Remarks by the President on Energy in Newton, Iowa

TPI Composites
Newton, Iowa

4:30 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Iowa!  (Applause.)  Well, it is good to be back in Newton!  (Applause.)  It's been a while.  It's good to be back in Iowa.  It's brought back memories -- of a lot of driving.  (Laughter.)  And I just had a great tour of this facility.  By the way, if people have chairs, feel free to sit down.  (Laughter.)  Some of you may not have seats, but I want to make everybody comfortable.  But don't worry, I'm not going to talk that long.  I didn’t want to give that impression.

I just had a wonderful tour of this facility.  And I was telling some of the folks we couldn’t take the helicopters in because the winds were too strong, so you are definitely in the right business.  (Laughter.)  Obviously there's some wind power here in Iowa that we want to tap.

I want to thank Quinten for the terrific introduction and for sharing his story.  Give Quinten a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Quinten was telling my team this is the first time he's ever spoken in public.  But he looked like a pro to me.  (Applause.) 

I want to thank your mayor, Mayor Allen, for welcoming us here today.  (Applause.)  I also want to thank Representative Dave Loebsack for being here.  Give Dave a big round of applause. (Applause.)  And I know he had to leave early, but I just want to acknowledge somebody you know well -- our outstanding Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack.  (Applause.)  Tom was instrumental in helping transform Newton and he's still got your back.  He is still fighting every single day for every single person in this town, but all across rural America.  And so we're very proud of him.

Now, we all know how difficult these past few years have been for the country.  Iowa has actually done a little better than some other states, but it's still been tough.  And after the worst recession of our lifetimes, it's going to take some time for the economy to fully recover -- more time than a lot of us would like.  And we're still facing some headwinds, like the situation in Europe right now, which is having an impact on our economy. 

But while there's certain economic developments we can't control, there are a bunch of things that we can control.  There are plenty of steps that we can take right now -- steps that we must take right now -- to speed up this recovery and to create jobs, and to restore some of the financial security that a lot of families have lost.  It's within our control to do all of that right now.  But here's the thing -- (applause.)  It's true, we can make that difference. 

The challenge we've got is that too many folks aren't on the same page.  We've got too many of my dear Republican friends in Congress that have been standing in the way of some steps that we could take that would make a difference at the moment.  Either they say they don't want to do anything at all, or they don't want to do it before the election, or they want to double down on some of the policies that didn’t work and helped to get us into this mess in the first place.

And Newton knows something about that -- because Newton lost manufacturing.  Newton lost Maytag.  A lot of the trends that we had seen even before the financial crisis hit, hit Newton first. And so when you hear somebody say we should cut more taxes, especially for the wealthiest Americans, well, Newton, you've been there and you've done that.  We did that -- 2000, 2001, 2003.  When you hear people say that we should cut back more on the rules we put in place for banks and financial institutions to avoid another taxpayer bailout -- well, we tried that.  When people say that we should just wait until the housing market hits bottom and hope that it comes back, hope for the best -- well, that's not an answer for people.  That doesn't make sense. 

We've tried at lot of these ideas for nearly a decade.  It did not work.  We saw manufacturing moving offshore.  We saw a few people do very well, but too many families struggling just to get by -- all before the financial crisis hit.  And the financial crisis made it worse.  So we can't go backwards.  We've got to move forward.  We've got to build an economy where hard work and responsibility pay off, where you can find a good job and own your own home, maybe start your own businesses and give your kids a chance for a better future.  (Applause.)  That's the American way.  That's who we are.  (Applause.)  

So I’ve been pushing Congress to help us get there by passing a few common-sense policies that would strengthen the economy and put more folks to work right now.  We even made a handy "To-Do" list that they can check off.  It's just like the to-do list Michelle gives me, a "honey-do" list.  (Laughter.)  There are only five things on it, on this "To-Do" list, but these are all things we could get done before the election.  We don't have to wait until then.  There are some things that we should put ahead of politics, and one of them is making sure that the economy is moving forward and the recovery is moving forward.  (Applause.)

