowering it to 50 percent.\u201d  I said, \u201cOkay, but so far we\u2019re getting nothing.\u201d  So we get nothing, he gets 50 [percent], and they think we\u2019re doing \u2014 like they\u2019re doing us a favor.  That\u2019s not a favor.  And you know what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a great company.  When I spoke with your chairman or the president of Harley, they weren\u2019t even asking for it because they\u2019ve been ripped off with trade so long that they were surprised that I brought it up.  I\u2019m the one that\u2019s pushing it more than they are, but it\u2019s unfair.  And India sells us a lot of motorbikes.<\/p>\n<p>So when they have a motorbike \u2014 a big number, by the way \u2014 they have a company that does a lot of business.  So they have a motorcycle or a motorbike that comes into our country \u2014 the number is zero.  We get zero.  They get 100 percent, brought down to 75; brought down, now, to 50.  Okay.<\/p>\n<p>And I wasn\u2019t sure \u2014 he said it so beautifully.  He\u2019s a beautiful man.  And he said, \u201cI just want to inform you that we have reduced it to 75, but we have further reduced it to 50.\u201d  And I said, \u201cHuh.\u201d  What do I say?  Am I supposed to be thrilled?  And that\u2019s not good for you people, especially as governors.  It\u2019s just not right.  And we have many deals like that.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with all of that being said, let\u2019s talk China.  Because China, we probably lost $504 billion, last year, on trade \u2014 $504 billion.  I think that President Xi is unique.  He\u2019s helping us with North Korea \u2014 who, by the way, wants to talk, as of last night; you heard that.  They want to talk.  And we want to talk also, only under the right conditions.  Otherwise, we\u2019re not talking.<\/p>\n<p>You know, they\u2019ve been talking for 25 years.  Other Presidents should have solved this problem long before I got here.  And they\u2019ve been talking for 25 years.  And you know what happened?  Nothing.  The Clinton administration spent billions and billions of dollars.  They gave them billions.  They built things for them.  They went out of their way, and the day after the agreement was signed, they continued with nuclear research.  It was horrible.<\/p>\n<p>The Bush administration did nothing \u2014 both.  The Obama administration wanted to do something.  He told me it\u2019s the single biggest problem that this country has.  But they didn\u2019t do anything.  And it would have been much easier, in those days, than it is now.  I think most people understand that.  But we\u2019ve been very tough with them.<\/p>\n<p>China has been good, but they haven\u2019t been great.  China has really done more, probably, than they\u2019ve ever done because of my relationship.  We have a very good relationship, but President Xi is for China, and I\u2019m for the United States.  And Russia is behaving badly because Russia is sending in what China is taking out.<\/p>\n<p>So China is doing pretty good numbers, but Russia is now sending a lot of stuff in.  But I think they want to see it come to an end also.  I think everybody does \u2014 talking about tremendous potential loss of lives; numbers that nobody has ever even contemplated, never thought of.<\/p>\n<p>So they want to talk.  First time \u2014 they want to talk.  And we\u2019ll see what happens.  That\u2019s my attitude: We\u2019ll see what happens.  But something has to be done.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I want to hear your ideas on a number of critical issues.  But, most importantly, we want to discuss the public safety in schools and public safety, generally.  But school safety.  We can\u2019t have this go on.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m grateful that Governor Rick Scott is here, and we thank him for his leadership in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy in Parkland, Florida.  Horrible.  Our nation is heartbroken.  We continue to mourn the loss of so many precious, innocent young lives.  These are incredible people.  I visited a lot of them.<\/p>\n<p>But we will turn our grief into action.  We have to have action.  We don\u2019t have any action.  It happens, a week goes by, \u201clet\u2019s keep talking.\u201d  Another week goes by, we keep talking.  Two months go by \u2014 all of the sudden, everybody is off to the next subject.  Then, when it happens again, everybody is angry and \u201clet\u2019s start talking again.\u201d  We got to stop.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, bump stocks \u2014 we\u2019re writing that out.  I\u2019m writing that out myself.  I don\u2019t care if Congress does it or not.  I\u2019m writing it out myself, okay?  (Applause.)  You put it into the machine gun category \u2014 which is what it is \u2014 it becomes, essentially, a machine gun, and nobody is going to be able to \u2014 it\u2019s going to very hard to get them.  So we\u2019re writing out bump stocks.<\/p>\n<p>But we have to take steps to harden our schools so that they are less vulnerable to attack.  This includes allowing well-trained and certified school personnel to carry concealed firearms.  At some point, you need volume.  I don\u2019t know that a school is going to be able to hire a hundred security guards that are armed.  Plus, you know, I got to watch some deputy sheriffs performing this week.  And they weren\u2019t exactly Medal of Honor winners.  All right?<\/p>\n<p>The way they performed was, frankly, disgusting.  They were listening to what was going on.  The one in particular, he was then \u2014 he was early.  And then you had three others that probably a similar deal a little bit later, but a similar kind of a thing.<\/p>\n<p>You know, I really believe \u2014 you don\u2019t know until you test it \u2014 but I really believe I\u2019d run in there, even if I didn\u2019t had a weapon.  And I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too, because I know most of you.  But the way they performed was really a disgrace.<\/p>\n<p>Second, we must confront the issue of mental health.  And here is the best example of mental health.  This kid \u2014 they had 39 red flags.  They should have known.  They did know.  They didn\u2019t do anything about it.  That was really a bad time, I have to tell you.  Nobody bigger for law enforcement than I am.  But between the people that didn\u2019t go into that school and protect those lives, and the fact that this should have been solved long before it happened \u2014 pretty sad.<\/p>\n<p>So we have to confront the issue, and we have to discuss mental health, and we have to do something about it.  You know, in the old days, we had mental institutions.  We had a lot of them, and you could nab somebody like this.  Because, you know, they did \u2014 they knew he was \u2014 something was off.  You had to know that.  People were calling all over the place.<\/p>\n<p>But you used to be able to bring him into a mental institution, and hopefully he gets help or whatever \u2014 but he\u2019s off the streets.  You can\u2019t arrest him, I guess, because he hasn\u2019t done anything, but you know he\u2019s like a boiler ready to explode, right?  So he just \u2014 you have to do something.  But you can\u2019t put him in jail, I guess, because he hasn\u2019t done anything.<\/p>\n<p>But, in the old days, you would put him into a mental institution.  And we had them in New York, and our government started closing them because of cost.  And we\u2019re going to have to start talking about mental institutions, because a lot of the folks in this room closed their mental institutions also.<\/p>\n<p>So we have no halfway.  We have nothing between a prison and leaving him at his house, which we can\u2019t do anymore.  So I think you folks have to start thinking about that.<\/p>\n<p>Third, we have to improve our early warning response system so that when friends, family, and neighbors do warn the authorities about a violent or dangerous individual, action is taken quickly and decisively.  