Remarks by the President on the Status of Debt Ceiling Negotiations

Diplomatic Reception Room

10:36 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  I want to speak about the ongoing and increasingly urgent efforts to avoid default and reduce our deficit.

Right now, the House of Representatives is still trying to pass a bill that a majority of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have already said they won’t vote for.  It’s a plan that would force us to re-live this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to Washington politics once again.  In other words, it does not solve the problem, and it has no chance of becoming law.  

What’s clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan.  It must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the American people -– not just one faction.  It will have to have the support of both the House and the Senate.  And there are multiple ways to resolve this problem.  Senator Reid, a Democrat, has introduced a plan in the Senate that contains cuts agreed upon by both parties.  Senator McConnell, a Republican, offered a solution that could get us through this.  There are plenty of modifications we can make to either of these plans in order to get them passed through both the House and the Senate and would allow me to sign them into law.  And today I urge Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to find common ground on a plan that can get support -- that can get support from both parties in the House –- a plan that I can sign by Tuesday. 

Now, keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart.  We’re in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit.  We agree on a process where the next step is a debate in the coming months on tax reform and entitlement reform –- and I’m ready and willing to have that debate.  And if we need to put in place some kind of enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, I’ll support that too if it’s done in a smart and balanced way.   

So there are plenty of ways out of this mess.  But we are almost out of time.  We need to reach a compromise by Tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time, as we always have -- bills that include monthly Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits and the government contracts we’ve signed with thousands of businesses.  Keep in mind, if we don’t do that, if we don’t come to an agreement, we could lose our country’s AAA credit rating, not because we didn’t have the capacity to pay our bills -- we do -- but because we didn’t have a AAA political system to match our AAA credit rating.

And make no mistake -– for those who say they oppose tax increases on anyone, a lower credit rating would result potentially in a tax increase on everyone in the form of higher interest rates on their mortgages, their car loans, their credit cards.  And that’s inexcusable.

There are a lot of crises in the world that we can’t always predict or avoid -– hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist attacks.  This isn’t one of those crises.  The power to solve this is in our hands.  And on a day when we’ve been reminded how fragile the economy already is, this is one burden we can lift ourselves.   We can end it with a simple vote –- a vote that Democrats and Republicans have been taking for decades, a vote that the leaders in Congress have taken for decades.

It’s not a vote that allows Congress to spend more money.  Raising the debt ceiling simply gives our country the ability to pay the bills that Congress has already racked up.  I want to emphasize that.  The debt ceiling does not determine how much more money we can spend, it simply authorizes us to pay the bills we already have racked up.  It gives the United States of America the ability to keep its word. 

Now, on Monday night, I asked the American people to make their voice heard in this debate, and the response was overwhelming.  So please, to all the American people, keep it up.  If you want to see a bipartisan compromise -– a bill that can pass both houses of Congress and that I can sign -- let your members of Congress know.  Make a phone call.  Send an email.  Tweet.  Keep the pressure on Washington, and we can get past this.

And for my part, our administration will be continuing to work with Democrats and Republicans all weekend long until we find a solution.  The time for putting party first is over.  The time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now.  And I am confident that we can solve this problem.  I’m confident that we will solve this problem.  For all the intrigue and all the drama that’s taking place on Capitol Hill right now, I’m confident that common sense and cooler heads will prevail.

But as I said earlier, we are now running out of time.  It’s important for everybody to step up and show the leadership that the American people expect.

Thank you. 

END
10:42 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President in Welcoming the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants

East Room

4:15 P.M. EDT

    
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, hello, everybody.  Have a seat, have a seat.  This is a party.  Welcome to the White House, and congratulations to the Giants on winning your first World Series title in 56 years.  (Applause.)  

I want to start by recognizing some very proud Giants fans in the house.  We've got Mayor Ed Lee -- (applause) -- Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom.  (Applause.)  We have quite a few members of Congress -- I am going to announce one; the Democratic leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi is here.  (Applause.)  We've got Senator Dianne Feinstein who is here.  (Applause.)  And our newest Secretary of Defense and a big Giants fan, Leon Panetta is in the house.  (Applause.)  

I also want to congratulate Bill Neukom and Larry Baer for building such an extraordinary franchise. 

I want to welcome obviously our very special guest, the "Say Hey Kid" -- Mr. Willie Mays is in the house.  (Applause.)  Two years ago, I invited Willie to ride with me on Air Force One on the way to the All-Star Game in St. Louis.  It was an extraordinary trip.  Very rarely when I'm on Air Force One am I the second most important guy on there.  (Laughter.)  Everybody was just passing me by -- "Can I get you something, Mr. Mays?"  (Laughter.)  What's going on?

Willie was also a 23-year-old outfielder the last time the Giants won the World Series, back when the team was in New York. And even though there have been some great Giants teams since then, none of them had brought a championship back to the Bay Area.

And then this team came along.  Manager Bruce Bochy once called them a bunch of “misfits and castoffs.”  Let me take a look at these guys.  (Applause.)  Or as GM Brian Sabean put it, “We've got a lot of characters -- (applause) -- with a lot of character.” 

One of these characters is Tim Lincecum.  Where's Tim?  I see him back there.  (Applause.)  Recognize the hair.  (Laughter.)  When Tim entered the draft five years ago, nine teams passed him over before the Giants picked him up.  Nobody thought somebody that skinny -- (laughter) -- with that violent a delivery could survive without just flying apart.  But now, with two Cy Youngs under his belt, everybody understands why he’s called “The Freak.”  (Laughter.)  Before Game 5 last year, Tim was so relaxed he was singing in the clubhouse.  That’s how his teammates knew they were about to see something special.  And after watching him pitch eight incredible innings -- including a stretch of 11 strikes in a row -- America learned sometimes it’s a good idea to bet on the skinny guy.  (Laughter and applause.) So, you and me. 

And then there’s the guy with the beard.  Where's he?  (Laughter.)  I do fear it.  (Laughter.)  Have you guys seen the SportsCenter ad where it's -- ESPN -- where it starts doing a dance?  (Laughter.) 

Now, underneath Brian’s beard, and the spandex tuxedo -- (laughter) -- and the sea captain costume, and the cleats with his face on them -- is also one of the most dominant closers in baseball.  (Applause.)  And I do think, Brian, you should know that Michelle was very relieved that the press was going to be talking about what somebody else wears here in the White House –(laughter) -- so that it’s not just her making a fashion statement.

