{"id":95922,"date":"2020-02-21T11:11:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T19:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=95922"},"modified":"2020-02-21T21:43:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-22T05:43:16","slug":"president-trump-on-california-water-accessibility-with-farmers-rural-stakeholders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=95922","title":{"rendered":"President Trump on California Water Accessibility with Farmers &#038; Rural Stakeholders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bakersfield, CA&#8230;February 19, 2020&#8230;Hi, Chloe.  Hi, Chloe.  Hi.  Hi, Chloe.  Well, I want to thank you.  And before we begin, I want to just say that \u2014 AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you, President Trump!  THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  It\u2019s a great, great place.  You have great people on the stage with me.  I want to tell you \u2014 warriors, fighters.  And they love the country.  They love our country.  I want to just start, though, by saying two brave firemen, as you know, died last night in Porterville.  And we just want to pay our respects to them.  I heard they were two great people with incredible families, and I just want to pay my respects to their families and friends.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tweR60u_dMg\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a tough job.  We just met some of the firemen backstage.  It\u2019s a tough and dangerous job, and the country respects that profession very much.  We just want you to all know that.  They really respect you a lot.  (Applause.)  And you can add the words \u201claw enforcement\u201d to that group.  Nobody respected more than those groups of people.  (Applause.)  I can tell you that.  So, thank you very much.  Thank you very much to the families.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Estamos contigo (inaudible)!  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And we\u2019re doing well with you.  Thank you.  (Laughter.)  We just had a poll that says we\u2019re doing very well.  Thank you.  That\u2019s great.  Appreciate it.  We love you, too.<\/p>\n<p>And I want to thank Kevin.  And hello to Bakersfield.  I\u2019ve heard a lot about Bakersfield.  (Applause.)  Didn\u2019t you have a great tennis player, years ago, named Dennis Ralston?  Right?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Yeah!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right?  That\u2019s \u2014 he was a great player.  He was really great.  Is he still around?  I hope.  Is he?  I don\u2019t know.  Somebody will let me know.  But he was a great player.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thrilled to be here today as we take historic action on behalf of our incredible farmers and ranchers, growers, and communities throughout the Central Valley \u2014 (applause) \u2014 and all across the great state of California.  What they\u2019re doing to your state is a disgrace.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>After decades of failure and delays in ensuring critical water access for the people of this state, we are determined to finally get your problem solved.  The state is not doing anything to help, but hopefully they will eventually come along.<\/p>\n<p>Now that they\u2019re rationing water for people, they\u2019re saying you\u2019re going to get, very shortly \u2014 I heard the governor saying you get 50 gallons.  Fifty gallons sounds okay.  People tell me it\u2019s like nothing.  By the time you do with your showers, and your hands, and your tissues, and everything, 50 gallons is very, very little.  Can you imagine a state being rationed, when you have millions and millions and millions of gallons being poured out into the Pacific Ocean that you could have?  And you\u2019d have more water than knew what to do with.  It\u2019s crazy.  (Applause.)  Crazy.  Crazy.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re honored to be joined by a warrior \u2014 a real warrior named Devin Nunes.  (Applause.)  And, Elizabeth, thank you, because you have to put up with it, Elizabeth \u2014 wherever you may be.  But Mrs. Nunes is here, and she\u2019s a fantastic woman.  And \u2014 but Devin has been, from day one, from the day I met him.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, this all started because I was driving up \u2014 what was the highway, Devin, that we were driving by?<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE NUNES:  Ninety-nine.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Ninety-nine.  Does everyone know 99?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And I kept saying, \u201cDevin, why are these fields all brown and they look like desert?\u201d  They look like they were starved.  It\u2019s too bad you have a drought.  And then I\u2019d see little patches of the most beautiful land I\u2019ve ever seen.  And then I\u2019d go to the next and I\u2019d see acres and acres of brown, really dry, horrible-looking stuff.  And then I\u2019d see a patch of the most beautiful farmland I\u2019ve ever seen.  I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?  It\u2019s too bad you have a drought.\u201d  He said, \u201cNo, we don\u2019t have a drought.  They won\u2019t allow us to have water in the state of California.