Sen. Rick Scott delivers an address at Heritage’s 50th Anniversary Leadership Summit.

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If you don't remember anything else I Said today the most important thing is I Want to thank you The I've been in Washington for a little Over four years And the one group That cares about two things Is Heritage They actually really care about good Policy And they really push good policy they Bring up good policy they promote good Policy they help you move policy along They work with your office they do an Unbelievable job with policy That's you and that's great and that's Helpful But if you look at it there's only one Group up here that is really acting both On the policy side and on the action Side [Music] And that's Heritage Foundation Heritage Action So if you if you want to have if you Want to be involved in somebody that Wants to get to the result because you Can have a great policy But if the wrong people get elected if The uh the people up here don't have any Support you're not going to get the Result So my background I'm I'm a business guy And all I've ever thought about is how

Do I get over here I'm always you always Think about you're here and I got to get Over here well you gotta you got to do All of it you can't just do part of it And so thank you for supporting the Heritage Foundation thank you supporting Heritage action because you are the key If we're going to turn the country Around Now I'm going to tell you how bad is up Here But I'm actually very optimistic about Where we can go I believe there's any limit of what we Can accomplish The only limit is us the way limit is Our ability to dream and make things Happen Now my background is I'm one of the most Blessed people in this country I was Born to a single mom we lived in public Housing And I thought my mom was ridiculous when I was a kid She said you're going to make Straight A's You're going to go to church all the Time You're going to be an eagle scout and Get out of the house and start making Some money So when I was seven years old I was Selling TV TV guides door-to-door after School every day until I sold the 50

Copies I got each week I told and I are blessed today's our Anniversary we have two daughters six Grandsons and one granddaughter and I Told my seven I told my seven-year-old Granddaughter seven-year-old grandson The other day I said when I was seven I was working every day selling Something and I actually never stopped I Had to sell potato chips to go to to Boise out camp because I had because my Parents didn't have the money to pay for It I had to sell enough stuff to get There and so I've I've been selling Stuff door to door like that all my life And so I asked my grandson when is he Going to start selling things what was He going to do so everything I all the Books I send to my grandkids it's all About how are you going to build a Business and how were you going to make Sure you're a productive citizen so I Was born to a single mom she told me Thank God you live in America because There's no limitation you can be Anything you want to be So when I was governor I used to go to Schools a lot and I would tell these I Tell these kids I said look I don't know If you know your dad I know about my dad Never men in my whole life I had the tough as Nails mom we lived in Public housing I said how many of you Want to be the governor

And by the end I said we should live in The governor's mansion you get to you Have Secret Service you could meet the President you have dinner at the White House you meet kings and queens you get To eat whatever you want to eat by the End they're all going to be the governor And then I told them because here's what Happens the problem we have is there's So many kids today that have no hope And there's maybe adults that don't Believe there's no hope And so I want to make sure these kids Knew is if I could do it they could do It So I ran for governor I'd been in Business all my life I built companies When I was 40 I had 285 000 employees I Built up the largest hospital company I Built a bunch of manufacturing companies I ran for governor in 2010 because what People forget about is Florida was in The tank We had lost 832 000 jobs in four years More people left the state of Florida Moved in in 2010 we had 1.1 million Homes in foreclosure home prices had Dropped in half That doesn't sound like Florida does it Our Sunshine didn't change Right the people didn't change We have great people in our state we Changed how government worked I ran and Iranian a Republican primary

Against a guy that had been in the Congress for 22 years and sitting in Attorney general and I ran on one issue I'm going to get people back to work My slogan was let's get to work I Promised 700 000 jobs every Economist Said it couldn't happen we actually got 1.7 million jobs And guess how many jobs government Created Zero we actually took the number of State workers from 128 000 to 112 000. We stopped all the tuition increases we Became number one in higher education Top five K-12 education 47-year low in Our crime rate I went through every line Of the budget every year four thousand Lines written purpose if you did make The purpose I vetoed your money Now I've been up here for four years I've I ran to do the exact same thing up Here DC is completely dysfunctional What you see on TV is actually how it Works There is no accountability up here yet There's not an accountability in any Bill we pass nothing None we don't pass budgets We don't review budgets you can't even Get a copy of the budget You can get a copy of a spending bill We don't do budgets I'm on the budget Committee So