And like I said, I kept it simple.  There are just five things.  I didn't want to overload Congress with too much at once.  (Laughter.)  But these are all ideas that will make a difference right now and we shouldn't wait for an election to get them done. 

So first up on the list, it makes no sense that we’re actually still giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs and factories overseas.  That doesn’t make sense at all.  That doesn’t make any sense.  (Applause.)  So what I’ve asked Congress to do is end tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas, use that money to cover the moving expenses for companies that are bringing jobs back to the United States of America.  That’s a common-sense approach.  (Applause.)

Second, we’ve asked Congress to give every responsible homeowner -- folks who have been making their mortgage payments  -- the opportunity to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing their mortgage and taking advantage of these historically low rates.  The problem is a lot of folks are having trouble refinancing if their home is underwater, if it’s worth less than their mortgage, and sometimes banks have been pulling back a little bit.  We want to make it easier for people to refinance.  So that’s the second thing because that will create  -- that will put more money in the economy for everybody.  And if you’ve got an extra $3,000 in your pocket, then you’ll go shopping, you’ll go out to a restaurant -- suddenly there’s a lot more money circulating and the economy gets stronger.  So that’s the second thing. 

Two weeks ago I was in Reno, Nevada, with a family -- they got a chance to refinance because of some steps that we had already taken administratively, and it’s making a huge difference in their lives.  And we want all families to have that same opportunity.  

Third thing, instead of just talking about job creators -- you always hear -- every member of Congress has said, we’ve got to help the job creators.  Okay, let’s help them.  Congress should help small business owners who create most of the new jobs in America -- small business owners -- (Applause.)  So what we want to do is give them a tax break for hiring more workers and for paying them higher wages.  Give them an incentive to say, you know what, if on the margins maybe I’m thinking about hiring that extra person, if I get a tax break it makes that person a little bit cheaper to hire, and that can put more of our neighbors and friends back to work.  So that’s a common-sense idea.  (Applause.)

Fourth thing, we have done a whole lot to make sure that those men and women who have served us in Iraq and Afghanistan, that we are serving them as well as they’ve served us -- (applause) -- treating them with the honor and respect that they have earned when they come home.  (Applause.)  So we put together the Post-9/11 GI Bill so they’re able to go back and get some training and skills.  We mobilized the private sector to hire more veterans and give them the private sector incentives to hire more veterans.

But there's another thing we can do.  Congress should create what we're calling a Veterans Jobs Corps, so that we can help communities across America put our returning heroes back to work as police officers and firefighters and park rangers.  Nobody who fought for our country overseas should have to fight for a job when they come back home.  We've still got too much unemployment among our veterans.  (Applause.) 

So those are four simple things.  And the fifth thing is the reason why I'm here today.  The fifth item on my "To-Do" list -- I'm calling on Congress to extend tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year for clean-energy companies like TPI.  (Applause.)  Let's not wait.  Let's do it now.  (Applause.)

Many of you know the story of what's happening here better than I do, but I just want to remind you how far we've come.  Shortly after I took office, I came to Newton -- some of you remember -- and we unveiled an all-of-the-above energy strategy for America.  We said let's produce more oil and gas, but let's also produce more biofuels; let's produce more fuel-efficient cars; let's produce more solar and wind powerand other sources of clean, renewable energy.  And I came to Newton because Newton is helping to lead the way when it comes to building wind turbines. 

And since then, our dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year that I've been in office -- every single year. (Applause.)  America is now producing more domestic oil than any time in the last eight years.  But we're also producing more natural gas, and we're producing more biofuels than any time in our history.  And that’s good for the Iowa economy.  (Applause.) We're laying the foundation for some of our nation's first offshore wind farms.  And since I became President, America has nearly doubled the use of renewable energy, like solar power and wind power -- we've nearly doubled it.  (Applause.) 

So this country is on the path towards more energy independence.  And that’s good for everybody.  It's good for people's pocketbooks; it's good for the environment; it's good for our national security.  We don’t want our economy dependent on something that happens on the other side of the world.  We don’t want every time there's a scare about war or some regime change in the Middle East that suddenly everybody here is getting socked and the whole economy is going down.