\u201d  That\u2019s how this all started.<\/p>\n<p>Believe it or not, that\u2019s how I really got to know Devin Nunes.  Then he became a hero because he found out what was going on in government \u2014 (applause) \u2014 and he found out about the hoax and the witch hunt, and all of the horrible things that have gone on.<\/p>\n<p>But we got over the fact that I said, \u201cBoy, that\u2019s a beautiful area, but why is everything else barren?\u201d  And it\u2019s because of water.  You send millions and millions of gallons out.  And we have now given full permission that you don\u2019t do that anymore.  We have given \u2014 and the hard \u2014 the hard permits were, by the way, the federal permits.  The state could do this with a flick of the governor\u2019s hand.  And we hope that he\u2019s going to do it because it makes so much sense.<\/p>\n<p>But I want to thank Devin for being an incredible warrior.  And, likewise, Kevin McCarthy \u2014 (applause) \u2014 who I think we can say \u2014 I mean, we have to work hard.  We can pick up seven seats in the state of California.  (Applause.)  Seven seats.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Get rid of Pelosi!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And I want to thank \u2014<\/p>\n<p>(Laughs.)  He said, \u201cGet rid of Pelosi.\u201d  That\u2019s okay with me.  (Applause.)  A lot of people agree.  Look what\u2019s happened to San Francisco.  So sad what\u2019s happened.  When you see a slum \u2014 where it\u2019s a slum.  It\u2019s worse than a slum.  There\u2019s no slum like that.  What they\u2019ve done to San Francisco is a crying shame.  And it\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to do something about, because if they don\u2019t fix up, clean it up, take care of the homeless, do what they have to do, but clean up their city, the federal government is going to have step in.  We\u2019re going to do it in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And I want to thank Judy because she has to put up with these long hours that he works.  Where is Judy?<\/p>\n<p>LEADER MCCARTHY:  She\u2019s right over here.  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Judy.  Thank you, Elizabeth.  Thank you both.  What you have to put up with.  Long hours.  But, you know, the people appreciate it.  They really appreciate it.  Because there\u2019s nobody doing a better job than these guys.  And, really, the two of you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>You also have somebody here who\u2019s another warrior.  He\u2019s a warrior in the waiting.  He\u2019s been successful all his life, and he\u2019s running for the 21st congressional district: David Valadao.  (Applause.)  He is an incredible \u2014 he is an incredible guy.  And I think \u2014 I\u2019m hearing you\u2019re doing great.  But always pretend you\u2019re about one point down.  (Laughter.)  Right?  But you\u2019re not going to have to worry about it.  He\u2019s going to be fantastic.  We really need him badly in Washington.  (Applause.)  So, hopefully, you\u2019ll be sending him there.  Thank you, David.  Good luck, David.<\/p>\n<p>And where is Markwayne?  Markwayne Mullin.  Come on up, Mark.  Come on up.<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  That\u2019s Jim.  Jim.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And his son, Jim, who\u2019s a great wrestler, who\u2019s a great athlete.  Markwayne, thank you very much.  (Appause.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Build that wall!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, the wall is being built.  You know, we\u2019re up to 122 miles.  (Applause.)  A hundred and twenty-two miles.  And you\u2019d think that money \u2014 that was not easy.  But we got the money, and we\u2019re building it.  And we won a lot of cases in court.  We were sued all the way along the line.  And we\u2019re up to 122 miles.  In a very short time, we\u2019ll be over 500 miles.  It\u2019s already had a tremendous impact.  So, the wall is moving along.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But I want to thank you and Jim.  Thank you very much.  Stay up here, okay?  Because I\u2019m going to be signing a very important legislation \u2014 a piece of legislation that is going to give you a lot of water and a lot of dam and a lot of everything.  (Applause.)  And you\u2019ll be able to farm your land and you\u2019ll be able to do things that you never thought possible.<\/p>\n<p>And it is true though, I think, Devin, you can say: I really \u2014 look, I\u2019ll never forget.  It\u2019s so bad.  I said, \u201cGee, it\u2019s so bad.  I never knew the drought was so bad.\u201d  He looked at me like, \u201cWhat are you talking about?  There\u2019s no drought.  We have so much water we don\u2019t know what to do with it.\u201d  And this would take care of Los Angeles.  It would take care of everything.  You\u2019d have more water than you knew what to do.  You wouldn\u2019t have to be rationing water.  And it\u2019s just absolutely insane.  So, hopefully, the governor will get his act together and you\u2019ll get this done.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank \u2014 we have many, many state and local officials with us, including our \u2014 a lot of the law enforcement, the firemen \u2014 finer men and women.  