So I mean just let's let's take what's Happened just in the last two years it Takes 60 votes in the Senate To pass anything Right we could have fought we're having A great fight right now and I'm I'm Optimistic on the debt ceiling We could have done that in 2021 10 Republicans helped the Democrats Passage pass the debt ceiling with no Structural change no cuts to anything Then we passed an infrastructure bill With more than 10 Republicans it took 10 Took at least 10 Republicans to pass We've passed we passed that and it spent Incrementally For a Rhodes Bridges airports and Seaports this is infrastructure what I Spent per year in Florida for those four Things that's what incrementally we're Going to spend over the next 10 years For the country It was all green New Deal We pass a ship's bill with Republican Support Here's how it's going to work if anybody Here works for Intel Corporation here's How here's how your company is going to Get money you made company made 20 Billion dollars last year CEO 180 Million dollars I'm happy that people make money I'm a Business guy We're going to give them four billion

Dollars to build a plant they committed To build A billion dollar tax credit four billion Tax dollar tax write-off Their CEO came and testified now this is A bill that Republicans help them pass Their CEO came testified said this is an Anti-china Bill oh absolutely I said Right now about 40 of your revenues come Out of China you're going to change Anything you do when you get that all That money no I said when China invades Taiwan will You change what you do absolutely not Horrible bill And for Omnibus so another word Omnibus Bill We could have waited two weeks and Kevin McCarthy would have written that bill Right we could have waited they gave us At 1 30 in the morning the Tuesday Before Christmas because everybody wants To go home for Christmas We could have waited we could have done Another continuing resolution which We've been doing since October 1.7 trillion dollars Three times the size of the Bible We voted on within 48 Hours 7 500 year Marks And it took Republican votes to pass and It did So I decided to run against Mitch McConnell

This has to change we actually have a Republican party we have conservatives All over the country we just don't have Them enough of them in DC People go and campaign for Stuff Their hell been on balance that darn Budget cutting taxes and fees and doing All this stuff to reduce the regulation What happens when they get here is it The water So I I didn't win Right the vote was supposed to be in January got rushed to uh in November so We didn't win but guess what we it's the Start of a new dawn we're going to start Having accountability up here And we're doing more of it more of it Right now we're actually having it at Our lunches we actually talk about Policy So I believe that if we continue to Fight for what we believe in I believe That if we because look the country's in Deep trouble But I believe if we fight and get the Right people elected and help those People when they get elected with policy Ideas And how to help them sell those ideas Through the action side That we'll change the direction of the Country I put out a plan And within 24 hours Joe Biden Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell attacked me

With the same talking point a complete Lie Because guess what up here No one wants a plan Look I won when I was 40 years old I Owed 10 billion dollars You think I could have gone to any bank And said I don't know what I'm going to Do with the money I don't know if I'll get a return but Will you give me some money No But up here they believe they can run For reelection just saying That guy is bad so if I went to the bank And said I don't know what I'm going to Do but the people in this industry that I want to be in are really not doing Very good job so give me a bunch of Money they will laugh at me But that's what we're doing So we have got to have a plan I put out Mine you can go to rescue america.com I Want to tell people they have to agree With my plan put out your own let's Fight about it That's what we're supposed to do up here If you follow the sitter right now we Generally don't have many Amendment Votes We don't even go through committees the Bills come to the floor Generally with no Amendment votes And then we have to do up or down it

Shouldn't work this way so when I ran I Said we're going to run this place You know like you should run it we all Represent our states we're gonna we Should be we'll we should be willing to Fight over what we believe in if I can't Sell it that's my fault If it's different if it's if you should Be doing something different for your State vote that way Because if we all rep if we all did what The Constitution said to represent our States That we wouldn't have 31.5 trillion Dollars worth of debt You know we're gonna if you look at if You look at the CBO score we're going to Get to 50 mid 50s in debt within 10 Years And by the way we don't have any Conversations about that So let me just talk about the debt Ceiling conversation we're having right Now so six of us have been been working Together in the Senate uh since the uh The run against McConnell Um Mike Lee Ron Johnson Mike Braun or Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and I and we've Been every week talking about how are we Going to change the conversation about About the fiscal responsibility of Congress And and once a week we've been meeting With uh house members and so the freedom

