WEBVTT 00:10.479 --> 00:12.257 Certainly the protection of the 00:12.257 --> 00:14.146 citizens of Pinellas County , the 00:14.146 --> 00:16.257 property and lives of Pinellas County 00:16.257 --> 00:18.535 is a critical , of critical importance . 00:18.535 --> 00:20.701 Uh , there's a challenge , as you've . 00:20.701 --> 00:22.757 Hello , I'm Adam Tell . I'm the 14th 00:22.757 --> 00:22.579 Assistant secretary of the Army for 00:22.579 --> 00:24.579 Civil Works , and I'm here today in 00:24.579 --> 00:26.746 Pinellas County , Florida . We're here 00:26.746 --> 00:28.579 on a beach where we see American 00:28.579 --> 00:31.239 citizens out enjoying this incredible 00:31.239 --> 00:33.520 recreational facility . The role that 00:33.520 --> 00:35.750 the Corps of Engineers plays on beaches 00:35.750 --> 00:37.750 like this is not to enable American 00:37.750 --> 00:39.750 citizens to get a suntan or to play 00:39.750 --> 00:42.000 beach volleyball or to have their kids 00:42.000 --> 00:44.167 run around in the surf . All those are 00:44.167 --> 00:46.389 great things , but really what we do is 00:46.389 --> 00:48.389 make sure that the beaches that are 00:48.389 --> 00:50.333 critical to prevent storm surge in 00:50.333 --> 00:52.444 communities like Pinellas County here 00:52.444 --> 00:54.667 in Florida are renourished in a regular 00:54.667 --> 00:56.833 cycle . Here in Pinellas County , this 00:56.833 --> 00:59.000 county had a project that was designed 00:59.000 --> 01:01.056 to help protect swaths of the entire 01:01.056 --> 01:00.520 county from storm surge , and we saw 01:00.520 --> 01:02.522 what happened with Hurricane . Ian 01:02.763 --> 01:05.182 Hurricane Helene , Hurricane Milton , 01:05.523 --> 01:07.690 washing storm surge ashore in Pinellas 01:07.690 --> 01:10.002 County . Unfortunately , the policies 01:10.002 --> 01:12.042 that we had in Washington were not 01:12.042 --> 01:14.273 matching the realities here in Pinellas 01:14.273 --> 01:16.873 County and for a decade or so , the 01:16.873 --> 01:19.402 county had tried to untangle this mess 01:19.402 --> 01:21.569 and get it right , but it wasn't until 01:21.569 --> 01:23.624 President Trump came into office and 01:23.624 --> 01:25.680 enabled the US Army to have a can-do 01:25.680 --> 01:27.962 attitude and be in problem solving mode 01:27.962 --> 01:30.018 for counties like this , communities 01:30.018 --> 01:32.184 like this all across America . That we 01:32.184 --> 01:34.184 really did what it took to untangle 01:34.184 --> 01:36.246 this bureaucracy , provide critical 01:36.246 --> 01:38.135 flood protection for this part of 01:38.135 --> 01:39.968 Florida and many other places in 01:39.968 --> 01:42.135 Florida . We had great partners in the 01:42.135 --> 01:44.190 congressional delegation that helped 01:44.190 --> 01:46.246 bridge the gap between the community 01:46.246 --> 01:45.646 and the federal government , played 01:45.646 --> 01:47.966 such an important role , and what we 01:47.966 --> 01:50.765 have today is a celebration of the 01:50.765 --> 01:52.926 coming together of the US Army and 01:52.926 --> 01:55.386 Pinellas County to commit that we will 01:55.386 --> 01:57.805 be delivering storm surge protection 01:57.805 --> 02:00.027 from Pinellas County for a long time to 02:00.027 --> 01:59.505 come .