Hillary Rodham Clinton

Manufacturing and Jobs in Youngstown, Ohio - July 30, 2016

Hillary Rodham Clinton
July 30, 2016— Youngstown, Ohio
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Thank you! Thank you so much! Thank you all! Thank you! I got to tell you, it is so great, so great being back here with you. I am excited about our bus trip, which started in Philadelphia, and we've gone across Pennsylvania, and now we're in the great state of Ohio, starting in the Mahoning Valley! I apologize for us being late. We ran into a lot of thunderstorms, and it slowed us down. I really appreciate all of you waiting. It means the world to us to be here with you tonight. And there's a big overflow crowd, and I understand they can hear us, and I want to thank them for being here as well.

I want to thank Glenn Johnson and Robert Morales for being up here to introduce us to the stage. I am very proud to have the support and the endorsement of the UAW. I'm also very pleased to see our long-time friend, your former governor, Ted Strickland, a decent, hard-working, committed man who I hope you will send to the United States Senate in November. I appreciate State Senator Joe Schiavoni, and Joe, we do want that pizza. We need that pizza.

And finally, I got to tell you, I am just the biggest fan of your congressman, Tim Ryan. How many of you saw him speak at the Democratic Convention? Wasn't he terrific? Tim and I have a lot in common. I started the Manufacturing Caucus in the Senate when I was there. He has led the House of Representatives Manufacturing Caucus. We are both commit to bringing manufacturing back so that there is a real path to the middle class for people who help to actually make things in America again.

Tim and I also share a love for hot sauce. And he told me there would be one up here, but Tim, somebody got to it. It's gone. So I'm going to hold you to it. I understand there's kind of a special hot sauce that's made right here. Right? Hot peppers! […] Yes, I want to try that. I told Tim some years ago that when Bill ran for President in 1992, I read an article which said that if you ate hot peppers, it would build your immune system. I figured, well, it's worth a try. I started heating hot peppers back in '92. I'm still eating them. And I'm still standing. And I'm still ready to go to the White House!

Now, we're on this bus tour to highlight what our plans are to create more good jobs and raise incomes. And we wanted to come to Pennsylvania and Ohio because these are two states where people still make things, where people believe that it's possible to be a builder, to make a contribution, to have a good life for your family. So we've been visiting factories. We've been talking to folks, getting ideas. And here's what I think. I think that if you agree that our major challenge economically is to create more good-paying jobs with rising incomes and good benefits so that more people in America—right here in the Mahoning Valley, across Ohio, and across our country—have a chance to get ahead and stay ahead, which is the basic bargain of America than join this campaign.

I started that Manufacturing Caucus back in the Senate because I represented New York. And in Upstate New York—some of you know because you may have traveled through there—we had a lot of hard-working people who got caught up in technology, with automation, with jobs being moved out of our country. And they deserved better. And we began to put together plans, and that's exactly what I will do as your president. We're going to have the biggest job creation program since World War II. And we're going to invest in infrastructure, we're going to build and maintain our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, our ports, our airports, our water systems. There is so much good work to be done in America. And it's not just what we can see; not just the physical infrastructure, which is critically important. We need a new electric grid. If we're going to be creating renewable energy, we've got to be able to distribute it. We need to make sure every person, every home, every business in America has access to broadband. Internet connectivity that will give them a chance to compete and win in the economy.

I said in Harrisburg Pennsylvania last night that that's what I wanted to do, and I told folks that teachers had told me, just recently, there was a big national survey of teachers—and you know I love teachers. And so these teachers that were telling me that after they did this survey, they found that about 70 percent of our nation's teachers assign homework that requires kids to use the Internet. And I see some teachers' heads nodding. Well, that makes perfect sense because we want our kids prepared for the future. They're going to live in the information age, and goodness knows, it's going to be moving even faster.

That's the good news. The bad news is, there are 5 million kids in America who cannot access the Internet from their homes when they're supposed to be doing their homework. And there are parts of every state—because when I finished speaking last night, I went out, as I will later, and meet everybody, shake your hands—and some of the people there told me, they said, you have no idea how bad it is in places in Pennsylvania. We still have dial-up. A lot of places, we can't get access. That is unacceptable. It is 2016. We are going to finish providing broadband Internet connectivity to every place in America.

We are also going to invest in advanced manufacturing. I can't wait until I get to work with Tim Ryan and Ted Strickland and Sherrod Brown about how we're going to do this. We're going to invest, we're going to work the public and the private sectors to make sure, number one, that businesses get the support they need in order to have the kind of plant and equipment that will enable them to be more competitive. We are going to make sure that people have the skills that they can immediately put to work.