Caucus actually put out something that Was logical that they can sell the bites Of the Apple to fix this fiscally is one Do do everything get everything we can To get structural change and cut Everything we can in the with the uh With this debt ceiling fight Then pass real budgets go through have Votes on the budget let's fight over it And then then everything we do we're We're every day how do we get how do we Get to live with live within our means And by the way people say you can't do That we all do it We all do it I walked on the four Billion dollar budget deficit and I Remember I went through all four Thousand lines when I right before I got Elected I put out a budget and they said Well we do this I said well my family Had that problem and we didn't get any Money I said what I said why do we have to do That And people were shocked that somebody Will actually go through the budget and I said by the way this is what our Projected revenues are we will not spend More money than this so we will allocate The dollars looks like every family does That's what we visit that's what we have To do up here it can't be every up here Everybody gets everything they want That we make everybody happy

And that's why we have 31.5 trillion Dollars worth of debt so I'm optimistic I don't know where would where the house Is going to end up but I'm going to do Everything I can to work with Kevin McCarthy and the house to have a Responsible Debt ceiling fight where we have Structural change where we stop this Reckless spending and we claw back every Dime we can we get people back to work I Had a Wall Street I responded to a Wall Street Journal Peace and I was in there yesterday I you Know I started working as a kid why Don't why don't our kids work We ought to work So I've had Bill since I've been up here Um it's called let's get to work as you Expect if you're able-bodied why are you On government programs if you don't want To work Why It made me Think about it would you tell your kids To do that no I'm I'm not gonna I don't Want you to work No I don't think I don't think it's good I'll just support you the rest of your Life and by the way that'd be one thing If you actually had money what if you Know that you don't have the ability to Do it which our federal government Doesn't so thank you for all your

Support I want to thank everybody at Heritage for what they're doing I want To thank you each of you for supporting Heritage because they have a big impact So I think now I'm doing Questions oh yep I've answered most things so I'll try Again Okay Yeah I can repeat your question I can Hear it I'll repeat it Each state is charging let's say roughly Five percent tax maybe not Florida Each state charges like roughly five Percent tax but the federal government Is taking like 40 something percent of An average person's money I don't think that's the way the Founders intended it you're on the Budget committee I'll just let you take It from there So It it We our government should be way smaller So when I build companies you know I Started companies from scratch and so You um what you got to do is you got to Figure out how to reduce your overhead All the time So and then when I was in manufacturing My the expectation was I had to cut my Cost every year to keep my clients I Mean by contract I did It's totally different it's totally

Different in government as soon as I go Which of the governor's office the Expectation here here's the attitude if You don't spend more money Then you must not care about that issue You don't it's not to solve problems I'll give you a story When I so I wrote my whole campaign in 2010 was about getting people back to Work So all I've done with my life is I Bought screwed up businesses and I fixed Them up and I sold them that's how I Made money So I started going agency by agency I'll Just give you one story I go to the agency that does Unemployment Okay it's right after I got elected I Said How's it work they said Governor We're open six days a week because Unemployed Floridians don't have enough Time to apply for unemployment during The week It gets better they're dead serious by The way They said I said I read this article That you could be in prison and continue To get your unemployment benefits until They run out well yeah I said I said you realize we run the Prison system We know who's in prison I said if you found somebody that that

Was that was got a job and kept their Benefits would you like ask for the Money back no We've no we wouldn't do that I said if You go on employment do you have to do Anything they said yeah we have to apply For five jobs a week I said how's that Going we don't enforce it I said let me ask you a question what is Your purpose Most of these probably it's not the People that work in government it's a Leadership in government I said what is your purpose they said Our purpose is to get everybody we can In Florida on unemployment Because the state only pays 26 weeks Thank God from Barack Obama he gave us Another 73 weeks for free because we Don't have to pay for that Right and that's 99 weeks eventually our Economy will turn around if we can get Everybody we can on employment That was the attitude So The I I said okay so we're going to Enforce the law and we're not going to Allow people commit fraud so when I left There were 22 million people in Florida There was about let's less than 100 Million people on our one million people On unemployment when I got started and When I left there was 61 000. All we did

