1 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:06,900 The President: Good morning.

2 00:00:06,900 --> 00:00:09,634 Over the past few days, I've met with Republicans and Democrats

3 00:00:09,634 --> 00:00:12,467 from both houses of Congress in an effort to reopen

4 00:00:12,467 --> 00:00:15,133 your government and remove the dangers of default

5 00:00:15,133 --> 00:00:16,634 from our economy.

6 00:00:16,634 --> 00:00:19,766 It's a positive development that House Republicans have agreed

7 00:00:19,766 --> 00:00:22,467 on the need to avoid the economic consequences of not

8 00:00:22,467 --> 00:00:24,866 meeting our country's commitments because

9 00:00:24,866 --> 00:00:27,434 once the debt ceiling is raised and the shutdown is over,

10 00:00:27,434 --> 00:00:29,800 there's a lot we can accomplish together.

11 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,300 We've created seven-and-a-half million new jobs

12 00:00:32,300 --> 00:00:34,200 in the past three-and-a-half years.

13 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,066 Now let's create more.

14 00:00:36,067 --> 00:00:39,000 We've cut our deficits in half over the past four years,

15 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,600 now let's do it in a smarter, balanced way that lets us

16 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,765 afford to invest in the things we need to grow.

17 00:00:45,766 --> 00:00:48,933 The truth is, there's a lot we can agree on, but one thing

18 00:00:48,933 --> 00:00:51,966 we have to agree on is that there's no good reason

19 00:00:51,966 --> 00:00:55,899 anyone should keep suffering through this shutdown.

20 00:00:55,900 --> 00:00:58,000 I met with some really innovative small business owners

21 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,866 on Friday who've already lost contracts, lost customers,

22 00:01:01,865 --> 00:01:05,400 and put hiring on hold because the pain of this Repbulican

23 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,033 shutdown has trickled down to their bottom lines.

24 00:01:09,033 --> 00:01:11,367 It's hurting the very citizens that our government

25 00:01:11,367 --> 00:01:13,033 exists to serve.

26 00:01:13,033 --> 00:01:15,900 That's why a growing number of reasonable Republicans say

27 00:01:15,900 --> 00:01:18,600 it should end now.

28 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,167 And it wouldn't be wise, as some suggest, to just kick

29 00:01:21,167 --> 00:01:24,099 the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple of months,

30 00:01:24,100 --> 00:01:26,933 and flirt with the first ever intentional default right

31 00:01:26,933 --> 00:01:30,667 in the middle of the holiday shopping season because damage

32 00:01:30,667 --> 00:01:33,132 to America's sterling credit rating wouldn't just cause

33 00:01:33,133 --> 00:01:36,667 global markets to go haywire, it would become more expensive

34 00:01:36,667 --> 00:01:40,266 for everyone in America to borrow money.

35 00:01:40,267 --> 00:01:44,200 Students paying for college, newlyweds buying a home,

36 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,067 it would amount to a new tax, a Republican default tax,

37 00:01:48,067 --> 00:01:51,333 on every family and business in America.

38 00:01:51,333 --> 00:01:54,167 It doesn't have to be this way, it's not supposed

39 00:01:54,167 --> 00:01:56,033 to be this way.

40 00:01:56,033 --> 00:01:59,233 Manufacturing crises to extract massive concessions isn't

41 00:01:59,233 --> 00:02:02,133 how our democracy works and we have to stop it.

42 00:02:02,133 --> 00:02:05,733 Politics is a battle of ideas, but you advance those ideas

43 00:02:05,733 --> 00:02:09,700 through elections and legislation, not extortion.

44 00:02:09,700 --> 00:02:11,800 I know you're frustrated by what you see in your nation's

45 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,500 capital right now, but because it's easy to get lost in,

46 00:02:15,500 --> 00:02:17,766 or give up on the political back and forth, I want you

47 00:02:17,766 --> 00:02:20,000 to remember this is not normal.

48 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,199 Our government is closed for the first time in 17 years.

49 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,267 A political party is risking default for the first time

50 00:02:26,267 --> 00:02:29,233 since the 1700s.

51 00:02:29,233 --> 00:02:32,067 This is not normal, and that's why we have to put a stop to it,

52 00:02:32,067 --> 00:02:34,900 not only because it's dangerous, but because it saps everyone's

53 00:02:34,900 --> 00:02:38,733 faith in our extraordinary system of self government,

54 00:02:38,733 --> 00:02:40,833 and that hurts us all.

55 00:02:40,833 --> 00:02:42,766 Whether it's the work of creating jobs,

56 00:02:42,766 --> 00:02:45,000 growing the economy, or getting our fiscal house in order

57 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,167 for the long haul, we've got a lot of work to do,

58 00:02:48,167 --> 00:02:51,367 and constant brinksmanship doesn't let us do it.

59 00:02:51,367 --> 00:02:54,000 It inflicts real pain on real people.

60 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,199 It creates spasms of uncertainty for business owners.

61 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,600 It threatens our nation's credit and standing in the world,

62 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,100 and the longer it goes on, the more frequently this

63 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:07,466 brinksmanship is inflicted, the more we'll see markets react,

64 00:03:07,467 --> 00:03:09,966 businesses put off plans to spend and hire,

65 00:03:09,966 --> 00:03:12,634 and unemployment claims tick up.

66 00:03:12,634 --> 00:03:16,333 The hundreds of thousands of hard-working civil servants who

67 00:03:16,333 --> 00:03:19,400 go even longer without pay will worry that they won't be able

68 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,200 to cover their bills, and that their own creditworthiness

69 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,267 will be ruined for no good reason at all.

70 00:03:26,267 --> 00:03:28,299 And I want to thank all the neighbors and local business

71 00:03:28,300 --> 00:03:30,766 owners who've shown acts of kindness to these Americans

72 00:03:30,766 --> 00:03:32,833 who serve their country.

73 00:03:32,833 --> 00:03:35,667 I ask that same spirit of citizenship from lenders

74 00:03:35,667 --> 00:03:37,900 who do business with these folks, because they're being

75 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:40,667 punished enough through no fault of their own.

76 00:03:40,667 --> 00:03:43,333 So let's pass a budget, put people back to work,

77 00:03:43,333 --> 00:03:46,032 and end this Republican shutdown.

78 00:03:46,033 --> 00:03:48,800 Let's pay our bills and prevent an economic shutdown.

79 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,733 Then let's get back to the work of the American people because

80 00:03:52,733 --> 00:03:55,100 there's so much else we should be focusing our energies

81 00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:56,699 on right now.

82 00:03:56,700 --> 00:04:00,500 We've got to create more jobs, we've got kids to educate,

83 00:04:00,500 --> 00:04:02,966 we've got an immigration system to fix.

84 00:04:02,966 --> 00:04:05,167 We've got more troops to bring home and a middle class

85 00:04:05,167 --> 00:04:09,100 to rebuild, and opportunity to restore.

86 00:04:09,100 --> 00:04:11,799 There's so much America has going for it in this new

87 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,367 century, and as always, this country works better when

88 00:04:15,367 --> 00:04:17,533 we work together.

89 00:04:17,534 --> 00:04:20,400 Thank you, and have a great weekend.