today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> coming up tonight on c-span, president trump speaks at the 100th annual convention. then, staff turnover at the white house. president trump spoke at the 100th annual conversion of the american farm bureau federation in new orleans. his are marks focused onboard or security, the shutdown, and trade policies and bombing -- and trade policies involving farmers.

this is just over an hour. >> good morning, family! i hear you all had a good convention this morning. i have been able to escort in our guest this morning. i am so excited we got a full run today. i know that you're going to give him all a good farm bureau welcome. thank you for being here. i am looking so forward to the rest of the program here today. both the first guess we have with us is such a good friend of mine. he has been a friend of mine for a long time. he has been governor in my state, a farmer, still is a farmer at heart, he has been a veterinarian, has run agricultural businesses, and now, he is the secretary of agriculture for the u.s. of america.

this man has a heart of gold. but, when you start talking about heart, i remember though -- the lord holds leaders and kings in their hands. their hearts are like water and he guides them on where to go. this leader allows the gourd -- the lord to lead his heart. he has been led to serve the american farmers and ranchers in the role parts of our country. -- rural parts of our country. i am so glad to call him my friend. please give the secretary of agriculture of the united states of america a warm farm bureau welcome. thank you, brother. hello, american farm bureau. it is so great to be with you all here.

zippy and i go a long ways back as georgia boys. i know he is doing a great job for you all. he loves his job and works hard for you. i know that today you are expecting to hear from a different president though, right? issident donald j. trump absolutely a friend to the american farmer. it brings to mind a speech by paul harvey. god made a farmer. he captured the essence of farmers in those remarks. he said, i need somebody willing at don, milk cows, milk cows again, then go to town and stay past midnight at a school board meeting. paul harvey knew the spirit of american farmers even though he was not a farmer himself. that is the way i think it is with president trump. although he is not a farmer, he knows what the farmers -- the farmers are the best of america,

embodying the great american spirit, working before the sun is a and long after -- is up and long after it is down. harvest,r a good figuring out what to do -- if it is a bad one. president trump values this and honors you for this. he is not the kind of guy who makes a promise and forgets about it. he has promised to support farmers and he has done just that. to first election to me was chair the task force on agriculture and rural prosperity. remember this convention last year? i presented my report to him. he promised to put americans back to work again, and we have the lowest unemployment we have seen in generations. the lowest since 1969. [applause] you will also remember when he came to your convention in nashville last year. he said he would come back

again, and he has kept that promise as well. gentlemen, your president, my president, our president, a friend of the american farmer, the president of the united states, donald j. trump. ♪ president trump: it is such a good song, we should just let it play.

we really appreciate this. a record crowd, it is always nice to set records. to thank sunny for setting records for farmers and agriculture. is only going to get better because we are doing trade deals that are going to get you some us business you're not even going to believe it. your problem will be, what do we do? we need more acres. we have to plant. i will say we are doing some things with trade that are going to have a tremendous impact. you're going to do business with canada, places where it was very difficult to do business with, very unfair. a lot of great things are going to happen. i want to really think -- thank everybody here and congratulate a very good and exciting football team that i watched yesterday -- the new orleans saints. [applause] president trump: i can see this little group over here.

i know who i am talking to. you have to say, drew breeze is a hell of a quarterback. brees is a tremendous quarterback. this is a great state. i am thrilled to be here in a state that i have had a lot of luck with and i love a lot of people in the state. truly historic occasion. this is the 100th annual convention of the american farm bureau federation. in 1999, i was here also. i like the farmers. what can i do? i like farmers. -- you.p for 100 years, this organization has thing fully represented the men and women who were the back on of our country, truly. let us all show our appreciation

for a very dear friend and a later, a great leader,zippy. where is zippy? what a job he does. he only called about 100 times to make sure i was coming. [laughter] president trump: thank you, great job. on this special anniversary, we gather to celebrate the america -- america's proud farming heritage. through your sweat, through all of your work, the strength of your hands and the faith in your hearts, the american farmer feeds and feels and sustains our nation. such are. -- so true. we are joined today by louisiana governor john bel edwards, thank you for being here. [applause] president trump: along with many members of congress who are true champions of american