So even though this team is a little different -- even though these players haven’t always followed the traditional rules, one thing they know is how to win.  Maybe some of that wisdom comes from all the old-time greats who never won a Series, but know that being a Giant means being a Giant for life.  And that’s why greats like Willie McCovey can often be found hanging around the clubhouse, pulling young players aside and offering them hitting tips.  And the love goes both ways.  Brian said, "What those players went through when they played, to not bring one home like we did, this is for them."

So for this team, winning the World Series means remembering their roots -- especially when those roots run deep.  Last year, after all the confetti had been cleaned up and the players had gone home, Willie Mays took the trophy back to the site of the old Polo Grounds in New York.  And he visited students at P.S. 46, on the spot where the stadium once stood, and told them stories about playing stickball with the neighborhood kids all those years ago.

And the rest of this team has also made a point of giving back -- whether it’s supporting wounded warriors and their families, or becoming the first professional sports team to join the “It Gets Better” campaign against bullying.  (Applause.)
So that’s what this team is all about:  characters with character.  And so once again I want to congratulate this team and wish them all the best of luck in the rest of the season -- unless the White Sox are in the World Series -- (laughter) -- which right now is not a sure thing.

Congratulations, everybody.  (Applause.)

COACH BOCHY:  Thank you, Mr. President.  We have a few gifts here.  But first, we want to thank you very much for having us here.  We know you’re busy, and on behalf of the Giants family we’re honored and privileged for you to have us here.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

COACH BOCHY:  So a special day for us after having a special season.  Thank you.

(Baby crying.)

THE PRESIDENT:  He’s really upset that I quit talking.  (Laughter.) 

(A gift is presented.) 

Oh, that’s terrific.  Thank you -- 44.  Thank you.  Thank you, guys.  (Applause.)  What else do you got?

MR. CAIN:  We just wanted to present you with a team-signed bat. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.

MR. CAIN:  Your name -- special edition.  So it’s right there --

THE PRESIDENT:  That is beautiful.  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Congratulations.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  This is beautiful. 

MR. NEUKOM:  Mr. President, on behalf of the entire Giants organization, our investors -- many of whom are here today -- the front office -- many of whom are also here today -- and of course this amazing ball club with the trainers and the coaches and the players and the broadcast folks, on behalf of all of us, we thank you for making time for us and for your kind words.  And we wish you well, and we’d like our general manager to make a presentation to you and the family, if he may.

THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, thank you.

MR. NEUKOM:  A custom glove.  Real deal.

THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, that’s what I need right there.  (Laughter.)

MR. NEUKOM:  White Sox colors. 

THE PRESIDENT:  I notice you put the silver and black on there.  I appreciate that.  That was good.  (Laughter.)  Thank you. 

We should do something like every day.  Look at all this loot.  (Laughter and applause.)  This is good.  All right, let’s strike the podium.  We’ll take a good picture. 

END  4:25 P.M. EDT

Remarks at White House Release of Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime

South Court

11:05 A.M. EDT

        MR. BRENNAN:  Good morning, everyone.  My name is John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security.  And I am pleased to welcome you here this morning for our announcement of the Obama administration’s new Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.  

        Just over a year ago, we released President Obama’s National Security Strategy.  That strategy commits this administration to the pursuit of four enduring national interests:  security, prosperity, respect for universal values, and the shaping of an international order that can meet the challenges of the 21st century.  One of the most significant of those challenges is the expanding size, scope, and influence of transnational organized crime and its impact on U.S. and international security and governance.  

        This morning we want to discuss the threat of transnational organized crime and how this administration is working aggressively to combat it.  We’re fortunate to be joined by leaders in this effort from across the federal government:
        Attorney General Eric Holder; Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns; Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen; Deputy Administrator of USAID Don Steinberg; and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske.

        We also have in the audience leaders of many of the U.S. departments and agencies that will be instrumental in carrying out this new strategy.  We are joined by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and FBI Director Robert Muller, as well as representatives from the Department of Defense, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United States Secret Service, as well as the intelligence community.

        And we also have members of the diplomatic corps as well as representatives of state and local law enforcement organizations, academia, industry, congressional committees, and nongovernmental and civil society organizations, including those who dedicate themselves to protecting the victims of transnational threats.  Thank you for the vital work you do every day as well as for being here today.

        In December 2010, the United States government completed a comprehensive intelligence assessment of international crime.  That assessment concluded that in the previous 15 years.  transnational criminal networks have forged new and powerful alliances and are engaged in an unprecedented range of illicit activities that are destabilizing to nations and populations around the globe.

        Transnational criminal networks are striking alliances with corrupt elements of national governments -- including intelligence and security personnel -- and they use the power and influence of those elements to further their criminal activities.

        Transnational crime threatens the world economy.  The sophistication and business savvy of these criminals permit them to enter markets and undermine legitimate competition and market integrity, which can damage and distort financial systems and legitimate competitiveness.  Transnational criminals also are stealing intellectual property, which is not only bad for business but can be deadly, especially in the cases of counterfeit pharmaceuticals.  

        Terrorists and insurgents also are increasingly turning to crime and criminal networks for funding and logistics, including kidnap for ransom to generate funding.  Drug trafficking organizations feed off the global demand for illicit drugs, which fuels the power, impunity and violence of criminal organizations internationally.  And human smuggling and trafficking-in-person networks are a worldwide scourge growing ever more violent and lucrative, exploiting the most vulnerable among us, especially women and children.  

        This is the threat that our strategy aims to address.  Our strategy is clear in purpose and intent.  In the words of the message accompanying the strategy from President Obama:  “This strategy is organized around a single, unifying principle:  To build, balance, and integrate the tools of American power to combat transnational organized crime and related threats to our national security -- and urge our partners to do the same.”  

        Now, our strategy sets out five overarching objectives.  

        First, protect Americans and our partners from the harm, violence, and exploitation perpetrated by transnational criminal networks.  

        Second, help partner countries strengthen governance and transparency, break the corruptive power of transnational criminal networks, and sever state-crime alliances.  

        Third, break the economic power of transnational criminal networks and protect strategic markets and the U.S. financial system from criminal penetration and abuse.  

        Fourth, defeat criminal networks that pose the greatest threat to national security by targeting their infrastructures, depriving them of their enabling means, and preventing the criminal facilitation of terrorist activities.  

        And fifth, build international consensus, multilateral cooperation, and public-private partnerships to defeat transnational organized crime.  

