{"id":66898,"date":"2018-09-17T19:36:21","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T02:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=66898"},"modified":"2018-09-17T19:36:21","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T02:36:21","slug":"president-trump-at-hispanic-heritage-month-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=66898","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Beautiful.  Thank you very much.  I appreciate you being here.  And I\u2019m really thrilled, once again, to welcome so many of my friends to the White House to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.  That\u2019s a big month.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s a big month, right?  (Applause.)  And I want to thank all of our incredible representatives that are here, and a very good friend of mine who\u2019s done a fantastic job, Vice President Mike Pence.  Where\u2019s Mike?  (Applause.)  Mike.  Thank you, Mike.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vxb2r1TaqZI\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Today we come together to honor the incredible contributions Hispanic Americans make to our communities, our culture, and our country every single day.  You know it.  (Applause.)  Hispanic Americans embody American values: devotion to faith and family, commitment to hard work, enterprise and community service, and a fierce patriotic pride.  Does that sound like you?  I think so.  (Applause.)  Right?<\/p>\n<p>Throughout all 50 states, Hispanic Americans enrich our nation in countless ways \u2014 from small businesses to support our neighborhoods, and to innovations that improve our lives, and through military service that protects our people and our great American flag.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>One such American joins us tonight.  He opened tonight\u2019s ceremony with an inspiring rendition of our National Anthem:   Vietnam Veteran, Daniel Cortez.  Where\u2019s Daniel?  (Applause.)  Where\u2019s Daniel?  Good job.  I heard that.  I heard it.  It was good.  You\u2019re blessed.  You know that?  You\u2019re blessed.<\/p>\n<p>CORTEZ:  I\u2019m blessed because you\u2019re our President.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Ah, thank you.  Thank you very much.  Very nice.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Mr. Trump!  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  We\u2019re out there fighting for you, that I\u2019ll tell you.  You know it.  Thank you very much.  And thank you, Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  What a lot of spirit.  But I know that about you.  I know.  (Laughter.)  I know all about your spirit.  You got great spirit.  Thank you very much everybody.  I appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re honored to be joined by Secretary Alex Acosta.  Great guy.  (Applause.)  Great guy.  Thank you, Alex.  And the Treasurer of the United States \u2014 that\u2019s a very big position, huh? \u2014 Jovita Carranza.  Thank you.  Jovita.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s a very big position.  Thank you, Jovita.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, as well, to the many ambassadors joining us, some of whom were just credentialed earlier today.  They came over to the Oval Office.  We took pictures.  We said hello.  Some great, great people.  Put your hands up wherever you may be.  Put your hands up.  Yes.  Yes.  (Applause.)  Great people.  Thank you.  You\u2019re going to have a good time.  (Applause.)  And congratulations to all of you.  Congratulations.<\/p>\n<p>And thank you to all of the state and local leaders who are here with us this evening, including New Mexico\u2019s great Governor, Susana Martinez.  Susana?  Susana?  (Applause.)  Thank you, Susana.  Great job.  Thank you, Susana.  And Puerto Rico\u2019s Lieutenant Governor, Luis Mar\u00edn.  (Applause.)  Where\u2019s Luis?  Luis \u2014 come up here, Luis.  Great job.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s a great job.  You did a great job.  Well, I didn\u2019t mean the stage, but that\u2019s okay.  Come on up here anyway.  Hey, Luis.  Why don\u2019t you all come on up?  Come on, you\u2019ve been so incredible.  Come on up, Mike.  Come on up, on the stage.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>That wasn\u2019t in the playbook but I think they deserve it.  Do you agree?  Right?  (Applause.)  Come on up.  Good, Susana.  Good.  Great job.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank Luis for his partnership with our agencies during the unprecedented disaster that you saw what happened, and everybody saw what happened \u2014 the recovery and all of the efforts we made in Puerto Rico.  It\u2019s been an incredible, tough situation.  But we fought, and we are winning that one big.  And I want to thank you, Luis, and everybody.  I want to thank you and the people of Puerto Rico.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we stand with Puerto Rico, and we are helping them to rebuild stronger and better than ever before.  And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening too.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Luis.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>As we speak, our fellow citizens are being affected by the devastating impact of Hurricane Florence.  Nearly 20,000 federal and military personnel are deployed to support response efforts along the Southeast Coast.  These are incredible people that are going through a lot right now.  We will do whatever it takes to keep the American people safe.<\/p>\n<p>To every family who has lost a loved one in these really devastating hurricanes and storms: All of America grieves with you.  Our hands are folded in prayer and outstretched with love. We will never, ever leave your side.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Today, as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we share our gratitude for all the ways Hispanic Americans make our country flourish and prosper.  These are incredible people.  You know you\u2019re incredible people, don\u2019t you?  Huh?  (Applause.)  You know that, don\u2019t you?  Especially with that beautiful Trump hat on.  Thank you.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible) Puerto Rico!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s good.  That\u2019s good.  Great.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s beautiful.