And the best thing is, in the process, we're also putting thousands of Americans back to work -- because the more we rely on American-made energy, the less oil we buy from other countries, the more jobs we create here at home, the more jobs we create here in Iowa.

So let's look at the wind industry.  It's so important to Iowa.  This industry, thanks in large part to some very important tax credits, has now taken off.  The state of Iowa now gets nearly 20 percent of all your electricity from wind -- 20 percent.  Overall, America now has enough wind capacity to power 10 million homes.  So this is an industry on the rise.  And as you know, it’s an industry that’s putting people to work.  You know this firsthand.  There are more wind power jobs in Iowa than any other state.  That’s a big deal.  (Applause.)   

And one of these modern windmills has more than 8,000 different parts -- everything from the towers and the blades to the gears, to the electrical switches.  And it used to be that almost all these parts were imported.  Today, more and more of these parts are being made here in America -- right here.  (Applause.)  We used to have just a few dozen manufacturing facilities attached to the wind industry.  Today we have nearly 500 facilities in 43 states employing tens of thousands of American workers -- tens of thousands. 

So we’re making progress.  And you know it better than anybody.  I mean, when I was talking to Quinten and Mark and a whole bunch of the other folks who are working here, they reminded me of the experience at working at Maytag and putting your heart and soul into a company and making a great product, and then, suddenly having that company leave, and how hard that was for families and how hard it was for the community.  But folks made the transition. 

And now, when you look at what's happening here -- 700 to 800 jobs, over $30 million being put back into the community -- this gives folks hope.  It gives people opportunity.  I met some folks who have been in manufacturing for 30 years, but I also met a couple of young folks who were just getting started.  And that's what we're looking for.  Nobody wants a handout.  Nobody wants to get something for nothing.  But if we've got a chance to create energy and create value and put people back to work, why wouldn't we do that? 

So I'm here today because, as much progress as we've made, that progress is in jeopardy.  If Congress doesn’t act, those tax credits that I mentioned -- the ones that helped build up the wind industry, the ones that helped to bring all these jobs to Newton, those tax credits will expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn't do anything. 

If Congress doesn’t act, companies like this one will take a hit.  Jobs will be lost.  That’s not a guess, that’s a fact.  We can’t let that happen.  And keep in mind that -- and this is something Congress needs to understand -- Dave Loebsack understands it, but I want every member of Congress to understand it.  These companies that are putting in orders for these amazing blades, they're making plans now.  They're making decisions now. So if they're cutting back on their orders, if they're not confident that the industry is going to be moving at a fast clip and they start reducing orders here, that affects you.  You can't wait for six months.  You can't wait for eight months.  You can't wait for a year to get this done.  It's got to be done now.  (Applause.)  

So this is a simple thing on Congress's "To-Do" list -- extend these tax credits.  Do it now.  Every day they don't act business grows more concerned that they will not be renewed.  They're worried demand for their products is going down, so they start thinking twice about expanding, more cautious about making new investments.  They start looking overseas.  I was talking to your CEO.  We got an opportunity to branch out, but we want to branch out by making the stuff here and then sending it there.  We don't want to branch out by sending the jobs and the investments over there, and then shipping it back to America.  That doesn't make sense.  (Applause.)  One company that had plans to invest $100 million to build a wind manufacturing plant in Arkansas -- and create hundreds of jobs –- put those plans on hold. 

And by the way, this should not be a partisan issue.  There are several Republican governors –- including the governor of this state -– who are calling on Congress to act.  There are members of Congress in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle –- including your two senators –- who support these tax credits.  And that doesn’t happen much in Washington where Democrats and Republicans say they agree on something.  So if you agree, why haven’t we gotten it done yet? 

This is not just an issue, by the way, for the wind industry.   Some of America’s most prominent companies -– from Starbucks to Campbell’s Soup –- they’re calling on Congress to act because they use renewable energy.  