Look, you had the one mother \u2014 you remember, in Connecticut, how horrible that was.  She was begging \u2014 begging \u2014 to take her son in and help him \u2014 do something, anything, he\u2019s so dangerous.  And nobody really listened to her.  And he ended up killing her, and then the rest.  You know what happened.  It was a horror.  But she was begging to do something about her own son.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, you had a grandmother that got to see the notes of her grandchild, and she reported him.  And they nabbed him.  He was ready to go in for a school \u2014 looked like.  She reported him.  And there, the law enforcement did a very good job.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth, we must pursue commonsense measures that protect the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans while keeping guns out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others.<\/p>\n<p>And fifth, we must strive to create a culture in our country that cherishes life and condemns violence and embraces dignity.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with all of that, over the weekend \u2014 I cannot believe the press didn\u2019t find this out, I can\u2019t believe it.  I think they\u2019re getting a little bit \u2014 I could never use the word \u201clazy\u201d; you don\u2019t want to say that.  We don\u2019t want to give them any more enthusiasm than they already have.  But I can\u2019t believe they didn\u2019t figure this one \u2014 because I had lunch with Wayne LaPierre, Chris Cox, and David Lehman of the NRA.  And I want to tell you, they want to do something.  And I said, \u201cFellas, we got to do something.  It\u2019s too long now.  We got to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re going to do very strong background checks \u2014 very strong.  We got to do background checks.  If we see a sicko, I don\u2019t want him having a gun.  And, you know, I know there was a time when anybody could have \u2014 I mean, even if they were sick, they were fighting.  And I said, \u201cFellas, we can\u2019t do it anymore.\u201d  And there\u2019s no bigger fan of the Second Amendment than me, and there\u2019s no bigger fan of the NRA.  And these guys are great patriots.  They\u2019re great people.  And they want to do something.  They\u2019re going to do something.  And they\u2019re going to do it, I think, quickly.  I think they want to see it.<\/p>\n<p>But we don\u2019t want to have sick people having the right to have a gun.  Plus, when we see somebody is sick like this guy, when the police went to see him, they didn\u2019t do a good job.  But they have restrictions on what they can do.  We got to give them immediate access to taking those guns away so that they don\u2019t just leave and he\u2019s sitting there with seven different weapons.  (Applause.)  Got to give immediate access.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re not going to get any \u2014 you won\u2019t \u2014 don\u2019t worry about the NRA.  They\u2019re on our side.  You guys \u2014 half of you are so afraid of the NRA.  There\u2019s nothing to be afraid of.  And you know what?  If they\u2019re not with you, we have to fight them every once and a while.  That\u2019s okay.  They\u2019re doing what they think is right.  I will tell you, they are doing what they think is right.<\/p>\n<p>But sometimes we\u2019re going to have to be very tough and we\u2019re going to have to fight them.  But we need strong background checks.  For a long period of time, people resisted that.  But now people, I think, are really into it.<\/p>\n<p>And John Cornyn \u2014 great guy \u2014 senator, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy hopefully are going to work on some legislation.  I hope you guys \u2014 they started already.  In fact, John has legislation in.  We\u2019re going to strengthen it, we\u2019re going to make it more pertinent to what we\u2019re discussing, but he\u2019s already started the process.  We\u2019ve already started it.  And the other thing \u2014 we need hardened sites.  We have to have hardened sites.<\/p>\n<p>So just in concluding, we have tremendous things happening.  The country is doing well, and then we have a setback like this that\u2019s so heart-wrenching.  It\u2019s so heart-wrenching.  And we have to \u2014 we have to clean it up.  We have to straighten it out.<\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s wonderful that we\u2019re setting records on the economy.  We\u2019re setting records.  Black unemployment at an all-time historical low.  Hispanic unemployment at a historical low.  Women unemployment at an 18-year low \u2014 18 years.  And actually, I did very well with women during the election.  Nobody wants to give me credit for that, as you know.  But \u2014 and I\u2019m very proud of that.  To me, these are incredible statistics.<\/p>\n<p>And very importantly, we\u2019re doing \u2014 our companies are doing well.  The fundamentals are beyond what \u2014 literally beyond what anyone has ever seen.  This isn\u2019t a bubble.  You know, there was bubbles in the past because these companies were valued and nobody understood where \u2014 where\u2019s their money?  Where\u2019s the money?  And these are really strong companies we\u2019re building now.  We have tremendous underlying value.<\/p>\n<p>I want to bring the steel industry back into our country.  If that takes tariffs, let them take tariffs, okay?  Maybe it will cost a little bit more, but we\u2019ll have jobs.  Let it take tariffs.  I want to bring aluminum back into our country.  These plants are all closing or closed.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, we put a tariff on washing machines because we were getting killed, believe it or not, on washing machines and solar panels.  That was two months ago.  You have to see the activity on new plants being built for washing machines and for solar panels.  We had 32 solar-panel plants.  Of the 32, 30 were closed, and 2 were on life-to-life resuscitation.  They were dead.<\/p>\n<p>Now they\u2019re talking about opening up many of them \u2014 reopening plants that have been closed for a long time.  And we make better solar panels than China.  One of their knocks were that their solar panels were lousy, they weren\u2019t good.  We make a much higher-quality solar panel.<\/p>\n<p>So, after two months, we\u2019re opening up at least five plants, and other plants are expanding on the washing machines \u2014 which, by the way, it sounds like, sort of, a little hokey to say washing machines.  It\u2019s a big business.  It\u2019s a very big business.  But then you look and you see, like \u2014 I won\u2019t mention \u2014 I won\u2019t mention countries.  I would never do that.<\/p>\n<p>But how many Chevrolets are in the middle of Berlin?  How many Fords are in the middle of Tokyo?  Not too many.  In fact, Ford, sort of, closed up their operation in Japan because they couldn\u2019t get cars in there.  I spoke to Prime Minister Abe, another great friend of mine \u2014 he\u2019s a great person \u2014 but I said, listen, you\u2019re sending us millions of cars, and if we send you one and if we make it so perfect \u2014 they actually told me a case where they made this car so good.  This was \u2014 they spent a fortune.  They had the best environmental, the best this, the best skins, the best \u2014 everything you can have in a car.  The best safety.  They brought it in, and after inspections that lasted forever, it was rejected.<\/p>\n<p>You see, that\u2019s a form of tariff, too.  Maybe that\u2019s a more deadly form of tariff.  That, to me, is just as deadly as 50 percent, and 25 percent, and 100 percent \u2014 in many cases.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re going to straighten it out.  We\u2019ve already started.  I mean, the first year is just \u2014 we laid the seeds.  