agriculture. an incredibly talented man, a great doctor, he knows more about health care than anybody, and he is somebody that has really helped us out in so many different ways. he is yours, senator bill cassidy. thank you very bill, appreciated. a woman who had a tremendous victory. -- if youpointed look, they do not do too well. you did very well. you won in an incredible stay, mississippi. that was a great when. -- win. a brilliant guy, he is very i loveing, my wife said -- watching him on television. i said, who? she said, john kennedy.

i thought maybe she was talking about the other john kennedy. this is a man who is totally brilliant. i don't know if you know what this means, oxford. he went to oxford -- very much into the world of schools. you have to be very smart to go to oxford. he is very smart. he also loves this state and the people. we gave a rally the night before he won that was incredible. i looked at the crowd, we had about 40,000 people or more at his airport hangar. i said john kennedy, you're going to win. and he did. he is my friend john kennedy. oxford john. great. congressman ralph abraham, thank you, congressman, he does a great job. congressman gary graves. you know garrett.

-- congressman garrett grace. you know garrett. a lot of great politicians down here. and, a legend from louisiana. a man who has a lot of courage. i have never seen anybody with more strength and more courage than steve scully's -- steve scalise. [applause] president trump: he got hit hard. he never even thought about quitting. i was there the night in his hospital, and they didn't think she was going to make it. he wasn't looking too good. steve, you aren't looking too sharp. his wife loves him because she was a mess. your family loves you, steve. all of a sudden, he started making progress. he worked so hard.

then, a few months ago, he was at a baseball game. it was the republicans against the democrats, he was playing second base, and he didn't have great mobility. he gets the first pitch of the game, this is in a stadium, and a lot of people are watching on television. they put him on second base for one play. the first hit is a smash, groundball. i look and i say, this is going right to second base. it went right at him, he bent down, stop that ball, through it to first -- through it to first -- threw it to first and the place went crazy. that was incredible. he is a courageous guy. he is also a really fine person. steve scalise, what you have been through is incredible. congratulations.

as you all know, there's currently a tremendous humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. tremendous. has been there for years. -- it has been there for years, for decades. because of how well the country in the media, the fake news will say, he has no standing ovation, you know why? because everybody stayed standing. [applause] [cheering] they can figure it out. go home and i say darling, i did such a great job, wait until you see the news tomorrow on trump. north korea, china, we are doing

great. i can make go home and i say dai did such a great anything you dk better. -- look bad. they said it is probably better for me, because everyone's in a while they will stand. -- every once in a while they will stand. they didn't give him one standing ovation. women and children are being ruthlessly exploded at our southern border by vicious coyotes. human traffickers. when you hear the words human traffickers, you think about 1000 years ago, 2000 years ago. you wouldn't think it is worse today in the world than it has ever been. the reason it is worse is because of the internet. theytarget young women, target young children, the internet. they come in through our southern border into the country. they will have women taped, on their mouth, with duct tape or

electrical tape. their hands behind their backs, their likes, they put them in the backseat of cars and vans, and they don't come into your port of entry, because if you'd see them, they couldn't do that. they come into the border where we do not have any barriers or walls. they drive writing and have no problems. we'll get that stopped. where going to have a wall, a barrier, something. -- we are going to have a wall, a barrier, something. [applause] president trump: i built a lot of walls. you saw it the other day. we built a lot more than that. we renovated a lot of pretty good stops. we have done a lot and we want to finish. you can't have openings, because if you have an opening, they find the open spot and come in. we have to build what we have to

build, probably a total of 515 miles, including the renovations, and we have done a lot of work. people don't talk about it. i don't talk about it. until we are finished, the big thing is we have to get it done. we have had great support from john, your senator, bill, everybody. steve is working hard on the house. your congressmen are working really hard, really hard. because it is common sense, what we are talking about is common sense. last month alone, 20,000 migrant children were legally brought across the border. -- illegally brought across the border. 20,000. one in three women are sexually assaulted on the journey from honduras or guatemala or el salvador. think of that. hard to believe. that's quantities of lethal narcotics are being smuggled across the border.