Sometimes when I think about Washington and Congress -- and I know some of you think the same way -- I don’t get it.  I understand why we wouldn’t get something if we really disagree on something.  And there are some big disagreements:  They want to make big cuts to pay for more big tax cuts for the wealthy.  I disagree with that.  I think we should have a balanced approach  -- cut waste, but make sure that everybody is paying their fair share.  (Applause.)  An issue like that, maybe it can’t get settled before an election because they just have a different approach.  I understand that.  But this, everybody says they agree to or at least a lot of people agree to it. 

So I’m going to need your help.  I need you to get involved. I need you to help get this done.  I need everybody here in Newton -- and I mean everybody -- I don’t just mean folks who work at TPI -- anybody who’s watching, everybody here in Iowa, pick up the phone, send an email, send a tweet, tell Congress, let’s do the right thing.  Tell Congress the story of Newton.  Tell folks why it’s so important to this community.  Tell them we’ve come too far to turn back now.  (Applause.)

It used to be Newton was known for building washers and dryers, used to be Newton was known for Maytag.  And obviously they were a big employer -- thousands of people working in the area.  But back in 2007 when they closed down the operations here, that was a major blow.  And everybody here, if you don’t -- if you weren’t affected personally by it, you were affected indirectly.  Your friends, your neighbors, friends like Quinten were forced to start all over again.  And he didn’t give up.  You didn’t give up.  You kept pushing ahead.  Some of you had to retrain.  Pretty soon after one industry had left, another showed up.  Some of the facilities that Maytag closed were reopened.  So a lot of folks who used to build washers and dryers, now they’re part of the future, building an industry that’s going to make America stronger.  That’s the story of Newton.  That’s the story of America.

So, yes, we’re facing tough times, but we’re getting through them.  We’re getting through them together -- because in this country, just like in Newton, we don’t give up.  We keep moving. We keep moving forward.  And if we work together with a common purpose, we will get this economy back on track -- and remind everybody why America is the greatest country on Earth. 

Thank you, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END             
4:55 P.M. CDT

Statement by the Press Secretary on Student Loan Interest Rate Votes in the Senate

With only 37 days left to stop student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1, Senate Republicans still have not proven that they’re serious about resolving this problem.  For the second time this month, they voted to ask millions of students to pay an average of $1,000 each rather than close a loophole that allows the very wealthy to avoid paying their fair share.  Now is not the time to refight old political battles, and certainly not the time to cut preventive health care measures.  With only a few days left until student loan interest rates double, it’s time to get this done so hard working students get a fair shot at an affordable education.

Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney en route Newton, IA, 5/24/12

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Newton, Iowa

1:18 P.M. CDT

MR. CARNEY:  Good morning, everyone.  I hope you had a restful sleep last night in San Jose.  We are now making our way to Iowa.  Before I take your questions, I just want to mention a couple of things. 

One, I'd like to announce that on Wednesday, May 30th, the President will sign the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank at the White House.  Additional details of the bill signing will be provided when they become available.  I would simply note that the President has said that this important step will help American businesses create jobs here at home and sell their products around the world, all at no cost to taxpayers.

Last year marks the highest level of financing in the Bank's 77-year history, as they supported thousands of U.S. companies, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and brought us closer to the goal the President set of doubling our nation's exports by the end of 2014.  Over the last several months, the President met with business leaders in Washington, visited workers and companies like Boeing, and urged Congress to reauthorize the Bank to keep building on this progress.  We are pleased that Congress was able to get it done.

Q    That's May 30th, you said?

MR. CARNEY:  May 30th, Wednesday. 

Also, as you know, the President is traveling now to TPI Composites in Newton, Iowa, where he will highlight steps that Congress can take right now to create jobs here in America and support American companies and manufacturers, all while continuing to increase clean energy production here at home.

Newton is a city of roughly 16,000 residents located 30 miles -- 35 miles rather, east of Des Moines.  For many years, Maytag, the manufacturer of washers and dryers, had its corporate headquarters in Newton, employing 3,500 people at its peak.  After being acquired by Whirlpool in 2006, plans were made to consolidate manufacturing into existing facilities and the remaining 1,900 employees in Newton lost their jobs. 