And we appreciate it all very much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>A man who is \u2014 been great is David Bernhardt.  And he\u2019s working with you.  But I have to say that I\u2019ve been watching another warrior, Tom McClintock.  (Applause.)  And he \u2014 I\u2019d call Devin, I\u2019d see him on television.  There\u2019s nobody that represented us during the impeachment hoax \u2014 there\u2019s nobody that represented us better.  I said, \u201cThat guy could represent me any day.\u201d  He was tough and strong.  That face was good-looking, I have to say.  (Laughter.)  In the \u201cMe Too\u201d generation, we don\u2019t talk about looks anymore.  But he\u2019s a good-looking guy.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Where\u2019s Tom?  Tom McClintock, come here.  (Applause.)  He was fantastic.  But we do.  We have some great fighters.<\/p>\n<p>And with us today is Secretary David Bernhardt, a very important man in terms of what we\u2019re talking about.  (Applause.)  And David\u2019s leadership has been incredible on this subject.  You know, we\u2019re talking about something that will change this whole area.  Actually change \u2014 if you think about it, Kevin, it\u2019s going to change the whole state, if we can do this.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s an easy word, but it\u2019s a very complicated word, when you think of it.  It\u2019s called \u201cwater.\u201d  We need water in this state, and you have so much water you don\u2019t know what to do with it.  And this is the man that\u2019s going to help us.<\/p>\n<p>So, David Bernhardt, Secretary of the Interior, please say a few words.  (Applause.)  David.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY BERNHARDT:  Good afternoon.  It should be obvious to everyone in government and to the American people that when President Trump gives clear direction, he expects us to hit our target.  And in the fall of 2018, the President directed the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce to address the challenges facing the folks in the Valley and throughout the West relating to water operations.<\/p>\n<p>And to do that, we assembled a wonderful team, including Commissioner Brenda Burman, the first female commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation; Aurelia Skipwith, the first African American female director of the Fish and Wildlife Service; and led by Paul Souza, a career SES executive.  We have come up with a plan, changing our operations, to use real-time monitoring, better technology, and provide more efficient utilization of water so it won\u2019t be wasted.<\/p>\n<p>And that is just the beginning.  (Applause.)  And it\u2019s because of this congressional delegation, bringing this to the attention of the President, and the President saying, \u201cLet\u2019s get it done.\u201d  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Come on up, David.  Come on up.  You\u2019re going to be a congressman soon, so let\u2019s get him up here.  Come on, David.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So as a candidate for President, I promised to help solve the water crisis that was crippling our farmers due to the chronic mismanagement and misguided policies.  And that\u2019s what it is: misguided policies and management.<\/p>\n<p>For too long, authorities have needlessly flushed millions and millions of gallons of fresh, beautiful clean water from up north, straight into the Pacific Ocean.  It\u2019s nothing for the Pacific Ocean.  You know what it means?  Like nothing.  We\u2019re talking about the Pacific.  (Laughter.)  I think they think we\u2019re helping the Pacific.  It\u2019s like a drop.  It\u2019s like a drop.  But it can help us to a level that nobody can believe.  On the basis of old science, obsolete studies, and overbearing regulations that had not been updated in many, many years, and sometimes for decades.<\/p>\n<p>The resulting miscalculation and misallocation of water helped turn natural droughts into manmade catastrophes.  I mean, it\u2019s really a catastrophe, when you think.  You have farmers that own land that are paying taxes on the land that aren\u2019t allowed to farm your land.  They\u2019re actually taking away your land, if you think about it.  (Applause.)  And that\u2019s the state \u2014 because, the federal government, we\u2019ve done our part.  That was supposed to be the hard part.  We get it done fast.  Commerce worked fantastically with you, David.  I know that.  Right?  We got it done fast.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>To confront this problem, in 2018 I ordered the administration to update the outdated scientific research and biological opinions that helped to determine water allocation right here in the state of California.  In other words, how much water is available for agricultural producers, communities, for all of the people that live in your great state.<\/p>\n<p>Well, a lot of people speak badly of your state.  I love your state.  I understand your state.  You have the potential like no place else, but you need the right government.  You need the right governor.  (Applause.)  You need the right governor.  (Inaudible) so much.<\/p>\n<p>You know, I was explaining on the way in: cars.  You could build a car for $3,500 less.  