most of the drugs coming into the country come in through the southern border. much of it comes through areas portals. heroine, cocaine, fentanyl. epidemic.ne, it is an it kills 300 americans a week alone. 90% of it, at least, crosses the southern border. i have spent a lot of time with the secret service and with border patrol and ice, incredible people, and they show me the methods that they use, how they hide it. they put it in hubcaps, engines, -- they are brilliant in many ways. you wouldn't even think of what they do to get things in. and, we can stop it. but, we can't stop it if we are going to play politics.

the numbers you are talking about our peanuts compared to -- you will make the money back numerous times a year. 702017, drugs killed over thousand of our fellow citizens. think of that. that is like a football stadium loaded up. it imposes costs on our society in excess of $700 billion. in the last two years, i saw -- ice offices arrested 266,000 illegal aliens. think of that. with criminal records. assault, 100,000 30,000 sex crimes, and 4000 violent murderers were killings -- were killing. this impacts all americans, threatens public safety, overwhelming public resources,

strains the local schools and hospitals, undermines u.s. workers, and claims cloud miss -- countless innocent lives. i will tell you, i want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally through a process. [applause] president trump: as president, the defense of our nation is my highest and most important duty. this is the defense of our nation, just like we prepare for other nations that you think more traditionally is with that sentence reversed to. when it comes to keeping the american people safe, i will never ever back down. i didn't need this fight. we are dealing against people who think that if they can stop me from building the wall, we

have already done a lot of work, but they think that is a good thing for 2020. they think if they can stop me from building the wall, that is good. this is the reason why they do not want the wall built. they all know it works and approved it numerous times. chuck shumer had his hand up every time this would come up. the senators know this. they're only doing this because of the 2020 election. it is only one of many things that i promised. [applause] president trump: i brought you the biggest tax cut beyond the ronald reagan tax cuts. war, getting rid of the individual mandates, the biggest cuts and regulations in the history of our country. and we are going further. [applause] president trump: that might be the biggest reason that our country is doing so much better

than other countries. but, they view this as a political thing. because this was one of the best -- the big things we are going to do, tax cuts, and we have done most of what we said. that is a lot of news. one of the folks that their set that he has actually done more than he promised, that's true. we have done a lot, even with the veterans. a lot of veterans in louisiana. we got veterans' choice approved, which is pretty amazing. they have been trying to get that for years and years, decades and decades. we got accountability. when you have somebody treating our veterans horribly, you couldn't do anything or fire them. whether it is unions, or civil service, whatever it may have been, for decades and decades, somebody could do anything they wanted, they could steal, abuse

our veterans, they could do whatever they want, you couldn't fire them. i got accountability approved. everyone said you couldn't get that. we got it done and now we can say jim, your fire. we don't want you -- your fire -- you are fired. we don't want you taking care of our veterans. did you do wall as a big item, that if i don't do it, it is a negative. and, i am not doing it for that reason. i am doing it because we have to do it, it is common sense. we have to do it. if you look at the caravans coming, what is going on, you take a look, if we didn't have some of those walls, the military has been incredible and built barriers -- they kept thousands and thousands of people from overrunning various sections of the country.

we have done a great job at the border, but we need that extra barrier. because you can't do this. you can have all the people you you dressed in military, can have ice, you can aboard a patrol, if you don't have that barrier, there is not a thing you can do. we all say i like technology, i like it also. but we can have all the drones flying around and all the sensors in the world, but if you do not have a strong real or el orete barrier, -- ste concrete barrier, there is no way to stop the people from rushing. you have no idea who they are. i am sure they have good ones, but they have some real bad ones. last week, i travel to mcallen, texas to tour the border and meet with the heroes of ice and border patrol. these great patriots made clear what they need from congress and to end this terrible crisis.