All we did was we went to everybody Unemployment and say what why are you on Unemployment And we work to find everybody a job So government should the way we should Think about government we should make Government smaller Every year as your taxes should go down Every year So just I mean as an example even since 2019 through this pandemic our Population grew by 1.8 percent Well shouldn't your you your taxes go Down by one eight one point eight Percent then I mean we should share the same unless It's some massive problem we've solved Most problems and by the way here's how Bad the numbers are populations of the 2019 pre-covered is up 1.8 percent how Much is Biden's budget up 55 percent So so I I mean I think what we should Expect is every tax and every fee we Could cut or get rid of we should do it Every year but I can tell you what the Most important thing we can do the taxes Are important it's the regulatory Environment and the permitting So of all the things I did as governor Of Florida to get more jobs it was one I Asked for them number two is I cut 20 of Regulations Right we didn't need them and I

Streamlined the permitting so when I Became governor of Florida you were Going to get we have five water Management districts you were entitled To a permit but we made sure you hired a Lobbyist and a lawyer before you could Get it And the average time to get a permit you Were entitled to get Was two years By the time I left it was under five Days Because you were entitled to it But no it shouldn't it should be five Percent forty percent it should be I Mean we should cut it every year What else So I'm so I'm so okay I'm supposed to do The mic I follow the rules whatever the rules Are Hello Can I hold it So we know when people run for Congress Which is not easy these people are Filled with Infinity and real commitment and real Intention to do good and then what Happens in Washington they get Compromised somehow is that the Lobbyists is it the Chinese is everybody In Washington being paid off by somebody To keep things exactly the way they are Because that's what it seems like you

Know you don't call me out I won't call You out and nothing changes what could Be done about that we know Biden is one Example but beyond that what else is Going on there So here's where I think about it first Off People come to you guys for money right All these politicians coming to you for Money how many would you hire So whose fault is it Theirs are yours What are your standards And then if you help somebody Did you if you if think about it like a Job interview I when I ran I gave people a plan I had A seven step plan And then I told people constantly if I Did it Right and so I told people here's what Here's what I'm going to do if you hire Me And if I and here's how I'm doing Why don't we do that as donors say okay What are you gonna do Write it down and say okay so this is Exactly what you're going to do and I Want to report card on how you did Because they're going to come back to You for money Are you going to give money if they Don't do it Do you do if they don't do other stuff

In your life if they say they're going To cut your grass they don't cut it you Give them money It's us We've got to have higher standards now Look there's unbelievable pressure to go Along Let me show you how tell you how the Money Follows in the Senate So in a sinner race there's three Pockets of money There's what you can raise for a Campaign you can raise sixty six hundred Dollars thanks to buying inflation went Up sixty six hundred dollars per person Per cycle Then the Democrats have a senate Committee Republicans have a sick Committee and about if you look at the What they raised they can be involved in About six races and they can spend about 15 million race if you're good Right you can raise 10 to 25 million Dollars for your campaign account Schumer McConnell each have super Pacs These super Pacs will have 500 million Dollars in them now the negative and and Any and people can give whatever they Want to those no no caps there's caps on The student committee Now they have to pay more for the ads And stuff like that but they'll give you A race by racing 10 Schumer's pack spent 65 million dollars

Against me There's no way in God's green earth I Could raise 65 million dollars So now When if the money flows that way Where do you think your Allegiance is Right you're going to vote against You're going to vote against the person That gives you the money to win your Race It's pretty hard to do when they might Spend 30 or 40 or 50 million dollars in Your race So so there's a lot of pressure that way And there's a lot of pressure you know Like the first thing to tell you is you Know get along get you know you already Don't Don't Rock the Boat I remember I Got my first job at a a grocery store And it was unionized I was I grew up in Kansas City Missouri and the first thing They told me is don't work that hard You know we all need to make sure we all Have a job here so I mean there's a lot There's lots of pressure to go along but The way I look at it is I mean the uh I didn't get help I didn't get help by Any uh by McConnell's pack in 18 Um so I mean my job is if I if I if I Don't raise my own money it's my fault So and that's why I don't have to I'm Not worried about I I can vote in the best interest of my

State you don't have to worry about what Somebody else is doing Yep What else I think I'm supposed to do Based on the mic are we done are we done Okay all right okay let me just finish With the last thing thank you thank you Thank you thank you for what you thank You for supportive Heritage Foundation Thank you all the employees at Heritage Foundation thanks to everybody for Jessica everybody at the uh at uh Heritage action because you will make You are making a difference and the this Is our opportunity Peter Drucker said if You remember what Peter Drucker said the Best way to predict the future is Created we have the opportunity to Create the country we want if we put Enough effort into it thank you very Much have a good day bye-bye