It would take a tiny bit more \u2014 just a glass of fuel more.  But that would take many cars off the road because people would be able to buy many cars that are obsolete that are what they call \u201cgas guzzlers.\u201d  The new car would be safer because it would not be made out of papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9, because it would be allowed to be a little bit heavier.  It would be a little stronger.  It would be safer.  It would cost you $3,500 less.  And because of your rules and regulations in California, it will end up in a court case with your governor.  It\u2019s so crazy.  We\u2019re already in a court case over a train.  Over a train.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Billions and billions and billions of dollars.  It was originally supposed to go from San Francisco to LA.  That didn\u2019t work out, so now they did this in order to get the cost down.  It keeps getting \u2014 pretty soon, it\u2019ll be like a mile long.  (Laughter.)  Okay?  It\u2019s very sad when you see some of the things.<\/p>\n<p>But think about the car situation.  In other words, you\u2019ll get a less expensive car by $3,500 on average that will be safer, that will look better, and that will work better.  And you\u2019ll get a lot of gas guzzlers off the wor- \u2014 of the market because people are going to be able to afford, and they\u2019re going to want this car because it\u2019s a better car.  And we\u2019re going to have to fight it out in court, but we\u2019ll win.  We always win.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Today, I\u2019m pleased to announce that this update is complete.  We\u2019ve done the full complete update on water and water allocation.  A major obstacle to providing more water for the region\u2019s farmers has now been totally eliminated by the federal government.  I mean, the federal government is very tough to deal with.  We get it done very quickly.  And at the request of Devin and Kevin and \u2014 this works out well: Devin and Kevin.  (Laughter.)  But they\u2019re very similar people.  They\u2019re tough.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years!  Four more years!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>But we got it done, and we got it done fast.  And you also worked with some of the other congressmen and women.  We had a lot of our \u2014 a lot of help from a lot of the women that worked with us.  And I\u2019ll tell you, we\u2019re very proud of the job we did. Now we can do it very quickly if we can get the state to move. And you can take away the water allocation for people to 50 gallon going down to 42, 43 gallon.  Throw it out the window; you don\u2019t have to worry about it anymore.  What a difference that would be.  Right?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Going forward, we\u2019ll use the latest science and most advanced technology to monitor and adjust water distribution in real time, ensuring that the environment remains protected while directing as much water as possible, which will be a magnificent amount \u2014 a massive amount of water \u2014 for the use of California farmers and ranchers and all of these communities that are suffering from a lack of water.  You can\u2019t water your grass; we don\u2019t have the water.  And yet, you look and you see the millions and millions of gallons being just wasted and poured into the great ocean.<\/p>\n<p>We want to make sure that you get the water that you really are paying for by being citizens and paying taxes and all of the things that you do.  You deserve water, and you have the water.  (Applause.)  There are communities that don\u2019t have water.  You have the water.  This is an easy one.<\/p>\n<p>Here with us today is Jenny Holtermann, a fourth-generation almond farmer from right here in Kern County.  Jenny, please come up and say a few words.  Jenny?  (Applause.)  Where is Jenny?  Come on up, Jenny.<\/p>\n<p>MS. HOLTERMANN:  Thank you, President Trump.  I\u2019m proud to be a fourth-generation California farmer married to a fellow fourth-generation California farmer.  I was raised by strong parents who showed me the farming lifestyle, taught me the importance of conserving our resources and the necessity of water to grow our food.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it is not uncommon to find three generations on our family farm daily.  However, because of the uncertainty of water deliveries, I\u2019m worried that we may not have a family farm to pass down to my children, or my niece or nephew.<\/p>\n<p>As an almond farmer, we can\u2019t just fallow acres in years with less water.  Orchards require consistent irrigation, and without a reliable water supply, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland could be taken out of production of California\u2019s Central Valley.  Families like mine could be forced to abandon orchards or sell a family farm.<\/p>\n<p>We are an industry of families, and we do not farm the same way that generations before us did.  Using new science and technology, almond farmers today use 33 percent less water than they did 20 years ago.  Our water infrastructure should be handled the same way: using updated science and new infrastructure to keep water flowing to families and family farms across our state.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank our President for cutting regulations and supporting the American farmer.  (Applause.)  President Trump is fighting for farmers with our best interest in mind, and he was working to bring water back to the Central Valley.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Thank you, Jenny.  And, you know, Jenny reminded me of something.  So, as you know, for businesses, small businesses, and farms and some small farms \u2014 most all small firms \u2014 we got rid of the estate tax or the \u201cdeath tax,\u201d as they call it.  (Applause.)  So \u2014<\/p>\n<p>So, now, all signed, all done.  Part of our tax cuts.  So, now, if you love your children \u2014 and there are some people that don\u2019t.  (Laughter.)  And if you don\u2019t love your children, this doesn\u2019t matter so much.  Don\u2019t listen.  But if you love your children, it\u2019s nice that they don\u2019t have to mortgage the farm, is the expression.  You know the words \u201cmortgage\u2026\u201d  (Applause.)  They\u2019re going to mortgage the farm and then they\u2019re going to lose the farm.<\/p>\n<p>So if you love your children, you have no estate tax to pay, you have no death tax to pay.  So you can look down at your children and say they\u2019re doing a nice job or they\u2019re doing a lousy job, but at least they won\u2019t be having to go out to the banks and mortgage the farm \u2014 a very well-known term \u2014 because it never worked out too well.  So you have no more estate tax to pay on your farm when you leave it to your children.  (Applause.)  I think that\u2019s a big point.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t pertain to water, but probably it does, right?  Because the farm is going to be a lot more valuable if we can pull this off.  A lot more valuable.  And if we do, it\u2019s because of the people right here.<\/p>\n<p>Also joining us is Matt Fisher, a local citrus farmer. Matt, please come up.  Matt.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Matt.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FISHER:  Thank you, Mr. President.  I vividly recall the day that you were elected.  That day gave my family and I such a tremendous feeling of hope and optimism about our future in agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>Farming here in the state of California isn\u2019t the easiest, and every day since you\u2019ve been in office, you\u2019ve done exactly what you promised.  (Applause.)  You came to California and sought to understand our water issues.  You listened to the right people, put a plan in place, selected the right people, assigned a deadline, and got it done.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>These biological opinions and the balance that they will bring to the water that falls on this state will bring certainty not only to my family and our employees, but several other families that farm here in the state of California.  They are based on sound science and will help the Bureau of Reclamation maximize water to not only family farms, but rural communities and the environment.<\/p>\n<p>Your leadership on updating these biological opinions will bring significant relief to my family and will save literally thousands upon thousands of acres of citrus from being left to die.<\/p>\n<p>So thank you again, sir, for keeping your word and following through to help us here in the San Joaquin Valley.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Matt.  And you have to know that this meeting, Kevin was just saying, was set up long before \u2014 Devin and Kevin set it up long before we heard that Mini Mike hates the farmer.  Long before we learned about his hatred of the farmer, disrespect of the farmer.<\/p>\n<p>So I don\u2019t know \u2014 I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to be the candidate anyway, to be honest with you.  We\u2019ll have to start working on Crazy Bernie pretty soon.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But it was set up a long time before that.  We just found this out about two days ago.<\/p>\n<p>On top of regulatory failures, California has not built any major water storage infrastructure since 1979, even as the state\u2019s population has increased by nearly 70 percent.  Think of that.  In the past decade, the cost of water increased by 127 percent in San Francisco alone and over 70 percent in Los Angeles.  And you can\u2019t even get it.  Hundreds of thousands of acres of once-beautiful green farmland became bone dry.<\/p>\n<p>In our reforms \u2014 and what we\u2019ve done is, in place of \u2014 one year ago, actually, we estimated that our farmers would have received enough water to support up to 850,000 additional acres of crops.  Think of that.  That\u2019s a lot of acres.  And over 130,000 minimum \u2014 over 130,000 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>With today\u2019s actions, we will help bring farmland back to life.  All of the land that I talked about before will be green and beautiful.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>You know, they say that \u2014 they say that this part of the world has among the best land in the world to farm.  Right?  (Applause.)  I\u2019ve heard it from a lot of people.  And it\u2019s a massive amount we don\u2019t talk \u2014 it\u2019s a massive amount of money, but it\u2019s got \u2014 and you see that in those little patches.  