I am a strong believer is that, yes, it's great to get a four year college education, and we're going to make that debt free. But I don't believe that a four year college education should be the only path for people having a good middle class job, and a future that gives them and their kids better opportunities. We were in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and we were meeting with the management and the Steelworkers Union, a unionized plant, and they helped to train their people. And then their workers are making, on average, $70,000 a year. I'm telling you, we can do this. Because there are now million jobs in America that are not being filled. We don't have enough machinists, tool and die workers, welders, coders. We need more skilled people in the trades. I've got a plan to encourage businesses to pay to train people, and to support union apprenticeship programs so that we get those skills and get ready to make a good future.

And, you know, I believe strongly that some nation is going to be the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. I want it to be us. Because there are millions of new jobs and businesses if we do this. So we are going to grow the economy. I'm going to invest $10 billion in manufacturing communities like those in the Mahoning Valley. And I'm going to do it by defending American workers. We are not going to let Republican governors and Republican legislatures undermine the right to join a union, undermine the right to bargain collectively. I believe Right to Work is wrong for America, and I will stand against that effort.

And we are going to say no to unfair trade deals. I'm going to appoint a special trade prosecutor to go after companies and countries that undercut our businesses and are unfair to our workers. We're going to enforce rules of origin. We saved the American auto industry from a certain demise. And I'll tell you, it was the Democrats who did it, wasn't it? And it was the right thing to do. The American auto industry just had its best year ever last year. Well, we're going to keep that going. And the way we are is, we're going to stand up for our companies and our workers, and we're not going to let China continue to dump cheap steel into the American market.

Another way we're going to grow the economy is by supporting small business. You heard Tim say his dad was a small businessman. So was mine. My father had a small business that printed fabric for draperies. He had a—what we called a print plant. It was a kind of low ceilinged, kind of dark place in Chicago, with two really long tables. And the way you did this—because I helped him when I had to, and he needed the help—you would take the fabric, you'd put it on the long table, then you'd take what's called a silkscreen, and you'd put it down, and then you'd take the paint—you'd pour it into the silkscreen, then you'd take the squeegee and you'd go from left to right, then you'd lift it up and you'd keep going down the table.

I know how hard he worked. And I know how many opportunities that hard work gave my family. That's why I take really personally what Donald Trump does to small businesses. This is not just a campaign talking point. This is personal. You know, because my dad did all that work—he would get contracts, he'd load the fabrics into the car, then he'd take them—he'd provide them to the hotel or the restaurant, the office—and then he expected to be paid. I mean, that's the way we do business, isn't it? I mean, my first job is I babysat. I expected to be paid. Every job I've had since, I expected to be paid after I did the job.

Well, apparently Donald Trump thinks he's immune from all of those rules and requirements. And so, person after person has come forward to say the same thing: I got the contract, I did the work, he wouldn't pay me. I'm talking about plumbers and painters, glass installers, marble installers, all kinds of people. And then what happens is, you know, they do the work, they go to get paid—he or his minions say, no, we're not going to pay you. And, you know, it's a kind of—like, a shock—what do you mean you're not going to pay me? They say, if you don't like it, go sue us. Well, if you're a small business person, you can't afford to sue a guy who puts his name on big buildings all over the place, has a battalion of lawyers. This man has been sued 3,500 times. He plays the odds. "A lot of people won't sue me. A lot of people will give up if they try. So maybe at the end we'll have to pay them 50 cents, 30 cents on the dollar." That is so wrong, and it is something—it is something that people who have been treated like this are coming to the forefront to speak out about. Because, you know what? They don't want America being treated by Donald Trump the way they were treated by Donald Trump.

I looked it up: nearly 98 percent of businesses in Ohio are small business. So again, I take this personally. We're going to help small business. We're going to help get you more access to credit, cut red tape, remove obstacles so that small businesses can thrive. But we're not only going to grow the economy, we're going to make the economy fairer. Because the economy needs to work for everybody, not just those at the top. And we need to be doing everything we can to lift more people up. So we're going to raise the national minimum wage. We're going to make it a living wage that can produce a good, solid, middle-class life.

And the fastest way to increase family incomes is to make sure women get paid for the work that we do. Now, I'll tell you, this is not a woman's issue. It's a family issue. If you have a working mother, wife, daughter, or sister, it's your issue. And so therefore, finally, we're going to put this right.

So I'm excited about what we're going to do to create jobs, raise incomes, grow the economy, make it fair. And we're going to pay for everything, I'm telling you, and I'm telling you how I'm going to pay for it. It's pretty simple. We're going to increase taxes on corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy in America.