You know, a lot of it is statutory, where you can\u2019t do anything unless you go through a process.  Well, now, through our great team, we\u2019ve gone through that process.  Many of the \u2014 in other words, you\u2019ll do a rule, you have to wait 90 days.  That\u2019s, sort of, what\u2019s happening with the bump stocks.  I\u2019m waiting for the next process, but it\u2019s gone.  Just don\u2019t worry about it.  It\u2019s gone.  Essentially gone, because we\u2019re going to make it so tough that you\u2019re not going to be able to get them.  Nobody is going to want them anyway.<\/p>\n<p>You know, bump stocks \u2014 you shoot rapidly, but not accurately.  I don\u2019t know if you have ever heard what a bump stock does.  The bullets come out fast, but you don\u2019t know where the hell they\u2019re going.  That\u2019s why nobody even, really \u2014 too much \u2014 came to its defense.  But he used it in Las Vegas.  He was using bump stocks in Las Vegas, as you know.  So we\u2019re getting rid of them.<\/p>\n<p>So you\u2019re going to ask questions.  I\u2019m going to help you folks.  We\u2019re going to get all of the things that we want to do, whether it\u2019s transportation, whether it\u2019s safety, whether it\u2019s law and order.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things that the past administration would not do is give this incredible equipment that we have \u2014 excess military equipment.  Wouldn\u2019t give it to your police.  Would not give it to your law enforcement.  They didn\u2019t like the idea \u2014 the administration \u2014 of armored vehicles.  I guess, maybe, they\u2019d rather have \u2014 look, why wouldn\u2019t they want that?  People were in danger, people were being killed, people were being shot, people were being hit with rocks during some bad times and some rough places.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve given out hundreds of millions of dollars\u2019 worth of our excess military equipment to your police forces.  And I will tell you, every time I go to one of your cities, they come up to me \u2014 the police \u2014 and they say, \u201cThank you so much for that equipment.  We feel so much safer.\u201d  Where they can go in an armored van up to a site and not worried about being shot or hit in the head with a rock.  And to me, it\u2019s common sense.  But, you know, what can I tell you?  But I will say this: Your group really appreciates it.<\/p>\n<p>So with that, I\u2019m going to ask Brian to say a couple of words and then we\u2019ll go around, we\u2019ll take some questions.  Maybe we\u2019ll have Rick Scott come up second.  And I\u2019m here as long as you need me.  Let\u2019s get it all out.  We want to help the governors, we want to help our states, and we want to make our schools safe.<\/p>\n<p>Brian?  Please.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR SANDOVAL:  Mr. President, thank you.  And I truly appreciate you.  I appreciate all the members of the Cabinet.  On behalf of all the governors, I want to thank you for your hospitality and the First Lady\u2019s hospitality yesterday evening.  It was an extraordinary night and truly a privilege to be able to visit and enjoy fellowship.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, I appreciate, again, your having us all today.  We can talk about issues with regard to infrastructure, workforce development, combatting opioids, prison reform, agriculture, healthcare, workforce \u2014 all these different issues. And those are things that we all need to talk about.<\/p>\n<p>But the issue of the day is school safety, is public safety, Mr. President.  You know, I shared this last night, Mr. President: After the massacre in Las Vegas \u2014 the mass shooting, where we lost 58 people, over 500 people were injured \u2014 this was a person who used those bump stocks.  And I personally want to thank you for taking action to eliminate those, because it, essentially, was a killing field down there, where we had 20,000 people who were simply helpless.  And that is an important first step.<\/p>\n<p>You mentioned, in your remarks, school safety and public safety.  And we need to have this national conversation with regard to what we\u2019re going to do.  I suppose you were looking for some suggestions, some ideas, and it will come in the form of questions, as well.<\/p>\n<p>But I would suggest, Mr. President, with regard to the scope of the FBI background checks, if we could broaden those, Mr. President.  Because I know, in my state, our background states are much broader.  When we do an FBI background check, it does not include an adjudication of mental illness.  It does not include an adjudication of a domestic violence protection order or a conviction for domestic violence.  I think those are things that absolutely need to be included, and there are other categories that would be included in an expansion of FBI background checks.<\/p>\n<p>We talked about this at dinner, with regard to Governor Scott.  And again, my heart goes out to you and to the victims there in Florida, and Texas, and everywhere else where this has happened.  And we need to have this national conversation.  We need to bring the strength, the wisdom of all the governors and everyone else across the country to have this conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Something else that we have done in Nevada, with regard to school safety, is, I included in my budget more money for social workers in the schools.  We\u2019ve had shootings where we\u2019ve had bullied students that didn\u2019t have access to resources at the schools, so now we have a social worker in every school.  So somebody come to that \u2014 Mr. President, we talked about that last night, and that\u2019s something else that we can do.<\/p>\n<p>But again, having a room together like this, there\u2019s no problem that we cannot solve.  Every one of us brings a unique experience that we can come to solve this problem.  You\u2019re right, Mr. President \u2014 as a parent of a daughter who attends a middle school where there was simply a rumor that something could happen, and, one day later, half the school was absent \u2014 we can\u2019t have parents living in fear.  We can\u2019t have students living in fear.  They can\u2019t teach, the kids can\u2019t learn, and it\u2019s just no way for our education system to operate.<\/p>\n<p>So I know that I\u2019m going to offer my experience to you, Mr. President.  And I think I can speak for all the governors of the United States of America that we are here to solve this problem, once and for all.  You are right, we need to take action now.  The status quo is unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>So, with that, God bless you, Mr. President.  God bless our great country.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR SCOTT:  Well, the first thing I want to do is I want to thank the President for making something happen.  All of us, as governors, know, in any jobs we\u2019ve had, you have to get something done.  If you \u2014 anybody that has gone through one of these \u2014 and if you\u2019ve gone to the funeral of a 14-year-old girl that her parents just loved her, you know that you have to make a change.<\/p>\n<p>So what we\u2019ve done in the last \u2014 I guess, it\u2019s a little less than two weeks \u2014 we\u2019ve looked at what other governors have done.  We\u2019ve brought people together.  I\u2019m very appreciative of what the President has done by bringing us all together to talk about this, and also what he did last week by bringing people together because it has created momentum to make sure something happens this time, that we don\u2019t go through this and nothing happen.<\/p>\n<p>So, in our state, the way I\u2019ve done this is I\u2019ve broken it down into three things.  Number one, we\u2019re going to have school safety.  No parent in our state is going to say, \u201cI\u2019m concerned whether my child can go to school safely.