You say, \u201cWow.\u201d  But it needs water.<\/p>\n<p>Larry Starrh is another farmer who will benefit by today\u2019s actions.  Larry, please come up and share with us your story.  Please, Larry.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. STARRH:  Oh, wow.  Thank you.  What a great honor this is to have you in our home, Mr. President.  (Applause.)<br \/>\nSo, water for us is everything.  Water is the beginning, it\u2019s the middle, and the end.  Without it \u2014 without water, we have nothing.  It\u2019s just the end.<\/p>\n<p>I farm with my brother Fred and my brother-in-law Jay Kroeker, and, until recently, my father, Fred Starrh, senior.<\/p>\n<p>My sons, nephews, nieces are involved as well.  And, like everyone, water is the most critical part of our existence.  It is, in fact, our lifeblood.  And like blood, how it is treated, maintained, and pumped is the single most important factor in our existence.<\/p>\n<p>Our farm has been forced to idle thousands of producing acres due to the uncertainty of our lifeblood, reduced water allocations year after year due to environmental takings, old science, questionable management, and increased regulations.<br \/>\nWe pay for water we don\u2019t get.  Still, we see more water taking out of the system.  We see more ground being idled.<\/p>\n<p>I can tell you that the \u2014 what the end looks like, and come out to my ranch and I\u2019ll show you what it looks like.  We have considered selling the farm \u2014 prior to the last presidential election, in fact.  Even my dad, who lived and breathed our farm, seriously contemplated selling out.<\/p>\n<p>We thought, at the time, if President Trump\u2019s opponent had won, we would sell for sure.  However, that did not happen.  (Applause.)  And you \u2014 and you were elected, Mr. President.  And after that, if we even mentioned selling, my dad would go ballistic.  He would say, \u201cNot now.\u201d  He said, \u201cPresident Trump is going to get things done.\u201d  He said, \u201cHe\u2019s our hope.\u201d  (Applause.)  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s a fact, Mr. President.  You have got things done, and you have indeed revived our hope.<br \/>\nI heard you saying to Larry, four years ago, the California water situation is ridiculous.  And you said, \u201cThere will be water.  There will be plenty of it.  We can turn it around.\u201d I have that on my phone still.  (Laughter.)  That is a promise made and a promise kept.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I know that we have had water warriors fighting for us for a long time, working hard for us, fighting for these new regulations that are based on best science, using real-time conditions in the Delta, maximizing Delta water exports, while protecting threatened or endangered species in the Delta and protecting the environment.  That is a win-win.  Right?<\/p>\n<p>Congressman McCarthy, I just want to thank you for your leadership and your friendship.  And, Congressman Nunes, same thing.  And I know David was involved earlier, and Congressman McClintock.  We just \u2014 you know, these people were working on this before.  And they were working and \u2014 you know, I want to mention also Ernie \u2014 Ernest Conant and Paul Souza, who were intricately involved with making these changes.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But they have been working on these issues for a long time and they were looking for traction.  They were looking for some kind of change.  And I can tell you, traction was found in 2016 when President Donald Trump was elected.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>People have said to me, \u201cNo, no, he\u2019s not why.  It\u2019s timing.  It\u2019s dumb luck.  It\u2019s blah, blah, blah, blah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. STARRH:  Yeah.  Well, I\u2019m no expert, and I know a certain Democratic presidential candidate who says farmers need more \u201cgray matter.\u201d  You know that.  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. STARRH:  But this ain\u2019t rocket science.  The reason we\u2019re seeing these new rules implemented are because of President Donald Trump.  (Applause.)  And I want to publicly thank you, sir, and ask you to please keep fighting for us. Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Larry.  He could be running for politics one of these days.  Right?  I\u2019ll tell you, he could do \u2014 he could do a job.  All of you, thank you very much.  That was fantastic.<br \/>\nBut it\u2019s so easy.  It\u2019s common sense.  You know, Larry just said it\u2019s common sense.  And it is common sense.  And all we need is a governor and \u2014 we can be nice to them.  We can be rough with them.  We can do whatever we have to do.  I\u2019d love to be nice to them.  It\u2019s all common sense.  Remember I said, \u201cforest management.\u201d  You don\u2019t need all these forest fires.  It\u2019s management.  I said, \u201cforest management.\u201d  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same thing here.  This is even easier.  This is even easier.  Just have the valve go in a little different direction.  Okay?  (Laughter.)  This one is easy.  I can\u2019t imagine why they wouldn\u2019t do it.  Someday you\u2019ll explain to me politically why that\u2019s good that you\u2019re rationing water when you have so much water.