English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama on Boosting Travel and Tourism.webm

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The President:
Hello, everybody!

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(applause)

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I am glad to be at Disney World!

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(applause)

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The Magic Kingdom.

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This is outstanding.

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Well, let me begin by
thanking Ruben for that

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extraordinary introduction.

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And he was too bashful -- maybe
he's not supposed to do this.

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I will do it.

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His restaurant is called Zaza.

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(applause)

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New Cuban diners.

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So everybody check it out.

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And I told him, he was -- on
the way out, he was wondering,

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I don't know, I
don't do this a lot.

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He's a natural.

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(laughter)

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We're going to have to
run him for something.

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(laughter)

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But thank you so much
for taking the time.

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It is great to be here.

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It is rare that I get to do
something that Sasha and Malia

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envy me for.

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(laughter)

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That doesn't happen very often.

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Maybe for once they'll
actually ask me at dinner

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how my day went.

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(laughter)

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And I confess, I am
excited to see Mickey.

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It's always nice to meet a
world leader who has bigger

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ears than me.

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(laughter)

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I want to acknowledge the
presence of one of Florida's

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outstanding mayors, the mayor
of Orlando -- Buddy Dyer is

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in the house.

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(applause)

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We've got two outstanding
members of my Cabinet --

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Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar --

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(applause)

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-- and Commerce
Secretary John Bryson.

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(applause)

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Because they're focused on
what brings us here today,

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and that's creating jobs
and boosting tourism.

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You just heard what a huge
difference tourism makes for

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small businesses like Ruben's.

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Every year, tens of millions of
tourists all over the world come

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to visit America.

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Makes sense.

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You got the greatest country on
Earth -- people want to come.

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As folks in Orlando know,
that's good for our economy.

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It means people are renting cars
and they're staying in hotels

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and they're eating at
restaurants and they're

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checking out the sights.

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It means people are
doing business here

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in the United States.

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In 2010, nearly 60 million
international visitors helped

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the tourism industry
generate over $134 billion.

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Tourism is the number-one
service that we export.

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Number one.

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And that means jobs.

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More money spent by more
tourists means more businesses

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can hire more workers.

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This is a pretty simple formula.

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And that's why we're all here
today -- to tell the world that

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America is open for business.

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We want to welcome you, and to
take concrete steps to boost

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America's tourism industry so
that we can keep growing our

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economy and creating more
jobs here in Florida and

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all across the country.

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Now, here's the good news: We've
got the best product to sell.

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I mean, look at where we are.

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We've got the most entertaining
destinations in the world.

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This is the land of
extraordinary natural wonders --

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from the Rocky Mountains
to the Grand Canyon;

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from Yellowstone to Yosemite.

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This is the land where
we do big things,

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and so have
incredible landmarks,

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like the Golden Gate Bridge
and the Empire State Building;

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the Hoover Dam;
the Gateway Arch.

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This is the land of iconic
cities and all their sights

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-- from Independence Hall in
Philadelphia to Faneuil Hall

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in Boston; from the Space Needle
in Seattle to the skyline of my

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hometown in Chicago.

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It's a nice skyline,
for those of you who

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have never been there.

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(laughter)

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All right, a couple of
Chicagoans back there.

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(laughter)

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But I'm here today
because I want more

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tourists here tomorrow.

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I want America to be the
top tourist destination

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in the world.

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(applause)

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The top tourist
destination in the world.

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(applause)

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And this is something that we've
been focused on for some time.

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Two years ago, I signed a bill
into law called the Travel

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Promotion Act.

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It had broad support of both
Democrats and Republicans.

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And as you know, that
doesn't always happen.

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(laughter)

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And it set up a new nonprofit
organization called Brand USA.

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Its job is to pitch America as a
travel destination for the rest

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of the world to come to visit.

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You guys see advertising
for other countries,

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other destinations, here in
the United States, right?

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Well, we've got to
do the same thing,

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so that when people are thinking
about where they want to travel,

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where they want to
spend their vacation,

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we want them to come here.

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And so that's already in place,
but we've got to do more.

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So today, I directed my
administration to send me

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a new national tourism strategy
focused on creating jobs.

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And some of America's most
successful business leaders --

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some who are here today
-- have signed up to help.

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We're going to see how
we can make it easier

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for foreign tourists to
find basic information

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about visiting America.

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And we're going to see how we
can attract more tourists to

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our national parks.

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We want people visiting
not just Epcot Center,

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but the Everglades, too.