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>From our courts to our classrooms, from large boardrooms to small businesses, from statehouses to the White House, Hispanic Americans uplift our citizens and inspire our nation.  You really do.  You inspire our entire nation.  And I want to let you know that personally.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Mr. President!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, darling.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Viva Trump!  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Very nice.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>We especially thank the quarter of a million Hispanic Americans who serve in our military \u2014 and serve well.  (Applause.)  We will always honor the men and women who serve in uniform, and we are truly proud that we have secured the largest pay raise \u2014 now, unless they want to give it back.  (Laughter.)  Okay?  Anybody want to give it back?  No, don\u2019t bother.  For our troops \u2014 the largest one in a decade.  So we are, really, very proud of that.  And they deserve it, and they deserve it very much.<\/p>\n<p>Our military, we\u2019ve rebuilt.  And we\u2019re rebuilding our military \u2014 $700 billion.  And we\u2019re rebuilding our military.  I won\u2019t even say the second number.  But the second number for the second year is $716 billion.  So that\u2019s a lot of money, but there\u2019s nothing like what we\u2019re doing.  And it needed it.  It was tired.  It was depleted.  But on top of that, we got those pay raises for our great military people.  (Applause.)  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>We also honor our great veterans, including our 1.5 million Hispanic veterans.  And thanks to the passage of Veterans Choice \u2014 big thing \u2014 and Veterans Accountability \u2014 they\u2019ve been trying for over 40 years to get those two \u2014 we are giving our veterans the care they so richly deserve.  Finally.  Finally.  Been a lot of years.  (Applause.)  They\u2019ve been waiting a lot of years.<\/p>\n<p>At this event last year, I also promised that our massive tax cuts and regulation cuts would deliver tremendous prosperity to Hispanic Americans.  You remember everybody said we weren\u2019t going to be able to get them; it wasn\u2019t going to happen.  It happened.  Nobody has cut regulation like we have.  In less than two years, we\u2019ve cut more regulation than any other President, and that could be for a much longer period of time.  And we also delivered the biggest tax cuts ever, and reform \u2014 and tax reform.<\/p>\n<p>So now we have the best economy in the history of our country.  (Applause.)  Big one.  That\u2019s a big one.  We have created more than 4 million new jobs since the election, and the Hispanic unemployment rate has recently reached an all-time historic low in the history of our country.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t know how you beat that in an election.  When we say, Susana \u2014 when we say that Hispanic has reached the lowest unemployment rate in the history of our country, how does somebody beat that?  Say, oh, they\u2019re going to do better?  I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t think so.  They\u2019re not going to do better.  In fact, it will start going in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n<p>Middle-class income has reached a new all-time high, and household income grew fastest among Hispanics.  Did you know that?  Median income for Hispanics rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The poverty rate for Hispanics just reached a new all-time historic low.  Nearly 350,000 Hispanics were lifted out of poverty in 2017.  That\u2019s pretty good.  (Applause.)  These are very hard numbers to beat.  I better win the Hispanics next time, right?  (Laughter.)  But we did well.  We did well.  Did a lot better than anyone thought.  But we better win it, Alex, okay?  I\u2019m going to put that on you.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY ACOSTA:  We\u2019ll make it happen.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 40 percent of the reduction in the overall poverty rate is the result of poverty reductions among Hispanic Americans.  Home ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Hispanic-owned businesses now make up more than 10 percent of all businesses in the United States.  That\u2019s an incredible number.  (Applause.)  They contribute nearly half a trillion dollars to our economy last year alone.<\/p>\n<p>The growth in Hispanic-owned businesses is over twice the national average.  That\u2019s something.  That\u2019s really \u2014 these are amazing statistics, when you think.  Right?  These are amazing statistics.  Be proud of yourselves.  That\u2019s incredible.  Of course, I\u2019d like to take full credit.  Can I take full?  (Laughter and applause.)  Huh?  I don\u2019t know.  I wasn\u2019t the one getting up at 5 o\u2019clock in the morning to go to work, I know that.  But I get up at five for other reasons.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>According to recent studies, Hispanic-owned small businesses are increasingly confident in our nation\u2019s economic future, and 77 percent plan to grow their business over the next few years.  That\u2019s optimism.<\/p>\n<p>With us today is Irina Vilari\u00f1o.  How do you like that?  Was that good?  (Applause.)  They wanted me to get that little emphasis on the \u201cO.\u201d  Who is from Miami Beach, Florida and is a beautiful person.  Irina is expanding her family\u2019s restaurant business that began in the 1980s as a fruit stand after her family escaped from Cuba.  And we did great with the Cuban people, didn\u2019t we?  Huh?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Irina, please come up and say a few words.  Where is Irina?  Come here.<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  I\u2019m here, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Where?  Good.  Good, I thought so.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  Thank you.  Hi.  Thank you.  Thank you, everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Good afternoon, Vice President Pence and Mr. President Trump.  It is a privilege to be here in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.  And while I\u2019m very proud of my origins, I am even prouder of what we have accomplished in this great country.<\/p>\n<p>This is why I propose we have an American Heritage Month.  (Laughter and Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We\u2019ll need it.<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  Right?  Had it not been for the principles on which this country was founded on for its generous nature and that of its people, my family and millions that conform our Cuban-American community in South Florida, I would not be telling this story here today \u2014 the story of white rice, black beans, and the American Dream.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>My father was a political prisoner in Cuba, and we had the opportunity to immigrate to the United States in 1980, during the Mariel Exodus.<\/p>\n<p>Four years later, we opened our first restaurant, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, in Hollywood, Florida.  Today, we employ over 400 employees in South Florida in 15 locations.<\/p>\n<p>While we have worked hard, I am fully aware that our success is not solely merited on our persistence, but on the attribute of the free market principles and the opportunities available to all Americans, whether you are from Cuba, Cambodia, or Kansas.<\/p>\n<p>Bureaucratic policies, senseless spending, red tape, and increased taxes do not help entrepreneurs or the middle class or anyone who is attempting to aspire above their means.  On the contrary, they stifle upward mobility.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 how am I doing?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You\u2019re doing great.<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  Good.  (Laughter.)  Thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing we were deviating from this path, and that in order to preserve these opportunities for future generations, we must keep America great.  (Applause.)  Which is exactly what your tax plan, and like many other initiatives and policies you have accomplished, have done for our community.<\/p>\n<p>Where there is order, law, and prosperity, there is peace.  Thank you again.  It\u2019s truly an honor.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Irina.<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  My pleasure.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  My pleasure.  Absolutely.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Irina.  That\u2019s beautiful.  Thank you.  Great job.  That\u2019s a lot of employees, too, isn\u2019t it?  Big business.<\/p>\n<p>VILARI\u00d1O:  Well, not half as many I would like, but we\u2019re working on it.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s okay.  I have no doubt.<\/p>\n<p>Joel Garza is also here.  Joel is a proud owner of 45 Sonic Burger franchises.  (Applause.)  It\u2019s in the Houston area.  How are they, Joel?  Pretty good, huh?  He employs more than 1,500 people, and that number has grown considerably in the last year.  Really successful person.<\/p>\n<p>Joel, please join me on stage, say a few words, and tell us a little about your success.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>GARZA:  Thank you, Mr. President.  It\u2019s an honor to be here representing the Hispanic community, and (inaudible) on the shoulders of my family and many Hispanics that work hard every day to make America great.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, I want to thank you for the tax reform.  You know, it was, to us, a huge impact in our business.  We \u2014 just last year, we opened three more restaurants and we created about 100-and-something jobs in the Houston area.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a lot easy for us to go to institution financials, and get \u2014 borrow money in the last few years, the last two years, than before.  That\u2019s another huge achievement that you help us to have access to capital.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We made it much easier.<\/p>\n<p>GARZA:  A lot easy.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Make sure you pay back the money.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>GARZA:  That\u2019s another thing.  (Laughter.)  I want to thank my lovely wife that she been with me since day one.  Because when we start, it was not easy.  Angie.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And like a typical Hispanic, my daughter Gigi (ph), my son Joe, Jr., and my son Andy, my parents, my grandkids, and especially a real good friend of mine that make this possible to be here with you, Rick Figueroa and Mario.  I don\u2019t know where they at.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And all we ask is that God give you health; that way you can be with us and guide this country in the right direction.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that\u2019s beautiful.  What a beautiful statement that is.  So I want to thank Joel.  America is winning again.  And Hispanic owned-businesses are leading the way.  They are winning again.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Hispanic Americans are not only living the American Dream, but their incredible efforts are unlocking the American Dream for citizens all across our land.  You\u2019re doing a fantastic job.<\/p>\n<p>Today and every day, we honor, cherish, and celebrate Hispanic American workers, families, students, businesses, and leaders.  You have great leaders.  And we also remember that America is home to people from many backgrounds, with many different stories, and hailing from every single walk of life.<\/p>\n<p>But we are all one people.  We are all part of one great American family.  And we are all in this together, saluting one flag, singing one anthem, and pledging allegiance to one nation under God.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>God bless you, and God bless America.  Thank you.  God bless America.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Beautiful. Thank you very much. I appreciate you being here. And I\u2019m really thrilled, once again, to welcome so many of my friends to the White House to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. That\u2019s a big month. (Applause.) That\u2019s a big month, right? (Applause.) And I want to thank all of our incredible representatives that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66900,"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-66898","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\/2018\/09\/trumphis.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66898","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=66898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}