But because of the growth in the wind industry, much of it stimulated by the federal Production Tax Credit -- PTC -- TPI Composites, a leading global provider of composite wind blades to major turbine manufacturers, built a plant in Newton in 2008 and today employs more than 700 workers.  As you know, Congress has
-- as part of his congressional "To-Do" list called -- rather the President has -- let me back up.  As part of his congressional "To-Do" list, the President has called on Congress to pass legislation that would extend the Production Tax Credit. 

At my briefing earlier this week -- was that earlier this week -- it was -- with the CEO of Winergy, Terry Royer I think gave a very clear and powerful argument for why this Production Tax Credit needs to be extended, why it is so important to his business and his industry, why it is so vital for American jobs  -- manufacturing jobs here, and the fact that it has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.  So that's what the President will be talking about at TPI Composites.

With that, I will take your questions.

Q    Jay, there have been a number of developments on the Iranian talks.  Can you bring us up to date and what the President's reaction might be so far?

MR. CARNEY:  What I can tell you is that I have no specifics to talk about in terms of the Baghdad consultations.  It is a positive development that there are another round of talks -- there is another round of talks scheduled for June 18th and 19th in Moscow.  There have been concrete ideas exchanged in these negotiations.  And the P5-plus-1 are unified in calling for Iran to demonstrate the peaceful intent of its nuclear program and to fully comply with their international obligations. 

Q    Does the administration feel, though, that a foundation has been laid to perhaps get a breakthrough in Moscow in a few weeks?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, look, we made clear even prior to the initial round of negotiations, as well as prior to the one in Baghdad, and I'll make it clear now that we -- these are not -- we are not -- we did not expect in the prior two rounds breakthrough moments.  What we're looking for is progress.  We're looking for seriousness on the part of the Iranians in terms of addressing the concerns of the international community.  And thus far, those expectations have been met. 

What I said yesterday remains true, which is, even as we have positive steps, the President’s position is that we will judge Iran by its actions, not by its words or simply by the fact that it’s holding meetings.  That’s a positive development, but we need to -- we obviously need to see positive actions.  And I talked about this at length yesterday, but that’s still our disposition.

Q    Jay, does the White House have any details on what the Iranians are putting on the table in these discussions?

MR. CARNEY:  No, I don’t have any details for you on that, and I think this is a process that’s ongoing and we’re not going to read out every meeting in any detail.  I would simply say that we’re now scheduled for an additional round of talks.  The Iranians know about the concerns of the international community. They have felt the impact of the unprecedented sanctions regime. They are aware of the additional sanctions that will be coming online this summer. 

And clearly that provides to them, we believe, an impetus to take these talks very seriously and to then take steps, concrete steps that allay the international community’s concerns about its nuclear ambitions.  So that’s where we are at this point.

Q    Has the President been in touch with Angela Merkel or any other leaders in Europe this week?  Or any sort of sense of how things are going there?

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have at this moment any calls or conversations to read out to you.  If I do, I’ll get back to you.

Q    Jay, the Brussels meeting ended, though, without really any concrete steps.  I mean, does the administration see that as a setback?  And I guess do you also feel, as the President said previously, that there was an emerging consensus on the issue?

MR. CARNEY:  As the President said, there was a consensus that you all heard about coming out of the G8, about the need to have a balanced approach that included a focus on growing the economy and creating jobs in Europe.  And that remains the case. Obviously these are tough issues and the Europeans have a lot of work to do as they wrestle with them.  They’ve made some important decisions and taken some important steps, but more work needs to be done.

As I’ve said and the President has said, this is within the capacity of the Europeans to resolve this crisis.  Our role is to provide advice born out of our own experience and to -- and that’s what the President did during the G8, and that’s obviously what Secretary Geithner has been doing all along.

Q    On Pakistan, there have been two drones in the past couple days.  Do those attacks, given the Pakistanis’ objections to these attacks, undermine progress on the trade routes?