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The more folks
who visit America,

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the more Americans
we get back to work.

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It's that simple.

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Now, just as we do a better
job of marketing our tourist

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destinations, we've also got to
make it easier for tourists to

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make the visit.

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There's a good reason why it's
not easy for anybody to get a

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visa to come to America.

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Obviously, our national
security is a top priority.

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We will always protect our
borders and our shores and

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our tourist destinations from
people who want to do us harm.

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And unfortunately,
such people exist,

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and that's not going to change.

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But we also want to get
more international tourists

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coming to America.

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And there's no reason
why we can't do both.

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We can make sure that we're
doing a good job keeping America

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secure while at the same time
maintaining the openness that's

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always been the hallmark of
America and making sure that

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we're welcoming travelers
from all around the world.

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So one step we're taking is the
expansion of something called

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the Global Entry Program.

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It's a program that protects our
borders and makes life easier

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for frequent travelers to
and from the United States.

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Now, getting into the
program requires an

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extensive background check.

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But once you're in, once you've
proven yourself to be a solid

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individual who is coming here
for business or recreation

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purposes, instead of going
through long lines at

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immigration, we can scan your
passport, your fingerprints,

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and you're on your way.

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So it's a great example of how
we're using new technology to

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maintain national security and
boost tourism at the same time.

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And we're now going to make
it available to almost all

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international travelers
coming to the United States.

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If they're willing to submit
themselves to the background

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checks necessary, we can make
sure that we're facilitating

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their easy travel into
the United States.

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(applause)

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There are some additional steps,
though, that we can take.

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Right now, there are 36
countries around the world

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whose citizens can visit America
without getting a tourist visa.

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After they go online they
get pre-cleared by Homeland

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Security, and there's only one
thing they have to do and that's

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book a flight.

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And that's been a great
boost for tourism.

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Over 60 percent of our
visitors don't require a visa,

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and in most cases that's
because of this program.

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Today, I'm directing my
administration to see if

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we can add more countries to it.

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(applause)

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We want more folks to have
an easier time coming to

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the United States.

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And let's also realize
that in the years ahead,

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more and more tourists are
going to come from countries

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not currently in this program --
countries with rapidly growing

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economies, huge populations,
and emerging middle classes;

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countries like China and India,
and especially important here

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in Florida, Brazil, a huge
population that loves to

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come to Florida.

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(applause)

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But we make it
too hard for them.

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More and more of their people
can now afford to visit America

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who couldn't come before, and in
fact, over the next four years,

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the tourists traveling from
those countries we expect to

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more than double.

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But we want them
coming right here.

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We want them spending money
here, in Orlando, in Florida,

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in the United States of America,
which will boost our businesses

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and our economy.

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So today, I'm directing the
State Department to accelerate

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our ability to process visas
by 40 percent in China and in

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Brazil this year.

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We're not talking about five
years from now or 10 years

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from now -- this year.

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(applause)

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We've already made incredible
progress in this area.

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We've better staffed our
embassies and our consulates.

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We've streamlined services
with better technology.

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Waiting times for
a visa are down.

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But applications keep on going
up -- they are skyrocketing.

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People want to come here.

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And China and Brazil are the two
countries which have some of the

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biggest backlogs.

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And these are two of the
countries with some of the

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fastest-growing middle classes
that want to visit and have

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disposable income -- money that
they want to spend at our parks

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and our monuments and at
businesses like Ruben's.

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So that's what this is all
about: telling the world that

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America is open for business;
making it as safe and as simple

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as possible to visit; helping
our businesses all across the

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country grow and create
jobs; helping those

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businesses compete and win.

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Ultimately, that's how we're
going to rebuild an economy

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where hard work pays off, where
responsibility is rewarded,

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and where anybody can
make it if they try.

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That's what America
is all about.

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That's part of the reason why
people want to come here,

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because they know our history.

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They know what the American
Dream has been all about.

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And a place like Disneyland
represents that quintessentially

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American spirit.

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This image is something that's
recognized all around the world,

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and this weather -- (laughter)
-- is something that people

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appreciate all around the world,
including the northern parts of

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this country.

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(laughter)

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So we want everybody to come.

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All who are watching, Disney
World and Florida are open for

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business, but we want
people all around the

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world to know the same.

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And we are going to do
everything we can to make sure

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that we're continuing to boost
tourism for decades to come.

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Thank you very much, everybody.

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God bless you.

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God bless the United
States of America.