        To this end, our strategy sets out 56 specific priority actions in several key areas.  We start here at home by taking a hard look at what actions the United States can take within its own borders -- such as reducing illegal drug use, taking swift action against corruption, and severing the illicit flow of money and weapons across the Southwest border -- to lessen the threat and impact of transnational crime domestically as well as on our foreign partners.  This sense of shared responsibility is a theme that is woven throughout our strategy.  

        In implementing this strategy, President Obama is determined to use every tool at his disposal.  Indeed, our strategy is accompanied by several new initiatives, including a series of important legislative proposals and a rewards program to help capture the world’s top transnational crime figures.  Yesterday President Obama signed an executive order designed to block all assets and property under U.S. jurisdiction of designated major transnational organized crime organizations that threaten the critical interests of the United States.  

        Yesterday, the President also signed a new proclamation barring admission to the United States of persons designated under this executive order and other comparable programs.  The proclamation also provides additional legal authority for barring admission to the United States of persons subject to United Nations Security Council travel bans.  

        So, again, on behalf of President Obama, thank you for being here today and thank you for your continued partnership.  

        And now it is my pleasure to introduce the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder.

        ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER:  Good morning.  And thank you, John.  It’s a privilege to join with you and with so many other key leaders and crucial partners as we unveil a cutting-edge, comprehensive strategy that will take our nation’s fight against transnational organized crime to the next level.
        Now, of course, the problem of transnational organized crime and their networks is not new.  But after a wide-ranging, year-long review -- the first study of its kind in more than 15 years -- our understanding of what exactly we’re up against has never been more complete or more clear.  And our efforts to prevent and to combat transnational organized crime have never been more urgent.
        In recent years, the Justice Department has strengthened our fight against these criminal organizations and expanded on our successful counternarcotics work.  By establishing the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center, or IOC-2, as we call it, we are now coordinating the efforts of nine federal law enforcement agencies in combating transnational organized crime networks.  We’ve also tapped the leaders of these agencies to serve on the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Council.  And, to bring additional resources to bear, we recently merged the organized crime and gang sections within the Department’s Criminal Division.  
        Each of these steps will help to advance the new strategy that we are announcing today.  They also reflect the fact that addressing transnational organized crime is no longer just a law enforcement issue.  It is a problem that demands the attention -- and the assistance -- of a broad spectrum of partners.  With this new strategy, leaders across government and law enforcement are signaling our commitment to combat transnational organized crime by sharing information and expertise as never before -- by paving the way for broad international cooperation and by developing legislative solutions that we need to address 21st-century threats.
        Now, one of the centerpieces of this strategy is a series of legislative proposals designed to enhance the tools that the Justice Department -- and our law enforcement partners -- can bring to bear in the fight against transnational organized crime. These proposals will help to ensure that our statutory landscape is up to date, and that prosecutors and investigators have the capacity to keep pace with the unprecedented threats posed by criminal enterprises that target the United States -- including those that operate beyond our borders.
        These essential legislative updates would improve our ability to break the financial backbone of criminal organizations by extending the reach of anti-money laundering provisions.  They also would enhance our ability to identify and to respond to the most common and evolving tactics and methods of communication that criminal organizations use to conceal their illicit operations and their profits -- which, too often, are used to bankroll drug trafficking and even terrorist activity.

        By modernizing current racketeering laws and expanding their reach to cover new forms of crime, we will enhance our ability to advance cases against transnational organizations crime groups that engage in diverse criminal activities, including illegal weapons trafficking, health care and securities fraud, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  And because we know that many of these organizations have long been involved in counterfeiting, the White House Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator has developed a series of proposals that seek to address the most egregious intellectual property crimes committed by criminal enterprises -- including illegal activities that threaten our nation’s infrastructure, and the health and safety of our fellow citizens.
        Now, I have every confidence that the implementation of this new strategy and the advancement of our legislative proposals will strengthen cooperation among relevant authorities, advance our fight against organized crime networks no matter where they operate, and allow us to build on the record of progress that has been achieved in recent years.

        Once again, I’d like to thank my colleagues across this administration for their commitment to the goals and the responsibilities that we share.  I look forward to working with them, as well as with leaders in Congress, to ensure that prosecutors and investigators have access to the tools that they need to protect the American people.  I’m grateful to count each one of you as partners, and I’m proud to stand with all of them. I look forward to what we will accomplish together in the days ahead.
        And now I’m pleased to turn things over to a dedicated leader in this work and my good friend, Secretary Janet Napolitano.

        SECRETARY NAPOLITANO:  Thank you, Eric.  I am also glad to be here today with my colleagues and with those in the audience who also do this important work.  And I am going to address the Department of Homeland Security’s role in this new strategy.

        Combating transnational organized crime is an integral part of the Department of Homeland Security, with thousands of men and women in the department doing this work every day.  It’s especially relevant to the work we’ve been doing along the Southwest border, where the transnational organized criminal activity of drug cartels is a major concern.

        This administration has dedicated an unprecedented amount of resources to disrupt and dismantle the drug cartels who smuggle illegal substances as well as human beings across our borders.  We have dedicated historic levels of manpower, technology, and infrastructure to this task, and it has had clear effects.

        Over the past two and a half years, CBP and ICE have seized 75 percent more currency, 31 percent more drugs, and 64 percent more weapons along the Southwest border as compared to the prior two and a half years.  This is important progress, and we want to continue to build on it.  The new Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime offers a road map for how we can move forward together to coordinate and strengthen the good work that has been so critical to our success thus far and that will lead to additional progress in the future.

        For example, the strategy emphasizes the use of specialized intelligence centers to coordinate the collection and analysis of intelligence regarding various aspects of the threat of transnational crime.

        In November, the administration established the Border Intelligence Fusion Center of the El Paso Intelligence Center, which provides U.S. law enforcement, border enforcement and investigative agencies with the intelligence necessary to aid in their work along the Southwest border.  The strategy makes clear the importance of this kind of approach and lays out how we can expand on it.

        The strategy also emphasizes international partnerships, which are essential to combating what is fundamentally a transnational problem.  In support of the strategy, ICE is implementing a new "Illicit Pathways Attack Strategy," to prioritize and integrate its authorities and resources in a focused and comprehensive manner to attack criminal organizations along the entire pathway, the entire continuum of crime, both at home and abroad. ICE will work with its federal, state, local and foreign partners to expand task force models overseas that support cooperation and coordination.  It’s already proven successful through BEST teams.

