Washington, DC - "Tony, thank you so much for that very kind and generous introduction. I am so honored to be included amongst this group of extremely distinguished representatives – corporate leaders from Airbus, from OneWeb, leaders from the state of Florida – who I know personally are transforming your state in terms of innovation and economy. And I came from Washington, along with a delegation led by Secretary Ross, to demonstrate the Trump Administration’s commitment to both the innovation and the economy. I can think of no better example of significant contributions to both the innovation and economy than this venture by Airbus and OneWeb.
"This weekend we’re looking at innovation in terms of space exploration, but as a native Floridian, I can tell you innovation – the type of innovation that OneWeb is promoting – will affect our daily lives. Satellites better enable us to track weather systems, which, you know, having grown up in Florida, I know that we all can use a heads up when that next rainstorm is coming in. And as many of the prior speakers have mentioned, this is a venture which is going to create several hundred jobs directly, a few thousand jobs indirectly; and, of course, we in the Trump Administration are committed to that as well. We want to enable the types of rules, regulations, and policies that will allow companies like Airbus and OneWeb to come together to become a growing part of our economy.
"At the State Department, it’s our goal to promote diplomacy and connectivity, and we’re so excited that digital connectivity is being synonymous with reaching out to global populations. I love the OneWeb video that was shown because it really goes to the heart of what we do at the State Department. We want to break down barriers for communications amongst people all over the world, and I can think of no better place than my home state of Florida to house this venture.
"So to the employees at OneWeb, we look forward to partnering with you in your successes, and I look forward to coming back and hearing about all the great things that you’re doing. Thank you again to Airbus, to OneWeb, to the great representatives from the state of Florida to be able to share my thoughts with you today."
