Press Release

“Well, I think we're going to do the right thing. We're certainly not doing the perfect thing but we're doing the right thing and it's never the wrong time to do that. I'm glad that we have come to this agreement.

“Thank you, Madam Leader. I agree with the Leader, that this is a very positive meeting, as we expected it to be. The President is very committed to getting the government open, obviously, making sure that America pays its bills. 

“I don't know if there's much to add. I think the American people were heartened by the fact that Senators were talking.

“Once again, the twelfth day of the shutdown of government of the American people, the twelfth day of having people out of work, expected to be paid but not working. 

“We’re now in the twelfth day of the government shutdown. We are just a few days from risking the creditworthiness of our country. It is time to open up this government [and] get government workers back to work serving the American people.

“I think the votes are there to open up government and I think the votes are there to make sure the nation pays its debts. … In this case, however, both sides say they want government open. Both sides say they don't want the government to default. So it seems that we're in agreement. We ought to have a bill on the Floor to do both of those and pass it today. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet, but it can happen today and I hope it does.”

“Every one of you here, everyone of you here represents 100,000 who are not here.

I want to say that the President emphasized over and over again what we also share, and that is he is willing to talk about all of the issues that our Republican colleagues want to talk about and try to come to agreement.