<\/p>\n<p>And it is \u2014 it\u2019s different if you had a drought.  You don\u2019t have a drought.  You have tremendous amounts of water.  So maybe we can get the governor to come along and really be friendly on this one, and get it done.<\/p>\n<p>Huge numbers too.  Forgetting about human lives, forgetting about businesses, this is tremendous amounts of money coming to the state, coming to the farmers.  Your farmers would be doing much more business.  You\u2019d be \u2014 somebody said it would be the longest farm area anywhere in the world, if we allowed you to have the water to irrigate and to give you a little \u2014 you need the water.  You need water.  It\u2019s real.  It\u2019s really simple.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And you have the water.  You just need a signature.  You\u2019re going to have one today.  (Applause.)  And that was the tough one.  Right, Tom?  That was the tough one.  The tough one was this one.  The tough one to get was the federal government, but you got that.  And you really had it a couple of months ago, but you have it today officially.<\/p>\n<p>So, from the beginning, the Trump administration has delivered for our great farmers.  We love our farmers.  Under the previous administration, net farm income plummeted by 20 percent.  And under my administration, net farm income has increased by over 50 percent.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve secured the historic trade deals, including the new trade deal with China.  They\u2019re going to buy $50 billion worth of your product.  I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to be able to make it.  The most they ever bought \u2014 remember? \u2014 the most they ever bought was $16 billion.  Now they\u2019re going buy $50 billion.  You know, they agreed to 20.<\/p>\n<p>And on closing \u2014 I was saying hello, and I said, \u201cWhere are you with the farmers?\u201d  \u201cSir, we\u2019re at $20 billion.\u201d  That\u2019s more they ever bought.  The most was $16 billion, two years ago.  So I got them up to 20.  I said, \u201cMake it 50.\u201d (Laughter.)  They said, \u201cWhat?\u201d  I said, \u201cMake it 50.\u201d You got 1.5 billion people.  Fifty \u2014 it\u2019s peanuts.  Make it $50 billion.  Would you do me a favor?  Make it $50 billion.\u201d  They agreed to do it.  It wasn\u2019t that easy, but they agreed to do it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>See that beautiful tractor over there and the beautiful tractor?  I said, \u201cYou got to get bigger tractors.  That\u2019s all.\u201d   (Laughter.)  They look like nice, big tractors.  That\u2019s a big tractor right back there.  You got to get bigger tractors.  You got to buy a little more land.<\/p>\n<p>So, Larry, instead of selling your land, buy \u2014 buy some more.  Okay?  You know, buy a little more land.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But, no, they\u2019re going to increase it.  So, think of it: If they go to 40 to 50 billion dollars, you\u2019re talking about a whole different industry.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, I got Japan for $40 billion.  You saw that.  We signed that deal four months ago.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>South Korea now is a big buyer.  We signed that deal.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And the big one is the USMCA; that\u2019s Mexico and Canada.  (Applause.)  And now you\u2019re going to be treated with respect.  You were treated pretty badly.  You had tremendous tariffs going in \u2014 as example, on dairy products, you had a 287 percent tariff going into Canada, but we took care of it.<\/p>\n<p>We virtually eliminated all of the taxes and all of the problems that the farmers were having.  And I\u2019m very proud to do it.  Very special people.<\/p>\n<p>And when I was negotiating the farm deal \u2014 I told this to Kevin \u2014 you know, some people complain.  Not the farmer.  They were going up \u2014 the fake-news CNN \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 was putting microphones in your face and saying, \u201cIsn\u2019t this terrible?\u201d  Because China \u2014 you know, they\u2019re great negotiators \u2014 they pulled way back.  And the farmers \u2014 I tell you, I didn\u2019t hear a negative \u2014 they said, \u201cLook, it\u2019s very tough, but somebody had to do this.\u201d  This has been going on for 17, 18 years.  Really, much longer than that.  But it\u2019s been going on at least for 18 years.  \u201cThe farmer has been hurt.  Somebody had to do it.  The President is fighting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re going through a rough patch.  But what I did is I solved the rutch [sic] \u2014 roof \u2014 you know, the patch by getting \u2014 we got you $16 billion and we got you $12 billion from the year before.  We took it out of the tariffs that we imposed.  People don\u2019t say it.  They never like to say it, the fake news.  But you were hurt the first year by $12 billion.  Where we were taking in tens of billions of dollars in tariff, we didn\u2019t get 10 cents forever from China.  Now they\u2019re paying us 25 percent on $250 billion, and then more after that.<\/p>\n<p>So what I did is I took out the $12 billion; we gave it to the farmer.  