00:00The first thing both of you mentioned were the lives that were affected by this.
00:06Whenever there's a disaster or a catastrophe, the first thing we focus on is saving lives,
00:11prioritizing those lives every minute, every hour counts.
00:15And that's what Chief Nim Kidd focused on, what the local officials focused on, what the state focused on.
00:21But also what your administration did on the very day of the flood.
00:25You know, the Coast Guard literally saving lives right and left.
00:28And we cannot thank you enough for deploying the Coast Guard, deploying the resources.
00:35And as you pointed out, immediately when I made a request for a disaster declaration, you and your administration granted that.
00:42This is the fastest that I'm aware of, of any administration responding so swiftly, so collaboratively, so coordinated as we have in response to this.
00:52Thank you for that major disaster declaration.
00:54It ensures that we're going to be able to more effectively respond and help rebuild.
01:00And let me make one thing clear about the Hunt store.
01:03We will rebuild the Hunt store very quickly right here in Hunt, Texas.
01:09Thank you, Governor.
01:10Also, I, too, want to thank all the first responders.
01:13And we have many of our legislators over here.
01:16I want to thank them for stepping up and being here constantly, as well as state officials who join with us.
01:24And as we've said before, we remain committed.
01:29We're here for the long run.
01:30We will maintain our operations to search and find everybody that we can, as well as ensure that we're going to rebuild this community, from Hunt to Cap Mystic to Kerrville, down below.
01:44We are committed, for the long run, not just to rebuild, but to rebuild in a better way.
01:49I have received a lot of detail, even from the president himself, about ways that we can do a better job in the rebuilding process.
01:56And we will put all of that to work.
01:58We have a special session beginning in 10 days when we're going to start working legislatively to make sure that we address every challenge that the people of this entire region, including the Central Texas region,
02:11make sure we help rebuild the families and communities of all of them.
02:15But we would not have been able to do that the way that we have had it not been for you, your commitment to Texas.
02:23I know you love Texas.
02:24And Texas loves you.
02:26We appreciate you showing up.
02:28And because of your swift and effective response, we're better positioned to deliver on all those commitments than ever before.
02:35Thank you, Governor.
02:36That's very nice.
02:37Thank you very much.
02:37Appreciate it.
02:39Christy, would you like to say something?
02:41Fantastic job you've done.
02:42Well, Mr. President, I just want to thank you for coming and being here today and to our First Lady as well.
02:48Your heart is evident for the people of Texas.
02:51And by you coming here and spending the day and taking the time to spend so much time with the families, I've spoken with many of them over the last several days.
03:00And they're so grateful for you that not only are you here to come and walk alongside of them, but to spend time with them and to deploy resources to help support the governor and his team,
03:11I think, I think, has meant the world, not just to those that are making the decisions, but to all of those down to the ones who have lost their children and those who are still looking for their children.
03:21So that's the hardest part about the situation we have here today, sir, is that when you have a disaster like this, I believe this is an unprecedented event.
03:30I haven't heard, in my knowledge, know of a flood that happened like this before.
03:37So, you know, in our experience, we know that it's at least a one-in-1,000-year flood that hit this area in an unprecedented way.
03:44And emergencies and disasters are always locally executed, the state manages them, and then the federal government comes in and supports that.
03:55What we are doing here, sir, is empowering the state and the local officials to make the best decisions for their people, because they know their people, they know their community, and when they ask, then we come in and support them.
04:09So thank you for being a president who trusts people, who lets them use the responsibility that they have to make the best decisions for their families, for their communities, and we come in and we support them in that.
04:20So I can't thank you for helping us making such quick decisions for Nim and his team, and the governor is absolutely fantastic.
04:28Every time I picked up the phone and was here, the lieutenant governor was available, the entire team, the Coast Guard and the Border Patrol were absolute amazing resources on the ground immediately.
04:42And we've had over 700 different FEMA employees and volunteers here as well that are engaged.
04:48And so all of your assets that you have as a federal government are deployed to help this community restore but also to heal.
04:55I would just ask everybody in the room to remember to love on each other, too, and to tell stories and memories.
05:06That's how the greatest fear when you lose someone in your life is that people will forget them.
05:11So tell the stories that you knew and write them down and remember them, because nobody wants their loved one that they don't have anymore to ever be forgotten.
05:21Thanks, Christy. Appreciate it.
05:23I can't thank you enough. When I called you on Friday, you said, whatever you need.
05:28When I called the secretary's office, she called me within 15 minutes and said, whatever you need, and then she came here this weekend.
05:34I've never seen such a quick response and such a focus on delivering for the people.
05:38But importantly, I want to thank all of my colleagues in the House sitting right over there.
05:42Every single one of them called me personally.
05:45Every single one of them reached out to this team that the governor was just talking about, the team effort to deliver for the people of Texas.
05:51They're here now, not here at a microphone.
05:54They're here just to be here, because they believe in this state, and they believe in what you're doing as the president, and they believe in what the governor is doing.
06:01And importantly, this morning, I was at a press conference for the Community Foundation of the Hill Country,
06:06which has raised over $30 million from the great people of this state and from around the country.
06:14And they sent checks out today of $5 million to people in this community to help them with cash for people, for small businesses, first responders, and all the people that need help to reunite.
06:25And the final point I'll just say, for all of the media clamoring to ask that ridiculous first question and try to point fingers,
06:32the governor said it best when he said that pointing fingers is for losers.
06:35This state is about looking forward, and we'll figure out how to make our systems the best they can be.
06:39But importantly, when you see 26 feet of water rising a foot per minute, don't go around pointing fingers.
06:45The people in this community rallied around to help people, and that's the enduring image.
06:49Those little girls from Camp Mystic who were singing hymns as they watched the damage as they left that camp coming out of there.
06:56And that's who the people of Texas are, and I thank you, Mr. President.