\u201d  If you go to school in Florida, you\u2019re going to know that your child can come home safely.  If you\u2019re a teacher, if you work at one of these schools, you\u2019re going to know you\u2019re going to come home safely.  That\u2019s step one.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to spend $500 million.  I have two weeks left in my legislative session; I\u2019m not waiting for the federal government.  We\u2019re going to invest $500 million, and we\u2019re going to have significant law enforcement presence at every public school in our state.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve already been investing dollars in hardening our schools.  We\u2019re not only going to invest a lot more state dollars, but we\u2019re going to say any local dollars that go to capital outlay by our school districts, the first thing all those dollars have to be spent on is school hardening.  It\u2019s the most important thing we can do, is harden these schools.  So we\u2019re going to do it.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the way it\u2019s going to happen is our sheriffs are going to oversee how all the money is spent to make sure that the money is spent the right way.  There will be a plan annually, and the money will be spent the right way.<\/p>\n<p>Number two, mental illness.  We\u2019re going to have mental health counselors in every school to make sure that all of our students can go through counseling or meet with a mental health counselor as often as they want.  We\u2019re going to do it.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also going to have threat assessment teams.  Virginia did that after their shooting.  We\u2019re going to have that in all of our schools, where you\u2019ll have children, families, juvenile justice, teachers, principals, local law enforcement, all together, and say, \u201cWhat are the threat assessments in our schools?\u201d  And we\u2019re going to do that.<\/p>\n<p>Next, we\u2019re going to invest more dollars in mental health in our Children and Families Program.  We do that around our state, but we\u2019re going to invest more dollars to make sure we have youth teams all around our state to help them.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we\u2019re not going to have \u2014 you\u2019re not going to, in Florida, have access to a gun \u2014 if you struggle with mental illness, are you going to make violent threats \u2014 you\u2019re not going to have access to a gun in our state.  You shouldn\u2019t have access to a gun, and you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n<p>So what we\u2019re going to do is we\u2019re going to have a violence threat restraining order that a family member, a mental health individual, or law enforcement can go to the court system \u2014 there will be due process \u2014 but they can make sure that you don\u2019t have access to a gun.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been involuntarily committed because you\u2019re a threat to yourself or others, you will not have access to a gun.  You\u2019ll have to give those guns up.  There will be due process.  You can get those guns back, but we\u2019re going to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to make sure, as you do background checks, all this information is out there so we can make sure we know who has the guns.<\/p>\n<p>So, in our state, we are going to get all this done, and we\u2019re going to get it done in the next two weeks.  I\u2019ve been talking to my legislative leadership every day.  They\u2019re committed to be a partner.  But in Florida, I want to make sure every parent knows that their child is going to come home safe and sound every day.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Mr. President.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Rick, and thank you, Brian, very much.  Great job you\u2019ve done, too, as chairman.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  Would you like to say \u2014 I think I can bring this over.  It might be easier just to pass this around.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR IVEY:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Like you, I believe that the local officials have an awful lot of insight into what each school needs to provide public school safety.  So as I mentioned a little earlier to this group, Mr. President, I suggested that we give our local folks a list of things that they can do quickly, like limit the number of entrances that a school has to enter the building.  And then, equip every child above the 6th grade with a chip-activated card to enter that entrance.<\/p>\n<p>And also, you can consider putting in a metal detector at one or two or three entrances, since you\u2019re limiting the number of entrances.  Also, a surveillance system.  And that surveillance system can be tied to the virtual Alabama Visual Center at the Education Department, so it\u2019s instant information all at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, training in mental health situation is fine, but for the immediate, I just think we need to give some guidance to our local people, and limit the access to entrancing, and equip with surveillance systems, metal detectors, or whatever they choose to do.  Where is the money coming from?  They\u2019ve got some local money, but, in our state budget, there\u2019s been a technology fund.  And a senator and I are working, and he introduced the bill last week, to be able to free up some of that money for use for school safety.<\/p>\n<p>So these are not costly things, but they are things that can be done immediately to improve school safety.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s great.  Thank you.  Thank you very  much, Kay.<\/p>\n<p>How about going around the room.  Anybody has some great ideas or suggestions?  Governor?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR INSLEE:  Thanks, Mr. President.  Two comments.  One from the state of Washington.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>We have a program called the Extreme Risk Protection Orders System that has been supremely effective in allowing family members that realize there\u2019s a risk, to have them separated from their firearm.  It involves a judicial decision.  It involves a  hearing.  And it has saved lives, and I\u2019m sure, in the state of Washington.<\/p>\n<p>And I would commend it to you for national attention, because it makes sure that when you have an uncle that might be \u2014 you have concern about depression \u2014 it allows law enforcement to separate your uncle, and depressed uncle, from his firearm.  If you have somebody in your family that might have some violent tendencies, after a hearing and a potential ex parte order, you get an order to actually allow law enforcement to remove them.  It\u2019s been in operation for a year.  It\u2019s been extremely successful.  I would commend it to you.<\/p>\n<p>Second issue.  Now I know that you have suggested arming our teachers.  And I just \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No.  No, no.  Not your teachers.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR INSLEE:  Not your teachers.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Arming a small portion that are very gun adept, that truly know how to handle it.  Because I do feel, Governor, it\u2019s very important that gun-free zones \u2014 you have a gun-free zone, it\u2019s like an invitation for these very sick people to go there.<\/p>\n<p>I do think that there has to be some form of major retaliation if they\u2019re able to enter a school.  And if that happens, you\u2019re not going have any problems anymore, because they\u2019re never going to the school.  You\u2019re never going to have a problem.<\/p>\n<p>So it would just be a very small group of people that are very gun adept.  Anyway, go ahead, Governor.