REMARKS

Remarks by Vice President Pence in a Coronavirus Briefing with Cruise Line Executives and Port Directors | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
HEALTHCARE

Issued on: March 7, 2020

Port Everglades Administration Building
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

GOVERNOR DESANTIS: Good afternoon. I want to welcome the Vice President to Florida, down in a part of the state where there’s a lot of great stuff going on, in Broward County. I also want to thank the President for all his support, particularly on some of the travel restrictions that I think have made it easier for us to monitor folks who have been traveling, particularly in parts in Asia. And really appreciate the Vice — this is the second time he’s been in Florida just since he’s been leading the task force. So we really appreciate his support.

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So those are prudent steps that people can take and that will help our efforts here as we work to contain the spread of the virus. But thanks again for coming. We appreciate your leadership.

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THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Governor, and I want to I want to thank you for bringing together leaders in the cruise line industry for an important discussion about how we keep your passengers, your crew, the communities they come from, and our country safe.

I know the President is grateful for the spirit of collaboration represented in this room and I look very much forward to our discussion about how — how we help you make this industry safer.

Governor, I want to thank you for your leadership. I’m also very grateful for Senator Rick Scott, Senator Marco Rubio, and their swift efforts in passing the more than $8 billion in funding for America’s response to the coronavirus.

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Now let me just speak to the coronavirus itself. And thanks to the decisive leadership of President Trump, the strong partnership with state leaders, local health officials, the American people deserve to know that the risk of contracting the coronavirus for the average American remains low.

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But I want to promise you: Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re going to continue to bring the full resources of the federal government to bear in confronting the spread of the coronavirus. And we look forward to the support and assistance of this industry, in particular, in the days ahead, as we put the health and wellbeing of America first.

So with that, I thank you very much and I look forward to our conversation.

Adam?

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes. Adam Goldstein, Chairman of the Cruise Lines International Association.

Mr. Vice President, Acting Secretary Wolf, Governor, Senators, Mayors, other public officials: Thank you very much for the opportunity to meet. Thank you for the President’s leadership on this important public issue.

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Mr. Vice President, we look forward — all of us who are here today — to having the meaningful discussion that you reflected on. Thank you for this opportunity.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Adam.

END