        The strategy also supports an integrated approach to criminal investigations that make sure when a criminal organization is investigated, our approach is a comprehensive one -- one that incorporates financial, weapons, and corruption investigations.  The United States Secret Service has played a major role, using partnerships to protect the nation’s financial infrastructure through the Electronic Crimes Task Force and the Financial Crimes Task Force.  In fiscal year 2010, the Secret Service arrested over 8,000 suspects for counterfeiting and financial fraud, with a fraud loss well over $500 million.

        This strategy lays out an important path forward that builds upon our progress in combating transnational organized crime, both in terms of the Southwest border and in terms of the other threats we face.  Together and with this strategy as our guide, we will continue the historic progress we've seen over the past two and a half years.

        And now I’d like to welcome another one of our partners to the podium, the Under Secretary of State, William Burns.

        UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE BURNS:  Thank you very much.  And good morning.  The Department of State is very proud to be a part of this outstanding interagency effort.  We are strongly committed to continued close coordination in implementing the President's Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.

        Organized crime, in its many forms, is a threat to decent, hardworking people across the world.  It empowers warlords, criminals, and corrupt officials.  It erodes stability, security and good governance.  It undermines legitimate economic activity and the rule of law.  It undermines the integrity of vital governmental institutions meant to protect peace and security.  It costs economies tax revenue and promotes a culture of impunity.  It undercuts our fight against poverty and slows sustainable development.

        Societies have faced criminal threats throughout human history.  Today, however, we face them in a globalized, networked world.  Terrorists and insurgent groups are turning to partnerships of convenience with criminal networks.  Global markets for drugs fund the weapons of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the FARC in Colombia.  Supplies of illegal Latin American drugs are making their way across West Africa.  In the tri-border area of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, individuals with connections to violent extremist groups have been active in drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering.

        The President’s strategy will build and integrate the tools of American power to combat transnational organized crime, while also recognizing that we cannot do it alone.  The United States must continue to play a strong leadership role, together with committed partners, in mobilizing international resources to address emerging threats.  

        Today, the State Department supports a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global initiatives to enhance the law enforcement capacity of foreign governments.  We are developing innovative partnerships with governments, like the Central Asia Counter-narcotics Initiative, the West Africa Citizen Security Initiative, and the Central America Regional Security Initiative to coordinate investigations, support prosecutions, and build our collective capacity to identify, disrupt, and dismantle transnational organized crime groups.  

        We are working with the G8, the G20, the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, APEC, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the African Union, and the OAS to strengthen law enforcement, judicial, legal, and correctional institutions.  We are intensifying our efforts to build international consensus and improve multilateral cooperation to combat transnational crime, and are promoting more effective public-private partnerships, such as our partnership with the pharmaceutical industry to fight corruption and illicit trade of dangerous counterfeit medicines that harm our communities.   

        History teaches us that cooperation against organized crime can bring transformative change.  Ten years ago, large parts of Colombia were controlled by terrorist and criminal organizations. But through collective action by the United States and Colombia, the Colombian people reclaimed their territory, their security and their future.  Today, Colombia’s police train other forces across the region and around the world.  And through the Merida Initiative, the U.S. is partnering with Mexico to strengthen its law enforcement, judiciary and correctional institutions and bring security to communities south of our own border.

        The strategy unveiled today includes two important new tools for the Department of State to combat transnational organized crime –- a presidential proclamation and a new proposed program on Transnational Organized Crime Rewards.  

        First, the proclamation will bar admission to the United States of persons designated under a new executive order that establishes a sanctions program to block the property of significant transnational criminal organizations that threaten U.S. security, foreign policy, or our economy.  The proclamation also provides additional legal authority for barring admission to the United States of persons subject to United Nations Security Council travel bans.  

        Second, the new program on Transnational Organized Crime Rewards will build on the success of our Narcotics Rewards program to encourage cooperation in bringing the most dangerous transnational criminal leaders to justice through cash rewards leading to their arrest or conviction.  

        We will use these measures to continue to put criminals and corrupt officials on notice that their crimes will have a serious consequence.  We will deny them safe haven and dismantle their criminal infrastructure.

        Secretary Clinton has often spoke of the need to build what she calls a “global architecture of cooperation” to solve the problems that no one country can solve alone.  Certainly, this is true of the challenge before us.  Transnational organized crime is a threat that endangers communities across the world, including our own.  The State Department remains determined, working closely with all of our interagency partners, to translate common interest into common action that makes us all safer.  

        And now it’s a pleasure to introduce my friend and colleague, the Under Secretary of the Treasury, David Cohen.

        UNDER SECRETARY OF TREASURY COHEN:  Thank you, Bill.  And good morning.  It is my great privilege to be here today to help unveil the President's Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.  

        As we all know, the United States and many other countries have prospered greatly from globalization and financial integration.  But there is also a dark side to globalization.  While the world now seems smaller, and commerce and transactions have become freer and faster, transnational criminal organizations have exploited these advancements to expand their operations and influence, and to evade justice.  As our global economy and financial systems have grown more sophisticated and inter-dependent, they've also become more vulnerable to criminal organizations and their illicit financial activities.  

        One of the Treasury Department's core duties is to safeguard and protect the U.S. economy and financial system from abuse by all those who would seek to harm it, manipulate it, or undermine its integrity, including transnational criminal organizations.  This is the foundation of Treasury's national security mission.  To fulfill this mission, Treasury pursues a multifaceted strategy, including efforts the identify and address vulnerabilities in the financial system, and leverage financial information and intelligence to take targeted and powerful action against those who threaten our financial system and economy.

        The strategy we are announcing today will provide new impetus and new tools for the Treasury Department's efforts.  One key part of the strategy is an executive order that President Obama just signed that provides new powers to attack the threat that significant transnational criminal organizations pose to our national security, foreign policy, and economy.

        The Treasury Department is employing these new powers by implementing sanctions today against four significant transnational criminal organizations.  First, the Brothers' Circle, also as the Moscow Center, which is a multiethnic criminal group composed of leaders and senior members of several criminal organizations largely based in countries of the former Soviet Union.  Many Brothers' Circle's members share a common ideology based on the thief-in-law tradition, which seeks to spread their brand of criminal influence around the world.

        Second, the Camorra, which is a very large Italian organized crime group earning roughly $25 billion each year from illicit activities.  It operates internationally and engages in serious criminal activity, such as counterfeiting, smuggling pirated goods, and drug trafficking.

        Third, the Yakuza of Japan, with an estimated 80,000 members, engages in serious criminal activities, including narcotics and weapons trafficking, and a variety of white-collar crimes.  The Yakuza uses front companies to hide illicit proceeds within legitimate industries, including construction, real estate, and finance.