MR. CARNEY:  I’m not in a position to talk about methods and the like.  I can simply say that we -- on the GLOCs, that we’ve been in conversations with and consultations with the Pakistanis on resolving this issue.  The Pakistani government has made clear that they want to resolve it; we obviously do as well.  And we expect that it will be resolved.

Q    Another one on Pakistan.  The doctor who aided the CIA on the OBL raid got a 33-year sentence.  I was wondering if the administration had any reaction to that sentence, and whether there’s any effort to try to encourage the Pakistanis to shorten the sentence or perhaps dismiss it.

MR. CARNEY:  I think Secretaries Panetta and Clinton have made comments about this.  I would simply say that our views have not changed and we continue to see no basis for Dr. Afridi to be held.  I think it's an important point that any assistance provided by anyone in the effort to bring Osama bin Laden to justice was assistance not against Pakistan, but against al Qaeda and against Osama bin Laden.

And we're obviously -- to answer the last part of your question, we've raised the issue with the Pakistani government. We'll continue to have conversations with them about it. 

Q    Is the White House aware of reports that Chen Guangcheng's brother escaped from his village last night?  And are there any efforts to help the rest of the members of his family that are in China?

MR. CARNEY:  I'll have to take that question and check with my colleagues back in Washington. 

Q    Are you in a position to preview a little bit about the grassroots rally tonight?

MR. CARNEY:  I’m sure it will be filled with excitement and energy and enthusiasm.  But I don’t have anything else.

Q    As much excitement and energy as that answer is?  (Laughter.) 

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t know about you guys, but the altitude yesterday or whatever -- I am in -- and obviously the long day and lack of adequate sleep, but I'm dragging a little bit. 

Q    Your espresso machine, you're missing it.

MR. CARNEY:  I wish I had that thing this morning.  The coffee in the hotel did not make the grade.

Q    Jay, in the hearing they had yesterday regarding the Secret Service situation, Director Sullivan said, in his view, it's not a systemic issue, it's not systemic to the culture in the Secret Service.  I'm wondering if the administration agrees with that, and if the President still has confidence in Director Sullivan, given some of the other cases that have emerged.

MR. CARNEY:  The President does have confidence in Director Sullivan.  I think the President himself has made clear that the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of men and women who serve their country by working in the Secret Service conduct themselves in the most professional manner, and many of them put their lives on the line to do so.  So he has -- I mean, I think that would answer your question. 

It is obviously important that the kind of investigation that Director Sullivan undertook take place.  And the President believes Director Sullivan has taken this matter -- has demonstrated that he has taken this matter very seriously.

Q    One more.  Mitt Romney has an ad in which he's critical of the President on China.  I wonder if the administration has any reaction to the ad, and whether the President may be vulnerable on China trade.

MR. CARNEY:  Despite his tough talk now, Governor Romney wasn't always for enforcing trade laws against China.  In his book, Governor Romney attacked the President for standing up for American workers and businesses by enforcing trade law against China, even calling it "bad for the nation and our workers." 

Look, I think you guys know -- those of you who have covered this President -- that he has been extremely consistent and firm when it comes to enforcing trade laws.  You know the record in terms of the number of cases, the increasing number of cases at the WTO.  You know about our efforts to consistently raise with and press the Chinese on the issue of the valuation of their currency.  The President's record I think speaks for itself.  The fact that Governor Romney is criticizing the President from one side despite having occupied the other side of the issue I suppose is not very surprising.

Q    Back on Secret Service.  The fact that there's an additional DHS investigation now underway -- does the White House think that investigation is necessary when the Secret Service is already undergoing its own investigation?

MR. CARNEY:  I think we feel that the processes that have been undertaken have been the right ones.  I don’t have any specific comment on the additional investigation.

Are we good? 

Q    Thank you.

END
1:34 P.M. CDT

President Obama Signs Kansas Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Kansas and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding during the period of April 14-15, 2012. 

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding in the counties of Edwards, Ellsworth, Harper, Hodgeman, Jewell, Kiowa, Mitchell, Osborne, Rice, Rush, Russell, Sedgwick, Stafford, and Sumner.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. 

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Stephen R. Thompson as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. 

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.