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR INSLEE:  If I may respond to that.  Let me just suggest, whatever percentage it is \u2014 I heard at one time you might have suggested 20 percent \u2014 whatever percentage it is, speaking as a grandfather, speaking as the Governor of the state of Washington, I have listened to the people who would be affected by that.  I have listened to the biology teachers, and they don\u2019t want to do that, at any percentage.  I\u2019ve listened to the first-grade teachers that don\u2019t want to be pistol-packing first-grade teachers.  I\u2019ve listened to law enforcement who have said they don\u2019t want to have to train teachers as law enforcement agents, which takes about six months.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I just think this is a circumstance where we need to listen, that educators should educate, and they should not be foisted upon this responsibility of packing heat in first grade classes.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I understand you have suggested this.  And we suggest things, and sometimes then we listen to people about it, and maybe they don\u2019t look so good a little later.  So I just suggest we need a little less tweeting here and a little more listening.  And let\u2019s just take that off the table and move forward.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  Thank you very much.  You know, we have a number of states right now that do that.  And I think, with that in mind, I\u2019ll call on Greg Abbott, the great governor of Texas.  Greg.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR ABBOTT:  Sure.  Texas authorized schools to adopt policies to implement a school marshal program where individuals would be trained to have a weapon and to be able to use that weapon.  And we now have well over a hundred school districts in the state of Texas where teachers or other people who work in the school do carry a weapon, and are trained to be able to respond to an attack that occurs.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it\u2019s not always a schoolteacher.  It could be a coach, it could be an administrator, it could be anybody who works in that school.  But it\u2019s a well-thought-out program with a lot of training in advance.  And, candidly, some school districts, they promote it.  Because they will have signs out front \u2014 a warning sign: \u201cBe aware, there are armed personnel on campus\u201d \u2014  warning anybody coming on there that they \u2014 if they attempt to cause any harm, they\u2019re going to be in trouble.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think that\u2019s great.  And so, essentially, what you\u2019re saying is that when a sick individual comes into that school, they can expect major trouble.  Right?  Major trouble.  The bullets are going to be going toward him, also.  And I think that\u2019s great.  And you know what\u2019s going to happen?  Nobody is going into that school, Greg.  That\u2019s a big difference.<\/p>\n<p>That was really well said.  Thank you very much.  Anybody?  Governors are so quiet, I can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON:  Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So well behaved today.  I can\u2019t believe this.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON:  We\u2019ll start acting up soon.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, I just want to say that, in Arkansas, we have a very similar situation or program as what Greg has described in Texas.  I have the belief that no teacher should be compelled, and most of them want to teach and focus on that.  But others are concerned about their students and have training and specific capacity as you have described.<\/p>\n<p>And so we have licensed certain school districts and those who want to be trained more significantly so that they can handle an active shooter situation.  And so we have over 13 schools in Arkansas that can\u2019t afford a school resource officer.  They prefer to have those either in the classroom or an assistant coach or somebody that would have a response capability.  And that\u2019s the key thing.  So that flexibility.<\/p>\n<p>I think what the governors want to say is that there can\u2019t be, necessarily, a national security plan, but the states can develop this.<\/p>\n<p>And we did make some recommendations back in 2012, though, in reference to federal grants.  Some of the biggest expense is training.  Some of the biggest expense will be hardening of our schools, as Governor Ivey suggested.  And so I hope that your Department of Homeland Security \u2014 in looking at some of the grants that come from DHS in terms of security, fighting terrorists \u2014 some of that money can be utilized by local jurisdictions, as well, for the protection of the number-one priority of protecting our students and our schools.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  And, Governor, you know how well we\u2019re doing.  It\u2019s a never-ending quest.  But with respect to MS-13, and these people are really causing havoc in certain communities, and with schoolchildren, and people walking home from school \u2014 what\u2019s going on.  And we\u2019re moving them out by the thousands.<\/p>\n<p>But we have to get immigration laws that allow us to do what we have to be able to do.  They are so soft.  No country in the world has immigration laws so soft like we do.  So that\u2019s also a part of it.<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate what you said.  Thank you very much, Governor.  Yes, Paul.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEPAGE:  Mr. President, I would ask that you address the Congress and ask them to look at the HIPAA laws, particularly with mental illness.  Because we need help from the federal government to loosen up the laws so that we can do the truly good background checks on people.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  And that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to be doing.  And as you know, Paul, we\u2019re really, I think, going to have the support of the NRA having to do with background checks \u2014 very strong background checks \u2014 and a very heavy section on mental health, far different than what we\u2019ve had in the past.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Paul.  Yes, ma\u2019am.  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR MARTINEZ:  Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing us, the governors, to participate and give our perspectives, as each of our states are different.  And as I\u2019ve thanked you before, this was not something that we were engaged in before with previous administrations.<\/p>\n<p>I do see that there is a huge pool of retired law enforcement officers where municipalities and counties have actually invested a lot of money into training them, and now they\u2019re retired.  And often, because they are receiving a public retirement, they cannot go back into that similar kind of retirement plan.  If they go into an educational plan, they can actually work for a school, be trained.  The school doesn\u2019t have to train them.  But, also, they can learn and figure out where cameras and different security pieces need to be implemented within the schools, because of their experience and training.<\/p>\n<p>And so this is a pool of folks that we can immediately put out without having to expend great amount of dollars, and keeping our schools and our school personnel safe.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s well said.  The fact is that, if you have a teacher, or you have a coach, or you have somebody that\u2019s very adept \u2014 only adept, because a lot of people don\u2019t have anything; they don\u2019t know what it looks like; they can\u2019t lift it.  But only adept at weaponry and guns.  And only a small number; you don\u2019t need that many.