        And finally, an already designated drug kingpin organization, Los Zetas, is an extremely violent transnational criminal organization based in Mexico.  Los Zetas transports large amounts of illegal narcotics through Mexico into the United States and is responsible for numerous murders, both in Mexico and in the United States, including members of U.S. law enforcement.  

        Sophisticated transnational criminal organizations like these engage in a wide variety of serious criminal revenue-generating activity.  Their integration into the financial and commercial system makes them ideal targets for economic and financial sanctions.  With the new executive order, Treasury has the authority to go after the economic power of transnational criminal networks and those individuals and entities who work with them, enable them, and support them, by freezing any assets they may have within the United States, prohibiting any transactions through the U.S. financial system, and making it a crime for any U.S. person to engage in any transactions with them.

        In addition to the new executive order, the President's strategy also includes a commitment to work with Congress to adopt legislation that would require disclosure of beneficial ownership information in the company formation process.  If enacted, this legislation would facilitate transparency of the financial system and enhance the effectiveness of our new executive order by making it more difficult for criminal organizations to hide behind front companies and shell corporations.

        I'd like to express my gratitude to John Brennan for driving this initiative, and to our colleagues across the government who played critical roles in the development of this executive order and who will be key partners as we go forward.  Transnational criminal organizations are principally motivated by financial gain.  That is a major vulnerability that the new executive order and the broader strategy will allow us to exploit, striking at the heart of their economic power.

        And with that, I'd like to turn it over to my friend, Deputy Administrator Don Steinberg.

        USAID DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR STEINBERG:  Thank you.  The U.S. Agency for Intelligence Development is proud to use its efforts to promote global development and to build stable societies around the world in support of this Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.

        This past September, President Obama offered the first-ever presidential policy directive on development.  This forward-looking policy statement makes clear that international development is in our national interest.  It’s in our economic interest because it creates exports and jobs for Americans.  It aligns with our value structure in that we seek a world that is peaceful, that is prosperous and democratic.  But most relevant to today, international development promotes our national security as well.

        Transnational organized crime affects nearly every country, but fragile, poor and conflict-affected states are most vulnerable and most victimized by organized crime, in particular as sites for trafficking in persons, drugs and weapons.  Such activities threaten the social, political and economic security of the most vulnerable members of developing societies, and they threaten us.

        Organized crime is a cancer that eats from within at the credibility and legitimacy of national governments.  It deprives nations of much needed investment.  It squeezes out legitimate businesses from access to key markets, and it increases the cost of development to all of the citizens of those nations.  Helping developing countries protect themselves from organized crime will make the world a safer place and it will protect Americans as well.

        At USAID, we’re addressing this challenge through a comprehensive approach to strengthen the capacity of governments, businesses and civil society institutions to resist the corrupting influence of organized criminal enterprises.  This involved a multi-pronged approach to assist law enforcement, to promote judicial reform, to encourage transparency and oversight, to combat corruption and to strengthen social fabric.

        For example, USAID, the State Department and the Department of Justice have been applying this approach in Latin America through the Merida Initiative, through the Central American Regional Security Initiative, and other regional and bilateral assistance programs.

        There’s a long way to go, but far the results have been promising.  Our work in Latin America has helped reduce crime and violence in hot spots, generated scalable programs to promote resilient communities and regions, and promoted concrete actions for anticorruption, and transparency in national, state and local governments.

        Similarly, USAID’s efforts to combat human trafficking are grounded in a multidimensional framework -- protection, prevention, prosecution and partnership.  These programs, including education and economic growth assistance efforts, help create an environment in which trafficking cannot survive.

        Trafficking is not only a crime and a human rights abuse, but also a development problem, exacerbated by poverty, lack of access to education and employment, ethnic and gender discrimination, weak rule of law and conflict.  These are the same challenges USAID addresses every day in its global mission.

        Coordinating with a broad range of stakeholders, we’ve provided $160 million in over 70 countries to combat human trafficking over the past decade, and we’re ramping up these efforts through a intergovernmental approach under our new Center for Democracy Human Rights and Governance.

        In conclusion, transnational organized crime destroys the institutional frameworks in which it operates.  As part of a whole of government approach, USAID welcomes the launch of today’s comprehensive strategy and is proud to play our role in combating transnational organized crime.

        Now, I’d like to introduce Gil Kerlikowske from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to take us home.

        DIRECTOR KERLIKOWSKE:  Thanks, Don.  

        Well, first let me thank the team that put all this together.  It’s an incredible team, unbelievably talented people in these agencies that contributed to the strategy, and they're also working every single day to protect the people in this country.  And I thank them for their hard work and certainly their patriotism.

        The strategy builds on work that's been done over many years.  It includes steps taken under previous presidential administrations.  And we’re delighted to see some people here, former officials that are here in the audience today.  It’s also benefited from the work of experts across the nation and around the globe in law enforcement and industry, think tanks, NGOs, civil society organizations.  

        Well, we have a lot of work to do together.  And I look forward to working with John Brennan; I look forward to working with my interagency colleagues in overseeing the implementation of the strategy.

        We also recognize the major role that drugs play in funding transnational crime, and criminal groups around the globe that are involved in drug trafficking generate over $320 billion in annual revenue -- and that's according to the United Nations.
        Globalization, expanding transportation networks, rapidly improving communications technology enable these groups to diversify into these illicit businesses.

        We know that our response has to include new tools and stronger international cooperation, but also a great interagency partnership.  We have to commit ourselves to reducing the use of illegal drugs here at home.  As others have said, it’s a shared responsibility.  It threatens public health and it supports criminal activity not only within the United States but within the borders of other countries throughout the world.

        The administration is committed to reducing that U.S. demand for drugs.  And on July 11th, I released the administration's National Drug Control Strategy for 2011, and that complements this strategy being released today, the Transnational Organized Crime Strategy -- coordinates unprecedented government-wide efforts in public health and education to reduce drug use and its consequences.

        The administration's new strategy emphasizes community-based prevention programs, the integration of drug treatment into the health care systems, innovations in the criminal justice system that break the cycle of drug use and crime, and international partnerships to, again, disrupt transnational drug trafficking organizations.

        The National Drug Control Strategy also emphasizes working with our international partners to reduce illicit drug use in their own countries, which is a problem that often accompanies and then, of course, enables transnational organized crime.

        Well, state and local law enforcement also play an incredibly vital role in combating transnational crime.  And it’s great to see some of my former colleagues from law enforcement that are joining us today, and I thank them for coming.  And as a former police chief and a career law enforcement officer, I know firsthand that transnational criminal networks don't recognize any borders.

