We greatly appreciate you being here.
I'm delighted to welcome Tom Rutledge, Chairman
and CEO of Charter Communications --
a great company -- to the White House.
I'm also very honored that my friend, Texas Governor
Greg Abbott -- my good friend and supporter --
we love you -- is here with us today.
Very appropriate.
He's done a fantastic job in Texas, and we had
a previous governor who did a very good job, right?
Governor Abbott: Right.
(Laughter.)
The President: Right.
He's around here someplace.
Standing right over there.
I'm very excited about the announcement we are about
to make.
First, some background.
Five years ago, Charter Communications was
a struggling company that had slowly emerged from bankruptcy.
Today, thanks to hard work and unbelievable
leadership, truly great leadership, it's
the fastest-growing television, Internet,
and voice company in the nation.
I would say that's a good job.
Not bad.
Tom Rutledge and his team turned the company around,
and they did it very quickly.
They created a culture of customer service and excellence.
And, most importantly, they brought back many
jobs that had been shipped overseas -- something
that's happening far too often, but we're changing that.
That is very good for certain businesses
but not good for the United States, not good for America,
not good for our people.
When American workers win, America as a country wins.
We want to have companies that thrive and hire
and grow right here in America.
And we want them to use American workers
and American citizens.
Today I am thrilled to announce that Charter Communications
has just committed to investing $25 billion -- with a B,
$25 billion -- you're sure that's right, right?
(Laughter.)
With a B, right -- $25 billion here in the United States,
and has committed further to hiring 20,000 American workers
over the next four years.
Charter has also committed to completely end its offshore
call centers -- that is such a big deal --
and to base 100 percent of its call centers here
in the United States -- all American jobs.
This is great for their workers, it's great
for the customers, and it's certainly great
for the United States.
And you watch, it will be one of your really
fantastic decisions.
Tom will be opening a brand new beautiful call
center in McAllen, Texas -- you know McAllen,
right, good place?
Governor Abbott: Great place.
The President: I knew you would say that --
(laughter)
-- where they will create 600 new American jobs.
Charter's announcement follows a number
of American businesses -- from Exxon to Intel
to Lockheed to Boeing to many others -- that have
recently announced billions of dollars
in investment and thousands of jobs coming into
the United States following my election victory.
And by the way, thank you for your support.
The Governor was a great supporter -- a great supporter.
I want to thank you for -- you've done a fantastic job.
We're embracing a new economic model --
the American Model.
We're going to massively eliminate job-killing
regulations -- that has started already,
big league -- reduce government burdens,
and lower taxes that are crushing American
businesses and American workers all over this country.
And we are really in the process of announcements
and you're going to see thousands and thousands
and thousands of jobs, of companies, and everything
coming back into our country.
And they're coming in far faster than even I had projected.
So, we're honored.
I'd like to have Tom Rutledge say a few words
about what he's doing and about his great company.
And after that, you guys can go back to healthcare.
(Laughter.)
Mr. Rutledge: Thank you, Mr. President.
You know, it's a great pleasure to announce these jobs.
And Charter has been insourcing jobs for the
last five years, and as a result of that, our company
has performed tremendously.
Using high-skilled, high-quality workers
actually saves money.
It saves money.
As you know as a builder, if you do the job right
the first time, it's a lot less expensive than redoing it.
And we found that in the service business,
and we found that we can actually do better with
high-quality, high-skilled American workers.
And so we've been doing that, and our company was so
successful that we were able to recently do a huge transaction
with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks,
and put together this tremendous company.
And as part of that, we're going to insource all
the calls that Time Warner Cable outsourced --
50 percent of their calls were leaving the country.
So we're going to bring all that back, and create
20,000 new jobs.
And we're very excited about that.
And we're also excited about the opportunity,
in the right regulatory climate and right tax
climate, to make major infrastructure investments.
And we're going to spend $25 billion.
We're committed to spending that predicated
on the kind of regulatory consistency and efficiency
that we expect as a country.
And so we're looking forward to the opportunity
to create these jobs and to build this infrastructure.
And Kip Mayo, who manages our call centers,
would like to tell you what we're going to do
in the McAllen specifically.
Ms. Mayo: So with the opening of the McAllen
center, it gives us the capacity to be able
to create over 600 good-paying jobs.
That allows us to insource work that is currently
performed through third parties.
The McAllen center will be our first fully
bilingual call center.
It will allow customers who prefer to communicate
with us in Spanish to do so, and we will provide
them with service and technical support.
We have already hired a general manager -- very qualified woman
who is bilingual, and is also, coincidentally,
a native of McAllen.
We expect to open the call center next month,
and we've hired over 100 employees already,
and they will be trained and they will be ready to assist
our customers in just a few short weeks.
So, this is a very big step for us in our
strategy and our plans over the course of the
next few years to create jobs and to bring work
in from overseas and back to the United States.
Mr. Rutledge: And they're good jobs, too.
And they're high-paid jobs.
They have pensions.
They have healthcare.
They're the kind of jobs people want -- they're
good, solid middle-class jobs, and we're proud
to make them available.
The President: That's great.
Thank you very much, Tom.
Fantastic job with the company.
Unbelievable job.
I'd like to just close it out by asking my friend,
Governor Greg Abbott to say a few words, and he'll
talk about the company.
But he's very proud of what they've been doing in Texas.
So am I.
So, Greg.
Governor Abbott: Sure.
Well, first, I'm proud of you.
We have a President who's living up to his campaign
promise, and that is to create more jobs,
but also to create more jobs by returning jobs from overseas
back to the United States.
I want to thank Charter Communications for the great
job you're doing, but also for expanding,
in the great state of Texas.
We're happy that this first tranche of your
expansion is in the Rio Grande Valley, in McAllen, Texas.
You talked about the tax environment,
the regulatory environment.
Texas is number one in the nation for job creation
because of the pro-business climate
that we have because we have the right workforce to take care
of the needs of companies like Charter Communications.
So, this is a win-win.
It's a win for The President.
It's a win for Charter.
It's a win for the great state of Texas.
The country is better today because of the jobs
that will be created tomorrow in McAllen, Texas.
The President: Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thanks, Greg.
Governor Abbott: Thank you, President.
The President: Thank you.
Congratulations.
Thank you.