and we will end it. to come not going except for the people we want to come. we're going to make that easier for them. to help the farmers, you need these people. [applause] president trump: you need these people. we're going to make it easier. [applause] president trump: i am glad i told you that because here in that business, a lot of people don't understand that you need people to help you with the farms. i am not going to rule that out. i will make it easier for them to, and work the farms. -- to come in and work the farms. ones. keeping the wrong we don't want the wrong ones going into our country. for that, it is going to be almost impossible to go in.

for people that have worked the farms, have worked the short and -- short process, it is going to be easier for them to get in. remember that. i know a lot about the farming world. they explained that there is no , for aute for a wall physical. -- a physical barrier. there is no substitute. had oneso, texas, they of the most injures cities -- dangerous cities in the country. a wall was put up and it went from being one of the most dangerous cities in the country to one of the safest cities in the country overnight. overnight. does that tell you something? i could give you many examples of that. they say it is medieval -- so is a wheel.

but every time i look up, they'll have wheels. every car have seen still has wheels. wheels work and walls work. there are some things you can't beat. [applause] president trump: that is why we have asked congress to fund a steel barrier or whatever you want to call it -- this barrier will stop illegal activity and direct lawful trade, lawful commerce to our ports of entry. these ports are america's doors. but, doors only work when you have strength. we need strength right now. right now, we have weakness. they're forming a new caravan in honduras. honduras is not helping us. they could stop it. we send them thing -- hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

other places, guatemala. hundreds of millions. but, they don't help us like so many nations. we help them, they don't help us. they don't vote for us in the you when, why? because the run people are asking -- the wrong people are there. why are we sending the money if they are forming terra vans in the middle of their cities -- caravans in the middle of their cities? a lot of changes have been made in this country in less than two years, i'll tell you that. really good changes. changes like -- people like you with common sense and smarts fully understand. that is why we like it where we are in the country is changing very rapidly for the better. border of the overall security plan, we have also asked congress to approve cutting-edge technology to

detect drugs. when these cars to come into the ports of entry, you have technology today that is so incredible, we don't use it. we don't have it. because our leaders decided not to spend the money. you make it back every month, probably more than that. because, the drugs coming through the southern border are destroying the fabric of the country. it's so bad. it's so bad. so we have to stop it. this technology is incredible. to fund more agents, we are putting that high on the list. beds, we are one of the only countries -- somebody comes into our country, they touch one foot on the ground, and we have to catch them. we then take their names, and we bring them to a court, can you believe this?

and we release them. we're trying to do catch and hold, catch and not release. they go into our country and then you announce -- then you say, come back in three years for your trial. tell me what percentage of people come back. would you say 100%? how about 2%? one, --ople, you almost don't want, because they can be very smart. -- they can't be very smart. 2% come back. those 2% are not going to make america great again. [applause] crazy president trump: -- president trump: crazy. we have that and chain migration, where somebody comes in and then the mother comes in, the father comes in, the uncle comes in, the grandmother comes in, the cousins come in. , a radical islamic

terrorist in new york, driving down the west side highway, to his right, this gorgeous park along the river, people running, they were in great shape -- maybe sony and i can go take a jog. these are people that are great people. person -- horrible person going on the highway decides to make a right turn and his able group of people. purposely. screaming all of the things that they scream. a people died, 12 or 13. nobody talks about the interviews. lost legs, loss arms. they say 12 were injured. you think of a headache, no,

they lost arms and legs. 12 were horribly injured. about 22 people came in chain migration. the lottery, we take people on countries through the lottery. this is common sense. do you think that the countries giving us their finest? no. they are giving us the opposite. we have a lot of a system, let's pick him out. it does not work out too well. this is the law. this was passed by democrats and i guess republicans. maybe they voted, who knows. these are laws that have to be changed. these are sick, demented laws. we can't allow this keep happening. the people sent to our country