        Our citizens are directly impacted not only by international drug trafficking groups, but by foreign fraud schemes, counterfeit products, counterfeit prescription drugs, violent acts carried out by transnational groups within our nation.

        In this strategy, the first chapter is called “Start at Home,” and it calls on federal agencies to expand cooperation with state and local agencies and to ensure that information they need to protect their citizens is rapidly disseminated.  In turn, the federal agencies clearly recognize the information and expertise possessed at the state and local level, whether it is shared through task forces, whether it’s through the interagency information fusion centers, or other mechanisms.

        Well, in order to address the national security threat posed by transnational organized crime, we need to build this new framework for cooperation at home and around the globe.  And this strategy is a critical first step toward that important goal.  We have a lot of work to do in implementing the strategy, working with Congress to enact the legislative proposals that were announced today.

        On behalf of the White House, thank you very much attending today’s event.  (Applause.)

END 11:43 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

6:06 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. I wanted to give you an update on the current situation around the debt ceiling. I just got a call about a half hour ago from Speaker Boehner who indicated that he was going to be walking away from the negotiations that we’ve been engaged in here at the White House for a big deficit reduction and debt reduction package. And I thought it would be useful for me to just give you some insight into where we were and why I think that we should have moved forward with a big deal.

Essentially what we had offered Speaker Boehner was over a trillion dollars in cuts to discretionary spending, both domestic and defense. We then offered an additional $650 billion in cuts to entitlement programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. We believed that it was possible to shape those in a way that preserved the integrity of the system, made them available for the next generation, and did not affect current beneficiaries in an adverse way.

In addition, what we sought was revenues that were actually less than what the Gang of Six signed off on. So you had a bipartisan group of senators, including Republicans who are in leadership in the Senate, calling for what effectively was about $2 trillion above the Republican baseline that they’ve been working off of. What we said was give us $1.2 trillion in additional revenues, which could be accomplished without hiking taxes -- tax rates, but could simply be accomplished by eliminating loopholes, eliminating some deductions and engaging in a tax reform process that could have lowered rates generally while broadening the base.

So let me reiterate what we were offering. We were offering a deal that called for as much discretionary savings as the Gang of Six. We were calling for taxes that were less than what the Gang of Six had proposed. And we were calling for modifications to entitlement programs, would have saved just as much over the 10-year window. In other words, this was an extraordinarily fair deal. If it was unbalanced, it was unbalanced in the direction of not enough revenue.

But in the interest of being serious about deficit reduction, I was willing to take a lot of heat from my party -- and I spoke to Democratic leaders yesterday, and although they didn’t sign off on a plan, they were willing to engage in serious negotiations, despite a lot of heat from a lot of interest groups around the country, in order to make sure that we actually dealt with this problem.

It is hard to understand why Speaker Boehner would walk away from this kind of deal. And, frankly, if you look at commentary out there, there are a lot of Republicans that are puzzled as to why it couldn’t get done. In fact, there are a lot of Republican voters out there who are puzzled as to why it couldn’t get done. Because the fact of the matter is the vast majority of the American people believe we should have a balanced approach.

Now, if you do not have any revenues, as the most recent Republican plan that’s been put forward both in the House and the Senate proposed, if you have no revenues at all, what that means is more of a burden on seniors, more drastic cuts to education, more drastic cuts to research, a bigger burden on services that are going to middle-class families all across the country. And it essentially asks nothing of corporate jet owners, it asks nothing of oil and gas companies, it asks nothing from folks like me who’ve done extremely well and can afford to do a little bit more.

In other words, if you don’t have revenues, the entire thing ends up being tilted on the backs of the poor and middle-class families. And the majority of Americans don’t agree on that approach.

So here’s what we’re going to do. We have now run out of time. I told Speaker Boehner, I’ve told Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, I’ve told Harry Reid, and I’ve told Mitch McConnell I want them here at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. We have run out of time. And they are going to have to explain to me how it is that we are going to avoid default. And they can come up with any plans that they want and bring them up here and we will work on them. The only bottom line that I have is that we have to extend this debt ceiling through the next election, into 2013.

And the reason for it is we’ve now seen how difficult it is to get any kind of deal done. The economy is already weakened. And the notion that five or six or eight months from now we’ll be in a better position to try to solve this problem makes no sense.

In addition, if we can’t come up with a serious plan for actual deficit and debt reduction, and all we’re doing is extending the debt ceiling for another six, seven, eight months, then the probabilities of downgrading U.S. credit are increased, and that will be an additional cloud over the economy and make it more difficult for us and more difficult for businesses to create jobs that the American people so desperately need.

So they will come down here at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. I expect them to have an answer in terms of how they intend to get this thing done over the course of the next week. The American people expect action. I continue to believe that a package that is balanced and actually has serious debt and deficit reduction is the right way to go. And the American people I think are fed up with political posturing and an inability for politicians to take responsible action as opposed to dodge their responsibilities.

With that, I’m going to take some questions.

Ben.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You said you want the leaders back here at 11:00 a.m. to give you an answer about the path forward. What is your answer about the path forward? What path do you prefer, given what’s just happened? And also, sir, quickly, what does this say about your relationship with Speaker Boehner?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, with respect to my relationship with Speaker Boehner, we’ve always had a cordial relationship. We had very intense negotiations -- I’m going to have my team brief you exactly on how these negotiations proceeded. Up until sometime early today when I couldn’t get a phone call returned, my expectation was that Speaker Boehner was going to be willing to go to his caucus and ask them to do the tough thing but the right thing. I think it has proven difficult for Speaker Boehner to do that. I’ve been left at the altar now a couple of times.

And I think that one of the questions that the Republican Party is going to have to ask itself is can they say yes to anything? Can they say yes to anything? I mean, keep in mind it’s the Republican Party that has said that the single most important thing facing our country is deficits and debts. We’ve now put forward a package that would significantly cut deficits and debt. It would be the biggest debt reduction package that we’ve seen in a very long time.

And it’s accomplished without raising individual tax rates. It’s accomplished in a way that’s compatible with the “no tax” pledge that a whole bunch of these folks signed on to -- because we were mindful that they had boxed themselves in and we tried to find a way for them to generate revenues in a way that did not put them in a bad spot.