Now, that is not because I'm against success. We don't resent success in America. But it's because that's where the money is. 90 percent of the income gains have gone to the top 1 percent of Americans. So it's like that movie. You want to know what we're going to do? We're going to Follow the Money, and the money leads to the super wealthy and corporations and Wall Street, who need to be paying for the benefits that they have received from living in the greatest country in the world.

So as you can tell, I'm pretty excited. It may be late, but I'm really jazzed up about what we're going to do. And I don't think the stakes could be higher. Tim told you some of the reasons why Donald Trump is offering empty promises and totally at odds with what he's done in business, how he's treated people. Well, let's just take one more example. He talks about let's make America great, right? Well, he talks about putting America first, right? Well, then why does he make Trump suits in Mexico instead of Brooklyn, Ohio? Why does he make furniture in Turkey instead of Cleveland? Why does he make barware in Slovenia instead of Jackson, Ohio?

Well, if you saw your great senator, Sherrod Brown, at the Democrat convention—he was great. He said he bought his suit not far from where he lives in Cleveland, bought his tie in Ohio, bought his shirt in Ohio. Now, I don't want to stir up any rivalry with Pennsylvania but—my husband is wearing a shirt that was made in Reading, Pennsylvania. So if we're going to make America great again, Donald Trump ought to start making things in America again.

This is going to be a very intense campaign, right? One hundred days from today, people are going to go vote. Tim and Ann and Bill and I and everyone working with us, we're going to work our hearts out, because I have to tell you this is not a normal election. Donald Trump is not a normal presidential candidate. Somebody who attacks everybody has something missing. I don't know what it is. I'm not going to get into that. But yesterday he attacked a distinguished Marine general, John Allen. He attacked the distinguished father of a soldier who sacrificed himself for his unit, Captain Khan. He's attacked immigrants and women. He's attacked people with disabilities. It's a long list, my friends. I don't know, maybe he doesn't have anything positive to say.

But when you run for president, it's kind of like a giant job interview. If you were interviewing somebody to hire and that person came in to see you and that person spent all of his time insulting and scapegoating and blaming other people, and then got up and left your office, you'd be kind of wondering what does that person do. I think it is fair to say he is temperamentally unfit and unqualified to be president and commander-in-chief. And as I said Thursday night, someone who can get provoked by a tweet should not be responsible for nuclear weapons.

So here's what I'm asking you. We're going to be back. We'll be in the Mahoning Valley. We'll be all over Ohio. Because I want people to understand what the choice is and how it will affect you, your job, your future. And just yesterday, the Republican economist who advised Senator John McCain when he ran for president in 2008, he looked at the plans that I've put forth and he's looked at what Donald Trump has said he wants to do, and here's what he concluded: Under my plans, America will create at least 10 million new jobs in the first four years. And this is not me saying it. This is not me saying it. It's not even a Democrat saying it. But then he goes on and says under Trump's plans America will lose 3.5 million jobs. So this is serious business. Yes, don't boo. Vote.

So here's what I'm asking. I am asking for your help in this campaign. I want you to talk to your friends, your neighbors, your family members. I know that there are people here in the Mahoning Valley who think they want to support Trump. I just want you to try to have a conversation with them. I want you to ask them please to look at the facts. I want you to ask them to look at the stories that are coming out in the press every day about people who were stiffed, mistreated. I want you to look at the stories of all the foreign workers that he hires. I want you to look at where he makes the things he sells. And then I want you to ask your friends and neighbors, "Is this somebody who really cares about the people of the Mahoning Valley, the people of this great state?"

And I want you to join the campaign. Here's what you can do: Text JOIN, J-O-I-N, to 47246 or go to hillaryclinton.com. And by the way, we are hiring organizers in Ohio, so if you're interested, go to hillaryclinton.com and look for where we're hiring, because we are going to reach out. We're going to register 3 million more people. We are going to turn everybody out to vote.

Because like I said, I want you to know what my plans are as your president and I want you to hold me accountable. I'm not going to sit in the White House. I'm going to keep traveling around America. I'm going to come back to the Mahoning Valley. I'm going to sit down; I'm going to ask you what's working, what's not working. As you heard in the convention, when I tell you I will try to help you, you can count on it, because I will do everything I possibly can to deliver results for you.

So I know the hour is late. I know you have been incredibly patient. But I am so excited to be back here. I will be back. My team will be back. And we want you to be part of winning this election and moving our country into the future with optimism. Thank you.