are not the people that we want. they come in through the lottery and change migration. killed eight people and so badly injured 12, they say he has 20 relatives that are coming in. they are here. take a look at how well his relatives are doing. not a good picture. we have to change our laws. because the democrats don't want to change them. i hope common sense can persuade them. we really have no choice. we are fighting very hard. we are making a lot of progress. i can tell you that. [laughter] -- [applause] jim is with us. his ranch runs along the u.s. mexico border. cartel,ly, very deadly one of the most vicious drug cartels anywhere in the world runs a major drug trafficking

his ranch. through many of these routes used to run through san diego until the wall was built by us. sorry about that, jim. i think jim just got angry at me. sorry. 's ranch. to jim i think i cost him a lot of money. maybe he won't stand up after all. hadlast two years, we have cameras on his ranch that have captured roughly 1000 pictures of major drug packers. or years, these criminals have damaged jim's property. they have injured livestock and started dozens of fires that cost more than $2 million in 2017 alone. agent'se, border patrol were checking sensors on the

clinton and children's ranch. he was shot multiple times by these sinister drug traffickers. multiple times. they don't even think about it. they don't even think about it. they wake up the next morning and they could not care less. as jim said, every time i leave the ranch, my wife doesn't know whether i will ever return. to comelike to ask jim up and say a few words. jim, please come up. thank you. [applause] president, we need a

wall. i would say we need a wall around the length of the border. we have to stop the drug packers to poison our in people. , would say to speaker pelosi walls are not immoral. fact, i have traveled around the world.

the biggest while i have never seen it around the vatican. is around that it can. you can't tell me that the priests of the roman catholic church are immoral. they have a wall, why can't we? president trump: thank you, jim. i am sorry for your problems, we will straighten it out. the governments remain shut down for one reason and one reason only, the democrats will not fund for security, our safety, our national security. people come from many countries. when i was at the wall the other

day, border patrol said they have 150 people. they caught them that day that were not from mexico. they said that these were people that were not from mexico. i was surprised. , fourwere from pakistan were from another to middle eastern countries. people were not from mexico. they caught many more. but that is 150 people coming from countries that you would not believe. they will not approve the measures we need to keep america safe. this is of paramount importance. i can't take it nice and easy, i could enjoy myself. house been in the white

because i think it is important to be there. other people went on a nice, wonderful vacation over the weekend. they had a great time. i would have loved to have been with them. we have a very big problem. this should have been done by other presidents. just like the moving of the embassy to jerusalem should have been done. it was promised by many other presidents. just like we are doing the job on north korea, just like with china. we are getting it done. if otherhave been nice administrations were able to do it. we have to do the border. in the meantime, the usda is doing everything in its power to help farmers deal with the ongoing shutdown. we thank you for your support and patriotism. we fight to defend our nation.

we are fighting very hard to defend our nation. many people that are not getting kate, --ot being paid have let us know in no uncertain terms -- they said what you're doing is of paramount importance. do the job right. we are with you 100%. you would be surprised how many people have said that. it is not easy for them. of you citizens to call your democrat lawmakers and ask them to pass a health that secures our border, protects our country and now reopens our government. as soon as they do that, we reopen our government. you think that would be a very simple task. on every front, we are fighting for our great farmers. our ranchers, our growers, we are fixing broken trade deals that are horrible.