<\/p>\n<p>But we all learned a lot over the weekend, or last week, when you saw a man that was properly armed standing outside, probably afraid to go in.  And now it turns out that there were probably four of them.  They don\u2019t love the students; they don\u2019t know the students.  The teachers love the students, and they want to protect those students.<\/p>\n<p>The other thing is cost.  The school in Florida was so large, Rick.  Such a big school.  You would have had to have 100, 150 guards.  I mean, you would have had to have a lot of guards to have that building properly manned.  Then you have an armed camp.  Whereas, doing it like I think you\u2019re suggesting it, and like many people in this room agree with, it costs almost nothing.  I would actually give a bonus to every coach, teacher, et cetera, because they should go through training.  As good as they are, they should go through a very strong, strenuous training.  But I would like to give them a bonus.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s say you gave them a thousand-dollar bonus for the year, and you\u2019d have 50 or 60 of them in the school \u2014 compare that to paying $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 each.  Where are the schools going to get that kind of money?<\/p>\n<p>Somebody suggested last night, \u201cWe\u2019re going to harden the doors.  We\u2019re going to make it impossible to get in.\u201d  I said, \u201cThat\u2019s good, except in one instance: if the killer gets in and he closes the doors and you can\u2019t get into the school.\u201d  They said, \u201cAh, I never thought of that.\u201d  Don\u2019t forget, I was in the real estate business.  And when you harden those schools, you\u2019re not going to get in.  But if they get in, then you\u2019re not getting in.  Law enforcement is not getting in.<\/p>\n<p>Somebody else said, \u201cOh, we have something that we\u2019re working on.\u201d  Wait until you see the cost of these things.  Smoke fills into the school.  Smoke.  So you have a guy standing there with a weapon, and now he\u2019s getting crazy because there\u2019s smoke all over.  All he\u2019s going to do is shoot endlessly.  He\u2019s going to go nuts.  This is another plan; this is a new one, I\u2019m sure, put out by some company that wants to make a lot of money: \u201cSmoke is going to fill the room and fills the hallways.\u201d  That\u2019s not going to help.  And then law enforcement is going to go and fight through the smoke.  They\u2019re not going to know what they\u2019re shooting.  This is a serious plan.  And I think I talked that particular person out of it.<\/p>\n<p>But I really \u2014 I do \u2014 when you talk about hardening.  The other thing is this: Harden.  You harden.  The cost to your schools, and your communities, and the federal government, will be astronomical.  When you start putting in main doors, closing other doors, changing hallways around, changing \u2014 you\u2019re talking about hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars.  And you can do it for nothing.<\/p>\n<p>As you, and myself, and our great Governor from Texas and others \u2014 I think there are nine states that do it that way, and they\u2019re thrilled.  They\u2019re thrilled.  And you know what it says?  \u201cCome on in, folks.  Come on in.\u201d  But they\u2019re not coming in, because they don\u2019t want to get shot.<\/p>\n<p>Look at this guy, Cruz.  He leaves with the students.  He tried to sneak away.  And I\u2019ll tell you, one policeman who did a good job was the one that caught him a couple of communities away.  It wasn\u2019t even, Rick, in that community.  I know all those communities.  But it wasn\u2019t in that community.  It\u2019s sort of far away.<\/p>\n<p>And he said, \u201cThat\u2019s the guy, I think, that maybe did it, based on a description.\u201d  And he went out and he got him.  Now, they would have gotten him anyway, I guess, but who knows how much more damage would have been inflicted?  So he did a great job.<\/p>\n<p>Look, law enforcement is great.  But we all learn something when we saw Peterson standing outside of that school.  He wanted no part of it.  He heard the power, and he heard, probably, the screaming and the bullets, and he wanted no part of it.  And then three other guys came to help.  They wanted no part of it.  That was a terrible, terrible job.  The only worse job is that they didn\u2019t nab this guy earlier, because you had 39 red flags.  That was a worse job.<\/p>\n<p>So we \u2014 I think we learned a lot.  But if you don\u2019t have retribution, if you\u2019re not going to do something very serious to these guys when they walk in, they\u2019re going to keep walking in.  You\u2019re going to have this all the time.  You\u2019re going to have it \u2014 they have to know, they walk in, they\u2019re going to probably end up dead.  And if they know they\u2019re going to end up dead, they\u2019re not going into that school.<\/p>\n<p>Question?  Yes, Matt?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BEVIN:  I don\u2019t beg to differ with most of what has been said here.  But most of what we\u2019re talking about are things that are costly \u2014 have monetary cost.<\/p>\n<p>I do think it\u2019s important for us to start, at every level, with your office, with our respective offices as well, to seize the bully pulpits that we have to talk about the culture in this society.  And I would challenge those in the media who would want to mock and ridicule this, and would want to say that anybody who advocates for this, to find some fault in that person as a reason why that person should not be the one advocating for a higher level of moral authority or higher mores, to think twice, because these are your children and grandchildren as well.<\/p>\n<p>And when we mock and ridicule the very foundational principles that this nation was built upon, where you treat people the way you\u2019d want to be treated, where you respect human life, where you respect the dignity of women and of children and of people who we have increasingly degraded in our society.  This culture of death is becoming pervasive.<\/p>\n<p>And if it\u2019s not addressed by all the imperfect people in this room, with a sense of purpose and a sense of aspiration, I think we\u2019re going to see a continued trajectory that\u2019s not good.<\/p>\n<p>Many things have not changed.  There have always been guns.  And there were fewer restrictions.  There have always been guns in homes and fewer rules.  It isn\u2019t to say that these rules and these restrictions are necessarily bad.<\/p>\n<p>But what has changed is what we do or don\u2019t do as it relates to acknowledging the value and the dignity of every human life.  And when you couple that with the number of psychiatric drugs that are increasingly systemic, and that have very severe warnings associated with them related to depression and suicidal thoughts \u2014 you put all these things in a mess, and no one among us is bold enough or willing to step up and challenge the fact that this is a problem?  This is why it goes unchecked.<\/p>\n<p>And I would call on you, sir, as I\u2019m calling on my fellow governors and myself, to seize the opportunities we have to call America to higher action as it relates to our mores.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BEVIN:  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Matt.  And that\u2019s why we\u2019re here.  And I think \u2014 you know, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be mentioned, but you have to also look at videos.  They\u2019re vicious.  You look at some of these videos.  I mean, I don\u2019t know what this does to a young kid\u2019s mind.  Somebody growing up and forming and looking at videos where people are just being blown away left and right.<\/p>\n<p>The Internet, movies \u2014 you look at these movies that are out today.  I see, just by a commercial, the level of craziness and viciousness in the movies.  I think we have to look at that, too.  