And so the question is, what can you say yes to? Now, if their only answer is what they’ve presented, which is a package that would effectively require massive cuts to Social Security, to Medicare, to domestic spending, with no revenues whatsoever, not asking anything from the wealthiest in this country or corporations that have been making record profits -- if that’s their only answer, then it’s going to be pretty difficult for us to figure out where to go. Because the fact of the matter is that’s what the American people are looking for, is some compromise, some willingness to put partisanship aside, some willingness to ignore talk radio or ignore activists in our respective bases, and do the right thing.

And to their credit, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, the Democratic leadership, they sure did not like the plan that we are proposing to Boehner, but they were at least willing to engage in a conversation because they understood how important it is for us to actually solve this problem. And so far I have not seen the capacity of the House Republicans in particular to make those tough decisions.

And so then the question becomes, where’s the leadership? Or, alternatively, how serious are you actually about debt and deficit reduction? Or do you simply want it as a campaign ploy going into the next election?

Now, in terms of where we go next, here’s the one thing that we’ve got to do. At minimum, we’ve got to increase the debt ceiling. At minimum. I think we need to do more than that. But as I’ve said before, Republican Leader McConnell in the Senate put forward a plan that said he’s going to go ahead and give me the responsibility to raise the debt ceiling. That way folks in Congress can vote against it, but at least it gets done. I’m willing to take the responsibility. That’s my job. So if they want to give me the responsibility to do it, I’m happy to do it.

But what we’re not going to do is to continue to play games and string this along for another eight, nine months, and then have to go through this whole exercise all over again. That we’re not going to do.

Jessica Yellin.

Q Standing here tonight, Mr. President, can you assure the American people that they will get their Social Security checks on August 3rd? And if not, who’s to blame?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, when it comes to all the checks, not just Social Security -- veterans, people with disabilities -- about 70 million checks are sent out each month -- if we default then we’re going to have to make adjustments. And I’m already consulting with Secretary Geithner in terms of what the consequences would be.

We should not even be in that kind of scenario. And if Congress -- and in particular, the House Republicans -- are not willing to make sure that we avoid default, then I think it’s fair to say that they would have to take responsibility for whatever problems arise in those payments. Because, let me repeat, I’m not interested in finger-pointing and I’m not interested in blame, but I just want the facts to speak for themselves.

We have put forward a plan that is more generous to Republican concerns than a bipartisan plan that was supported by a number of Republican senators, including at least one that is in Republican leadership in the Senate. Now, I’ll leave it up to the American people to make a determination as to how fair that is. And if the leadership cannot come to an agreement in terms of how we move forward, then I think they will hold all of us accountable.

But that shouldn’t even be an option. That should not be an option. I’m getting letters from people who write me and say, at the end of every month I have to skip meals. Senior citizens on Social Security who are just hanging on by a thread. Folks who have severe disabilities who are desperate every single month to try to figure out how they’re going to make ends meet. But it’s not just those folks. You’ve got business contractors who are providing services to the federal government, who have to wonder are they going to be able to get paid and what does that do in terms of their payrolls.

You’ve got just a huge number of people who, in one way or another, interact with the federal government. And even if you don’t, even if you’re not a recipient of Social Security, even if you don’t get veterans’ benefits or disabilities, imagine what that does to the economy when suddenly 70 million checks are put at risk. I mean, if you’re a business out there, that is not going to be good for economic growth. And that’s the number one concern of the American people.

So we’ve got to get it done. It is not an option not to do it.

Q And your degree of confidence?

THE PRESIDENT: I am confident simply because I cannot believe that Congress would end up being that irresponsible that they would not send a package that avoids a self-inflicted wound to the economy at a time when things are so difficult.

Scott Horsley.

Q Mr. President, can you explain why you were offering a deal that was more generous than the Gang of Six, which you seemed to be embracing on Tuesday when you were here?

THE PRESIDENT: Because what had become apparent was that Speaker Boehner had some difficulty in his caucus. There are a group of his caucus that actually think default would be okay and have said that they would not vote for increasing the debt ceiling under any circumstances.

And so I understand how they get themselves stirred up and the sharp ideological lines that they’ve drawn. And ultimately, my responsibility is to make sure that we avoid extraordinary difficulties to American people and American businesses.

And so, unfortunately, when you’re in these negotiations you don’t get 100 percent of what you want. You may not even get 60 or 70 percent of what you want. But I was willing to try to persuade Democratic leadership as well as Democratic members of Congress that even a deal that is not as balanced as I think it should be is better than no deal at all. And I was willing to persuade Democrats that getting a handle on debt and deficit reduction is important to Democrats just as much as it’s important to Republicans -- and, frankly, a lot of Democrats are persuaded by that.

As I said in the last press conference, if you’re a progressive you should want to get our fiscal house in order, because once we do, it allows us to then have a serious conversation about the investments that we need to make -- like infrastructure, like rebuilding our roads and our bridges and airports, like investing more in college education, like making sure that we’re focused on the kinds of research and technology that’s going to help us win the future. It’s a lot easier to do that when we’ve got our fiscal house in order. And that was an argument that I was willing to go out and make to a lot of skeptical Democrats, as you saw yesterday.

But ultimately, that’s what we should expect from our leaders. If this was easy it would have already been done. And I think what a lot of the American people are so disappointed by is this sense that all the talk about responsibility, all the talk about the next generation, all the talk about making sacrifices, that when it comes to actually doing something difficult folks walk away.

Last point I’ll make here. I mean, I’ve gone out of my way to say that both parties have to make compromises. I think this whole episode has indicated the degree to which at least a Democratic President has been willing to make some tough compromises. So when you guys go out there and write your stories, this is not a situation where somehow this was the usual food fight between Democrats and Republicans. A lot of Democrats stepped up in ways that were not advantageous politically. So we’ve shown ourselves willing to do the tough stuff on an issue that Republicans ran on.

Norah.

Q Mr. President, there seems to be an extraordinary breakdown of trust involved here. And I wonder if you could address what we’re hearing from Republicans, which is that there was a framework and a deal that was agreed with your chief of staff, with the Treasury Secretary, about a certain number of revenues, that the Republicans had agreed to that. And then after you brought that to your party and the discussion of that, the goal line was moved. Is this an example of where the goal line has moved and that that’s what has led to this breakdown in trust?

THE PRESIDENT: Norah, what I’ll do is we’ll do a tick-tock, we’ll go through all the paper. We’ll walk you through this process. What this came down to was that there doesn’t seem to be a capacity for them to say yes.