i solo was going on in canada, the way you were treated, horrible. they treated their farmers great. great. we changed it. with a new trade guild that we made with mexico and canada. and opening up new markets to export. many, many new markets are being opened up. we eliminated a record number of job killing regulations. the farmers got hit as hard as anybody. we are reversing harmful federal intrusion. keep family farms in the family, we have virtually eliminated the state tax known as the death tax. [applause] president trump: thank you. small business owners and corporations -- it was a

terrible thing that was happening. your parents love their farm. the kids want to grow up on the farm and sunday on the farm and run the farm but they could not because they had very large estate taxes. then it turned a little bad and they would lose the farm because they would have to pay the estate tax. if you love your children, you will like me. does anybody here not love their children? not one? we won. we won two years ago in november. they are still try to figure out what happened. we don't have to talk about it. we know what we are doing.

we are ensuring that ethanol remains a vital part of the energy future. the-15, --e-15, we are making it available year-round. that was great for the farmers. a lot of your senators were very strong on that. we saw oneced, 1.75 ford 75% -- gasoline. i am writing in his incredible car and i am looking at gas stations to see how much is the gas. do you think have done that? i don't think so. i am in the beast. an armyke being in think that those 50 miles per hour. i say slow up, i can't see.

didn't happen by accident. people think it does. very little happens by accident. nobody else would do what we did for the farm is with the estate taxes and so many other things. mythe two years before election, agricultural exports dropped by nearly $23 billion. remember that. for i got here it was headed south. a lot of people say how are we doing? it was going bad. years,go back 15 soybeans were more expensive 15 years ago. more expensive than when i got into office. they were less. now they are up nearly $14 billion. in december, just a few days before christmas, i was brought

in to sign the farm bill. we got it done. that was not easy either. that was not easy. senators, congressmen, thank you. that group did it. one, johnot an easy and bill. we got it done. the first to be passed on time in over 30 years. we got it done. i have authorized the secretary to be strong on work rules for the food stamp program, through regulations allowed by the bill. i know you have a great secretary who will do what is right. the farm bill delivers for our farmers of a wide range of key priorities. uncritical farm programs such as crop insurance, you will have the support you need to plan for the future. it increases the amount that farmers can borrow so that you can expand and improve your businesses.

it also secures the $600 million commitment we made to build a modern, effective, rural broadband across america's heartland. that is something that the great middle part of our country has been complaining about for a long time. you are not properly serviced. you will be now. that bill is a great bill for the farmer. last year, when i spoke to you we had just passed our historic tax cuts. here with us is kalina bruce from stockton, missouri. she is a rancher and an accountant for local farmers. under our new tax plan lowers to small businesses, so important, that child tax credit. do you know who fought for that?

ivanka trump. that is all she wanted, dad, dad, we have to get that passed, dad. it turned out to be so popular. kalina saw that many families will save upwards of $4000 in taxes this year alone. i want to thank all of those incredible people that you represent and just keep up the great work. where is she? great job, thank you very much. leading them on sweeping regulatory reform. at any time in our history, the u.s. department of agricultural -- agriculture rollback almost -- rolled back almost $4 billion in regulatory costs this year alone. this year, they are projected to double those savings.

we are saving farmers and ranchers from regulations -- some of the most ridiculous regulations ever imposed on anyone in our country. the water gruel. it was a disaster. rule.e water it was a disaster. other than the title. farmers,kill on everyone. i went to john kennedy and i said i am going to get killed on this one. what we did was take something, the waters of the united states. everything inside was a total kill on you. and other businesses. we did not get killed, john. they love it. so many people have come to me.

when i signed that bill, i had ranchers and farmers and homebuilders behind me. these are tough people. and were strong, tough men women. half of them were crying. we basically -- our government stole their property. it did not do anything. they could not build, they cannot do anything. they cried. i asked them why. i don't think he cried when he was a baby. he was crying. he said you give me back my life . you gave me back my property. environmentally, they took it away. you will do the right thing. -- in thece today, audience today, we have someone from north dakota. that is a great place. senator, a great great new senator. val and her husband would love to expand their farm for their