Then I took out \u2014 the next year, I said to Sonny Perdue \u2014 great Secretary of Agriculture \u2014 I said, \u201cSonny, how much this year?\u201d  \u201cSixteen.\u201d  I said, \u201cSixteen billion?\u201d  They stopped buying.  I gave you $16 billion out of the tariffs.  We had billions and billions left over.<\/p>\n<p>And China came and they signed a wonderful agreement.  So we\u2019re very happy about it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But the farmers \u2014 and the farmers didn\u2019t even want this money.  The farmers said to me \u2014 we had 36 farmers in the White House and they said very simply, \u201cWe don\u2019t want this money.  We just want a level playing field.\u201d  I got you better than a level playing field, okay?  Better.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And one of the biggest things I did \u2014 and I said, \u201cI\u2019m going to get killed on this one.\u201d  We terminated the Waters of the United States Rule, which is \u2014 (applause) \u2014 basically, they were taking your property away from you.  And think of that.  They called it the \u201cClean Waters of the United States.\u201d  I said, \u201cHow do you sign that?  How do you do that?\u201d  But other than the title, it was a disaster for builders and farmers and everybody.<\/p>\n<p>And I remember when I signed it, I had a lot of people \u2014 a lot of farmers and construction workers and a lot of people behind me.  And these are people that didn\u2019t cry when they were babies.  They would \u2014 never cried in their life, and they were crying.  A lot of them were crying because I gave them their land back.  I gave them their rights back.  They took away their rights.  If you had a puddle in the middle of your farm, they said it was a lake, it was a river, it was a \u2014 I mean, they virtually said it was an ocean, right?  You had no right; you couldn\u2019t get anywhere hear it.  It was crazy.  So we gave it back.<\/p>\n<p>Federal bureaucrats will no longer micromanage every ditch, stock tank puddle, and pond on your land.  From now on, it\u2019s your land.  It\u2019s not their land.  You\u2019re going to do what you want with it.  (Applause.)  Terrible.  It was a terrible \u2014 other than the title, it was a terrible thing.<\/p>\n<p>Since I took office, the Department of Agriculture committed investing over $6.1 billion to rebuild.  Think of that \u2014 $6.1 billion to rebuild and improve the rural water infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>And last month, I took a decisive action to slash regulatory approval times for critical infrastructure, including water projects.  We have many water projects going on right now that would have never happened under the previous administration, or if Crooked Hillary won, which fortunately she didn\u2019t.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Our proposal will limit the process to two years.  Already, my administration is making every effort to finish the review process for the Friant Kern Canal in less than one year.  (Applause.)  Less than one year.  We\u2019re going to have it done in less than a year.  Right, David?<\/p>\n<p>And just to finish up: America is a nation built by farmers who work hard to provide their families, support their neighbors, and draw out God\u2019s abundance from the Earth.<\/p>\n<p>You pour out your sweat and soul.  You pour out your heart.  You really do.  You\u2019re incredible people.  You work so hard and you\u2019re smart as hell \u2014 (applause) \u2014 because to make it in your business, you have to be smart.  Your communities, your country, we appreciate it so much.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s why I\u2019m here today and why I will always keep fighting for the American farmer and rancher.  The people in this room are going to fight for you and we\u2019re going to win.  And we\u2019re going to get you your water and put a lot of pressure on your governor.  And, frankly, if he doesn\u2019t do it, you\u2019re going to get a new governor, because who could conceivably \u2014 (applause) \u2014 who could conceivably think of somebody that wouldn\u2019t \u2014<\/p>\n<p>So I just leave by saying, God bless the American farmer.  God bless America.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>(The presidential memorandum is signed.)<\/p>\n<p>This is a big step.  Where is Jim?  Where\u2019s Jim?  That\u2019s yours, Jim.  (Applause.)  Thank you, fellas.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n<p>3:41 P.M. PST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bakersfield, CA&#8230;February 19, 2020&#8230;Hi, Chloe. Hi, Chloe. Hi. Hi, Chloe. Well, I want to thank you. And before we begin, I want to just say that \u2014 AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you, President Trump! THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. It\u2019s a great, great place. You have great people on the stage with me. I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95959,"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":[3,20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Fullscreen-capture-2212020-111014-AM-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95922","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=95922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}