Now, what is absolutely true is we wanted more revenue than they had initially offered. But as you’ll see, the spending cuts that we were prepared to engage in were at least as significant as the spending cuts that you’ve seen in a whole range of bipartisan proposals, and we had basically agreed within $10 billion, $20 billion -- we were within that range.

So that wasn’t the reason this thing broke down. We were consistent in saying that it was going to be important for us to have at least enough revenue that we could protect current beneficiaries of Social Security, for example, or current beneficiaries of Medicare; that we weren’t slashing Medicaid so sharply that states suddenly were going to have to throw people off the health care rolls. And we were consistent in that.

So I want to be clear. I’m not suggesting that we had an agreement that was signed, sealed and delivered. The parties were still apart as recently as yesterday. But when you look at the overall package, there’s no changing of the goalposts here. There has been a consistency on our part in saying we’re willing to make the tough cuts and we’re willing to take on the heat for those difficult cuts, but that there’s got to be some balance in the process. What I’ve said publicly is the same thing that I’ve said privately. And I’ve done that consistently throughout this process.

Now, with respect to this breakdown in trust, I think that we have operated aboveboard consistently. There haven’t been any surprises. I think the challenge really has to do with the seeming inability, particularly in the House of Representatives, to arrive at any kind of position that compromises any of their ideological preferences. None.

And you’ve heard it. I mean, I’m not making this up. I think a number of members of that caucus have been very clear about that.

Q But they were willing to move on some revenues, apparently.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. But what you saw -- and, again, you’ll see this from the description of the deal -- essentially what they had agreed to give on is to get back to a baseline -- this starts getting technical, but there were about $800 billion in revenue that were going to be available. And what we said was when you’ve got a ratio of $4 in cuts for every $1 of revenue, that’s pretty hard to stomach. And we think it’s important to make sure that whatever additional revenue is in there covers the amount of money that’s being taken out of entitlement programs. That’s only fair.

If I’m saying to future recipients of Social Security or Medicare that you’re going to have to make some adjustments, it’s important that we’re also willing to make some adjustments when it comes to corporate jet owners, or oil and gas producers, or people who are making millions or billions of dollars.

Wendell. Where’s Wendell? Wendell is not here.

Lesley. Is Lesley here?

Q Yes, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: There you are.
 
Q Thank you. You’ve said that your bottom line has been the big deal; that’s not going to happen. Are you going to be willing to go back to just raising the debt ceiling still?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think I’ve been consistently saying here in this press room and everywhere that it is very important for us to raise the debt ceiling. We don’t have an option on that. So if that’s the best that Congress can do, then I will sign a extension of the debt ceiling that takes us through 2013.

I don’t think that’s enough. I think we should do more. That’s the bare minimum; that’s the floor of what the American people expect us to do. So I’d like to see us do more. And when I meet with the leadership tomorrow I’m going to say let’s do more. But if they tell me that’s the best they can do, then I will sign an extension that goes to 2013, and I will make the case to the American people that we’ve got to continue going out there and solving this problem. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s time to do it. We can’t keep on putting it off.

Q You suggested that Speaker Boehner didn’t return phone calls this afternoon. Could you elaborate a little bit on that?

THE PRESIDENT: You know, I’m less concerned about me having to wait for my phone call returned than I am the message that I received when I actually got the phone call.

I’m going to make this the last question. Go ahead.

Q Yes, the markets are closed right now, obviously. What assurances can you give people on Wall Street? Are you going to be reaching out to some people on Wall Street so that when Monday comes we don’t see a reaction to the news that’s developing right now?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s very important that the leadership understands that Wall Street will be opening on Monday, and we better have some answers during the course of the next several days.

Q What can you say to people who are watching who work on Wall Street who might find this news a bit alarming, perhaps?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think what you should say -- well, here’s what I’d say: I remain confident that we will get an extension of the debt limit and we will not default. I am confident of that.

I am less confident at this point that people are willing to step up to the plate and actually deal with the underlying problem of debt and deficits. That requires tough choices. That’s what we were sent here to do.

I mean, the debt ceiling, that’s a formality. Historically, this has not even been an issue. It’s an unpleasant vote but it’s been a routine vote that Congress does periodically. It was raised 18 times when Ronald Reagan was President. Ronald Reagan said default is not an option, that it would be hugely damaging to the prestige of the United States and we shouldn’t even consider it. So that’s the easy part. We should have done that six months ago.

The hard part is actually dealing with the underlying debt and deficits, and doing it in a way that’s fair. That’s all the American people are looking for -- some fairness. I can’t tell you how many letters and emails I get, including from Republican voters, who say, look, we know that neither party is blameless when it comes to how this deft and deficit developed -- there’s been a lot of blame to spread around -- but we sure hope you don’t just balance the budget on the backs of seniors. We sure hope that we’re not slashing our commitment to make sure kids can go to college. We sure hope that we’re not suddenly throwing a bunch of poor kids off the Medicaid rolls so they can’t get basic preventative services that keep them out of the emergency room. That’s all they’re looking for, is some fairness.

Now, what you’re going to hear, I suspect, is, well, if you -- if the Senate is prepared to pass the cap, cut and balance bill, the Republican plan, then somehow we can solve this problem -- that’s serious debt reduction. It turns out, actually, that the plan that Speaker Boehner and I were talking about was comparable in terms of deficit reduction. The difference was that we didn’t put all the burden on the people who are least able to protect themselves, who don’t have lobbyists in this town, who don’t have lawyers working on the tax code for them -- working stiffs out there, ordinary folks who are struggling every day. And they know they’re getting a raw deal, and they’re mad at everybody about it. They’re mad at Democrats and they’re mad at Republicans, because they know somehow, no matter how hard they work, they don’t seem to be able to keep up. And what they’re looking for is somebody who’s willing to look out for them. That’s all they’re looking for.

And for us not to be keeping those folks in mind every single day when we’re up here, for us to be more worried about what some funder says, or some talk radio show host says, or what some columnist says, or what pledge we signed back when we were trying to run, or worrying about having a primary fight -- for us to be thinking in those terms instead of thinking about those folks is inexcusable.

I mean, the American people are just desperate for folks who are willing to put aside politics just for a minute and try to get some stuff done.

So when Norah asked or somebody else asked why was I willing to go along with a deal that wasn’t optimal from my perspective, it was because even if I didn’t think the deal was perfect, at least it would show that this place is serious, that we’re willing to take on our responsibilities even when it’s tough, that we’re willing to step up even when the folks who helped get us elected may disagree.

And at some point, I think if you want to be a leader, then you got to lead.

Thank you very much.

END
6:36 P.M. EDT