boys. under the water united states role, they would have to pay tens of thousands of fines prairie potholes. do you know what those are? i don't but it sounds bad. to val and every farmer, we will keep federal regulators out of your tanks. we will keep them out of your drainage ditches, your ponds, you know exact what i am talking about. thatan have a little pond they consider a lake. you are regulated as though it was a lake. to get government off your back so you can earn a living and support your families doing what you love. i know what you love. farmers love what they are doing. toalso passed legislation

rebuild our water infrastructure, including our nation's inland waterways. it carries more than 60% of our agricultural products. one-sided,acing unfair trade deals. nations where we have a one-sided deal. with china, for so many years we are losing 375 billion, not million, billion dollars. we are working on that very strongly. on.see what is going we have the european union. they don't treat us right. a our farmers terribly. farmerstreat our terribly. we are working with them. treat us fairly. we are losing $151 billion per year with the european union. they sound so nice, the european union. then the press gets angry, they say that donald trump is not

treating the european union fairly. that is because they are not treating us fairly. they say that my poll numbers are very bad in europe, they should date. they say when he started off, he had 87%. that means you can be the king of any country. complaining because i'm representing our country, not their countries. [applause] trump: it is true. they said his poll numbers have tanked. no, what is going on?" in europe. that's ok. i don't blame them. i don't blame china. billion, we lose.

it is more than that. that is the conservative number. i think it is 504. i'm giving you conservative. i don't blame china. i was in china making a speech is a friend. xi but he represents them and i represent us. to this massive crowd of people and i am talking about how china is that. i said this could be dangerous. i am in beijing, doing this. i don't like this. i looked at him and i realized during that speech that it is not his fault or their fault. it is our fault for allowing that to happen. it is our leaders fault. leaders' fault. a continual decline in the u.s. share of

agricultural trade throughout the world. you know that. it is all going in the wrong directions. it is changing. wait until you see what happens. alreadyna, they are back ordering. they have are started ordering. we are turning all of that around with fair trade deals. that will put american farmers, ranchers and america, first. that is what i am interested in, america. tojust opened argentina american ports. -- americanork pork. exports of pork. i say you have to open up to p ork. they said okay. i said why didn't you?

they said that? nobody ever asks? . .e do so much for them it is incredible. rom the great state of texas. they just opened up. u.s. has been shipped to brazil for the first time since 2003. they are going to have a great new leader. they say that he is the donald trump of south america. do you believe it? he is happy with that. if he wasn't, i would not like the country. i like him. to american beef for the first time in many years. we have taken -- you know that. that was before the trade deal. don't even worry about it. that is peanuts compared to what we are talking about. we have taken the toughest ever

actions to confront china's unfair trade practices that hurt american farmers and ranchers. this includes china's theft of americanrets from agri. business. i couldn't believe how complicated the seeds are and the genetic farming. people don't know this. your secrets were being stolen by china and in all fairness, other countries. we want a fair deal for american farmers, removing china's arbitrary bans on art -- agricultural imports. we have to safeguard our property and provide free market access to all american producers. we have made history by finalizing an agreement to replace the horrible nafta with a brand-new u.s.-mexico canada agreement called the usmca.

that is a whole different world. [applause] was onet trump: nafta of the worst trade deals ever made by a country. it killed our country. this will increase imports from weeds, chicken from georgia, dairy from wisconsin, product from farmers and ranchers all over our country. as part of the usmca, canada agreed to give their treatment to american wheat farmers. they will now great american wheat -- grade american wheat just like they do their own wheat. much, that does not mean but to farmers it means a lot. that is what they tell me. i say what can we do? they say "wheat." even the nfl was having a hard time with canada. it had to do with the super bowl.