Maybe we have to put a rating system on that.  They have a rating system for other subjects.  Maybe we have to do a rating system for that.<\/p>\n<p>But it has to have an impact on \u2014 it just doesn\u2019t \u2014 it doesn\u2019t take many minds.  If it was 1 percent or less, that\u2019s a lot.  It\u2019s all it takes.  It just takes one person to do tremendous damage.  So I think it\u2019s something we have to look at, also.<\/p>\n<p>Question?  Yes, Governor.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BULLOCK:  Mr. President, again, thank you for having us.  I approach this, certainly, as a governor.  I approach it as a gun owner; that 11-year-old got his first deer \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BULLOCK:  \u2014 this past fall.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  He\u2019s a good boy.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BULLOCK:  I approach it as a victim.  I had a nephew, shot and killed \u2014 an 11-year-old \u2014 on a playground.  I approach it as a parent with three young kids, saying, just like every other parent and grandparent, we need to do everything we can to keep our kids safe.<\/p>\n<p>I think parenthetically, sometimes the language that we use can help define some things that certainly understand the idea of hardening schools.  But that seems like we\u2019re hardening potential military targets.  I think we, as leaders, need to be saying we\u2019re going to do everything we can to make that school safe for the kids.<\/p>\n<p>I think that there are steps, and many of them you begin to reference, that we could take that could make a difference.  If we can look at this as a public health issue.  You mentioned the NICS system.  We can improve the instant check system.  And we also know about a quarter of the guns that are sold don\u2019t even get into that system.  So a universal background check.  We know that 10 percent of our homicides each year are in intimate relationships.  So the orders of protection, the domestic violence, making sure that\u2019s in NICS.<\/p>\n<p>As Governor Scott mentioned, red-flag laws.  Making sure that law enforcement and families have a way, still using due process, to actually remove guns from people that might be that imminent threat.<\/p>\n<p>I applaud you on bump stocks.  That\u2019s one of those things that there is no other reason.  And we could certainly look at the higher magazine capacity as well.  It\u2019s one of those things that you probably don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n<p>And I encourage you, as you go on the path of looking at what you can do in schools \u2014 I used to be attorney general and ran the law enforcement academy, too, and would graduate these police officers each and every year.  I want to make sure, if somebody is armed in a school, that they have that training;  that we know that he or she \u2014 it\u2019s much more, as I think you recognize, than just carrying concealed \u2014 that they have that training that I, as a parent, can say that this person, under pressure, will know what to do with a firearm before we start introducing the firearms into our schools.<\/p>\n<p>I think we\u2019re at a unique \u2014 hopefully, we\u2019re at a unique moment \u2014 where, certainly, as I said \u2014 you know, 43 times since I\u2019ve been governor, I\u2019ve been asked to lower the flags.  Twelve of them have been for mass shootings in the last five years.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost, on the one hand, to the point that we\u2019re getting desensitized, but other hand, here is a moment where everybody is talking, where we can hopefully start saying, \u201cWhat could actually meaningfully impact this, not just for today, but for the future?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, thank you so much.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Governor.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BULLOCK:  And I hope that those areas, you\u2019ll certainly take both the bully pulpit and the leadership in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Great points.  It was great being with you last night.<\/p>\n<p>You mentioned two words: under pressure.  And a lot of people never really know what that means, because, you know, they train a whole life.  Look at Peterson.  Look what he did in Broward, where he thought he was probably a brave guy, but he wasn\u2019t a brave guy under pressure.  He choked.  And other people choked.  I mean, a lot of people choked in that case.<\/p>\n<p>And we have to have people trained.  We have to \u2014 you know, you have to have some kind of a budget where it works.  When many of the governors happen to, you know, like the idea of trained people within schools, but the press has to get the word out honestly.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, I went through a very detailed \u2014 it could be 10 percent, it could be 5 percent, could be 20 percent \u2014 these are really gun-adept people.  Very few people would qualify.  On top of being gun adept, they have to go to school and they have to learn, and, you know, maybe there will a bonus given to those people, and maybe there should be, frankly.  Because they should go, on a yearly basis, to school.  They start with training and then they have additional training every year.  And I think they should get a bonus.  But it\u2019s a very small amount of money compared to what it would cost.  I think it would be very effective.<\/p>\n<p>But when the press covered it, the headline was, \u201cTrump wants all teachers to have guns.\u201d  \u201cTrump wants teachers to have guns.\u201d  I don\u2019t want teachers to have guns.  I want highly trained people that have a natural talent, like hitting a baseball, or hitting a golf ball, or putting.  How come some people always make the four-footer, and some people, under pressure, can\u2019t even take their club back?  Right?  Some people can\u2019t take their club back.<\/p>\n<p>And you don\u2019t know what it is.  You know, those words are hard to train for, but you want to have the number of people where people know they\u2019re going to be \u2014 the bad guy has to understand that there\u2019s a big price to pay when they mess around with our students.  You can\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, we\u2019re going to harden our schools.  We\u2019re going to blow smoke into the rooms.  We\u2019re going to do all this stuff that is not going to work.\u201d  You have to let people know that they\u2019re going to suffer the ultimate price.<\/p>\n<p>And you know what?  And I said it before \u2014 you\u2019re not going to have incidents, they\u2019re not going to do it, because they\u2019re innately cowards.  But I love what you said.  I agree very much with what you said.<\/p>\n<p>Question?  Governor \u2014 Phil.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BRYANT:  Mr. President, October the 1st of 1997, Luke Woodham, a 16-year-old student, came into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi after he had bludgeoned his mother to death that morning with a 30-30 lever-action rifle, killed two students, and began to shoot at others.  A vice principal, who was an Army Reserve officer, went to his vehicle, retrieved his 1911 .45, and stopped that shooter before he could kill other children in Pearl, Mississippi.<\/p>\n<p>When I heard you speak of your idea, that was the concept I believed in.  Find that Army Reserve vice principal, give him the training he necessarily needs, arm him, and stop this madness.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Phil.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR BRYANT:  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, many of these people are teachers too.  They\u2019re retired.  They\u2019re 20 years in the Marines.  They can handle a weapon, world-class.  They don\u2019t even need the training, but they should get it anyway.  