i heard about it and i asked about it. it was a lot of money but it was tiny compared to the overall deal with canada and mexico. it was one of the things, you have to treat them fairly. we had the dispute over the national anthem. that seems to have worked out properly. that is great. i give them credit for that now. listen, when you go to canada, you have to ask for this thing. they are not treating our company rights. that was the nfl, a big company. american company. in one minute, we solve the problem. they had been working on it for years. it was a total success. it is something i have to do for american companies. it was easy, short, it took a few minutes and we got it. they were fighting for years. canada agreed to and unfair trade practices that hurt american dairy exports. also here today are chris and

gary peterson and their son then and daughter-in-law -- son, ben and their daughter in law vicky. farm inandma started a a tremendous day. remember when they said donald trump has won the state of wisconsin. bill, you don't remember any wins there. that was a while before your time. was that a great evening or what? donald trump has won the state of wisconsin. we love wisconsin. today, the petersons have more .han 900 dairy cows like so many of our great farmers, they have faced a number of threats to their farm and to their entire way of life. for years, nafta made it difficult for dairy farmers like

the petersons to export milk, ice cream, cheese and many other dairy products. under the usmca, the peterson family will finally have the level playing field that they should have had for many years. they have it now. together, we urge congress to support american agriculture, stand up for american workers and hopefully they will approve the usmca quite quickly. , noone thing i worry about matter how good something is, it'll is loverly. but they will approve it. i think this one will be very tough. i hear it is in good shape. it replaces something that has been so bad to our country. it is a great deal. as we reverse the damage of decades of unfair trade, we are also providing up to $12 billion in relief to protect our farmers from unfair foreign retaliation.

you saw that recently. we were helping out during a ime whenair period of t people were trying to affect our election. nobody brings it up because it was china. i haven't heard too much about that, have you? they were. we helped our farmers out. nobody understands better than our great farmers that the tough chassis -- choices that we make today will reap rewards for centuries to come. more than 200 years ago, this very city was at the center of america's negotiations during the legendary louisiana purchase. no one knew how it would all turn out. president thomas jefferson acted decisively for the american people. after months of negotiations, we got what no one ever imagined possible. not only did we gain new orleans, we doubled the size of

the united states. and ports.new parts new ports, very importantly. we made our nation the greatest farm country on god's earth. it remains that and it is now, for the first time in a long time, getting better. our nation was founded, settled and built by farmers. from the fields of pennsylvania to the hills of tennessee. missouri toins of the big sky of montana. florida,the marshes of

to the fertile valley of california. farmers have always led the way. the american farmer embodies the timeless values of america. you believe in hard work and self-reliance. you follow the role -- rules, obey our laws and respect our make -- grade american flag. you support our communities, raise loving families, teacher children right from wrong and you are always loyal to this magnificent nation that we so love. now, you have a government that is loyal to you, finally, in return.

we know that government's duty is to our own citizens. we are fighting for the american farmer. we are fighting for the american dream. growne products made and with pride right here in the usa. that is what we are fighting for. we are defending a cherished legacy. we are preserving a beautiful way of life passed down from others and farmers to sons and daughters from generation to generation. thisre the keepers of noble tradition. you are the guardians of this majestic heritage. we are standing up for the men and women who work the fields, till the soil and harvest the land. we are protecting your rights, your freedoms and our glorious constitution. we are doing it all with love in our hearts, joy in our souls and trust in our god.

[applause] president trump: thank you. to all of the farmers here today and across our country, the greatest harvest has yet to come. the future for america's farmers is bigger, better, boulder and brighter than ever before. than everand brighter before. i am so honored to be here. i want to thank the american farm bureau for the incredible job they do. i am proud to be a great friend of the farmer. friend of the farmer, the rancher, of the people who so

nobly do what you do. god bless you all, god bless our farmers, god bless the united states of america. thank you very much. [applause] ♪

>> monday evening, james clyburn came to the floor to discuss a disapproval resolution he is bringing against iowa representative steve king. congressman king questions how the terms white nationalists, and white supremacist had become offensive. he was followed by comments from tim ryan of ohio. he brought a resolution of censure against congressman king. >> this is the tale of two kings. one is a member of this body who -- wondered aloud why the terms white nationalists him and white supremacy are offenses. i said to my colleague that the terms are offensive because the concepts are evil. we have been counseled that all is