Everybody should have very strong training.<\/p>\n<p>But, you know, you have many \u2014 like General Kelly, standing back there.  I wouldn\u2019t mind if he was a teacher.  I\u2019d like him to be our teacher.  And if he happened to be concealed \u2014 carrying concealed \u2014 I\u2019d feel very good about that.  That, to me, is better.<\/p>\n<p>And he\u2019s on the site.  Don\u2019t forget \u2014 the other thing, Phil, they\u2019re on the site.  They\u2019re not outside.  They\u2019re not 20 minutes away in a police station where an alarm rings, and they go, and by the time they get there, they don\u2019t know the school, they don\u2019t know the floors.  These people know everything intimately.  I think it works.<\/p>\n<p>Look, I\u2019ve been watching this for \u2014 I\u2019ve only been doing this for two-and-a-half years.  After that, I was a civilian.  And I had a nice life.  I had a very easy, nice, beautiful life.  I actually got great press.  I was the king of getting good press, Governor.  You know that?  It was only when I did this that I got bad press.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But you know what?  I\u2019ve been watching this, folks, from a different slant.  Many of you, most of you, have been politicians for a long time.  I\u2019ve been watching you, I\u2019ve been watching everybody \u2014 for 30 years I\u2019ve been watching this situation.  Nothing is done.  It\u2019s the same thing.  Nothing is done.<\/p>\n<p>They have a meeting.  They all go home.  Two weeks later, it\u2019s a little bit \u2014 sadly \u2014 and I hate to say it \u2014 other than the parents who are so devastated, and the families that are so badly affected, and the people that were hit.  You know, nobody ever talks about the wounded.  They talk about the 17 dead.  But I\u2019ve \u2014 you know, I saw people that were so \u2014 Rick \u2014 so seriously wounded.  Nobody ever talks.<\/p>\n<p>The maniac on the West Side Highway that ran over eight people \u2014 they keep saying, \u201cHe killed eight people.\u201d  He just took \u2014 it\u2019s, essentially, a park.  It\u2019s like a beautiful stretch along the Hudson River that I know so well.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s going down 80 miles an hour, down the West Side Highway, and he said, \u201cHey, look at those people.  I\u2019m going to turn it.\u201d  And he killed eight people.  What they don\u2019t talk about are the 14 people that were devastated.  They go to put themselves in shape and to work out, and they\u2019re very proud, and they end up missing a leg and missing an arm, or missing two legs and an arm.<\/p>\n<p>And nobody ever talks about those people.  They talk about the people, obviously, that died.  They don\u2019t talk about the people that are so devastated.  And you have that \u2014 you have many people.  I saw a lot of those people.  Hopefully, they\u2019re going to be okay after a long time in rehab.  But a lot of them won\u2019t be, and we got to remember them, too.  Those people are great people.  Got to remember them, too.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  How about one or two more.  Yes, Governor.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Again, thank you.  I\u2019ve enjoyed hearing from my fellow colleagues of what\u2019s going on in their respective states.  And it reminds me this is a very complex issue.  There is no simple solution, unfortunately, for us.  I think there\u2019s roles to play for the federal government \u2014 some of the things you\u2019re proposing.<\/p>\n<p>But I think most of the solutions are going to come from the states.  We have some states that are doing things with arming personnel inside the school system that they seem to think is working well.  I know I\u2019m working with my legislature, as recently as last night, in talking about what is the cost for education.  What is the cost \u2014 you\u2019re a businessman \u2014 to do business.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.  That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Some of this is, in fact, embedding law enforcement, trained personnel in whatever form or fashion you want is going to be at additional cost.  That\u2019s the result of society today.  How we\u2019ve got to this kind of society \u2014 Governor Bevin \u2014 and some of the things that are desensitizing our children, the challenges of life today, and its complexities \u2014 who knows?<\/p>\n<p>But I do believe this: Each state is going to have to find their own way, based on their own culture, based on their own politics, based on their own unique demographics.  And we\u2019ll learn from each other.  We\u2019ll find what works, and we\u2019ll homogenize, probably, together.<\/p>\n<p>But the states, these little pilot programs, that\u2019s the beauty of our concept of federalism.  And these states, out there finding solutions to the problems that ail the people.<\/p>\n<p>This is the problem of today: safety in our schools.  I look to learn from all of you, as we tried our own way in Utah to find a solution to this very critical and timely issue.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Governor.  I appreciate it.  And you said something very important.  The states can do these various programs without the federal government also.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re there to help, and we\u2019ll help monetarily \u2014 which is very important, because a lot of the school budgets, especially, they don\u2019t have the money.  I mean, where are they going to get the money to put 100 guards into the school in Parkland?  I mean, it\u2019s very tough.  It\u2019s a tough situation.<\/p>\n<p>But the federal government can help out.<\/p>\n<p>But a lot of these solutions that we talk about \u2014 whether you agree with me or you agree with somebody else \u2014 you can do them pretty much by yourselves within your state.  Like our great governor of Texas, Greg \u2014 we have an attitude on retribution.  Because I say the only way you stop it is retribution.  I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to stop it by being kind.  I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to stop it at all.  You\u2019re going to have problems.<\/p>\n<p>But if a state feels that way, I say you have to go and you have to do what you have to do.  I guess we have nine states that are doing what you\u2019re doing, Greg \u2014 at least nine.  And some are coming, and they\u2019re coming fast.  But the states can do a lot of this work themselves.  They can do most of it.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ll back you up, regardless of what you want to do.  If you agree or disagree with the state of Texas and other states that do it differently, I think that\u2019s fine.  Just go and do it yourself.  We will be there to help you no matter what your solution is.<\/p>\n<p>But this is largely a state issue, in terms of that school\u2019s security.  And, in many cases, it\u2019s a local issue.  You know, in many cases, you don\u2019t even need approval from the state.  You can go in as a school district and do what you have to do for the safety of your children.  So my attitude is: Get it done, and get it done properly.<\/p>\n<p>It is an honor to be with you.  So many friends.  And we\u2019re going to see you a little bit later.  But I think this was a really great meeting.  And, Brian, I want to thank you very much.  Fantastic job, thank you.<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate it very much.  I\u2019ll see you in a little while.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. And I want to thank our Vice President for that really lovely introduction. That was very nice, Mike, and I appreciate it. This is a time of great opportunity for our country. We\u2019ve created nearly 3 million jobs since the election \u2014 a number that nobody would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}