the comments left for senator mcconnell and may be given back and that we begin the vote. they spoke to reporters for about half an hour. >> i look forward to seeing you this weekend. no one is laughing, ok. let's start. xavier becerra, chairman of the democratic caucus. we held a pretty extensive caucus this friday afternoon, even though republicans have completed voting for the week. we do not have a budget in place for our government. we are ready to work.

we wish that we weren't once again watching this brinksmanship and this fiscal cliff resurface again. be rated movie when we saw it the first time it doesn't look any better as a rerun it doesn't look any better as a re-run. democrats believe we should be focusing as elected representatives of the people on strengthening the middle class. helping our economy grow more jobs. because if we don't have a strong middle class, we may as well turn off the lights. we're not going to create those jobs. we're not going to continue to be a leader in the world if we don't focus like a laser beam on creating middle-class jobs and helping grow the middle class so that they can buy that home, they can send their kids to college.

for the life of me, i don't think any of us understand how shutting down our government and stopping services to the middle class, to that soldier's family, to that veteran who has come home, to that senior who relies on that meals on wheels lunch, how shutting the doors of government will help in any way to strengthen the middle class. but this is where we see ourselves. we would urge our republican colleagues to put country before party, to stop with this discussion that what governs in the house of representatives are party rules, not the rules of the house of representatives, not the rules provided to us by our statutes or constitution, but a political rule, a so- called hastert rule that is a republican party rule that says, don't you dare let anything go on the floor of the house unless it has the support of a majority of republicans.

not the support of a majority of americans who were elected to serve their country as elected representatives in the house, but a majority of republicans. if you're going to put party before country, we will end up seeing these folks shut down government. we urge our colleagues in the house republican party to please think of putting country before party. the american people have witnessed enough. no small business in america would run the way the house of representatives is being run today. if no small business on main street would run this way and expect to survive, then certainly the largest economy in the world should not be run this way. we think it's time to get to work, to strengthen the middle class. we have a lot pending.

we still have to deal with making sure that we don't let our country for the first time in its history default on its past obligations, to make it clear that we believe in the full faith and credit of the united states of america. we still have to finish fixing a broken immigration system arid -- the senate already at did, is showing the house the obstruction and dysfunction that makes it clear that we are not thinking of helping the middle class. there are any number of things that we can do. the last thing we need to do is watch as a very dedicated group of tea party members tell america they are ready to shut down government. we are ready to work and we hope our republican colleagues are ready to join us. with that let me yield to the , vice chairman of the democratic caucus, the gentleman from new york, mr. joe crowley.

>> thank you. here we are again on the fiscal cliff. the american people once again put on edge artificially. there's enough calamity, both man-made and naturally occurring out there in the world today. we have seen it with the flooding in mexico, the floods in colorado. we have unrest in the middle east and syria. we have had 13 individuals last week killed less than a mile from here. the response of the republican congress is not to find a solution and let americans know that everything is ok with their government, that government will go on. instead, it's to create an artificial crisis. the american people do not want more crises and they certainly don't want artificial crises. they want the republican congress to get its act together. that is now the full responsibility of the speaker, to get his caucus together and

come up with solutions. the american people want solutions to the problems we are facing. no more man-made crises. we are here, prepared to work throughout the weekend to ensure that government does not shut down. our question is, are our republican colleagues committed to ensuring the government does not shut down? that is a question for the speaker and for his conference. we democrats stand ready to ensure the government will continue to operate. with that, i will give you our lead man on the budget, the gentleman from the great state of maryland, chris van hollen. >> thank you, joe and xavier. it's great to have all of you here today.

we don't know how much longer we will be here as the republicans try to figure out what they will do next. one thing we do know is that all signs point to the fact that they are hell-bent on trying to shut down the government in order to implement the tea party extreme agenda. we don't yet know what the speaker intends to do, other than what appears to be the plan, to put another amendment on the continuing resolution unrelated to keeping the government operating and focused on trying to dismantle or derail the affordable care act. if that's what they do, that will be a sure sign that they are focused on shutting down the government rather than doing the business of government and trying to do what we can to support the middle class. it's also troubling to hear they're going to double down on the strategy in the coming weeks with respect to the so-called debt ceiling, which simply means the government should be paying its bills on time. their position once again is

they are going to prevent the u.s. government from paying its bills on time, jeopardize the full faith and credit of the u.s. government if they cannot enact their extreme agenda. so far, we have seen reports that they are essentially taking every tea party idea and throwing that into a package and telling the country that if we don't enact that extreme agenda, they're not going to allow the country to pay its bills on time. as everybody in the country realizes, if the government doesn't pay its bills on time, the middle class gets hurt first, as the chairman has indicated. that is irresponsible and reckless. we stand ready to work with them to try to resolve this. that is the last point i want to make. we have been trying to bring our republican colleagues to the negotiating table on the budget for months and months.

the law says that we should have completed a conference committee by april 15. the house passed a budget, the senate passed a budget, but the speaker of the house refused to appoint negotiators. in the senate, republican senators blocked harry reid for -- from appointing negotiators. senator john mccain said that it is insane, but they did. what they clearly intended for all along was to create these artificial crises. because they somehow thought that if you threaten to shut down the government or threaten that we will no longer pay our bills on time, under those pressing circumstances, they will get their extreme agenda put into place. it just does not work that way.

it is not going to happen. >> chris, thank you very much. >> if speaker boehner were to break with that and to end up adding something to the cr that was unrelated to obamacare, could democrats support that and send that back to senate? >> we are interested in keeping our government operating. and services out there for people who pay for these services. we all pay our taxes. if we want to collect our social security check, we expect the doors to be open. if we have paid for our government to be able to issue a passport so we can go visit an ailing or dying parent we want , to be able to do that. we should focus our efforts on this budget discussion on issues that relate to the budget, but our colleagues on the republican side insist on including things that have nothing to do with budget and all to do with their

republican extreme social agenda. would we vote for things that have nothing to do with the budget simply so republicans can be satisfied that if they extort the american people will have a budget? i don't think so. i think the president has made it very clear. we want a clean budget vote. all the extraneous matters that are social agenda, far right social agendas are off the table. members of congress will continue to come to work. but if the republicans shut down the government, there are a whole lot of americans that will not get to go to work and other americans that will not be able to receive the services they pay for. a clean vote. that is all democrats are saying. a vote on budget and only on budget. you want to debate your social agenda?

we can do that and we can vote that up or down at a later time. hostage theld american economy and the american people so you it is too can get your social agenda. it is too important to the middle class and too important during this time of economic recovery to not weaken the -- to start to weaken the pillars of recovery that will allow the middle class to get back on its feet. i don't think democrats are ready to engage in the shenanigans. it has nothing to do with budget in all to do with an extreme hard right social agenda. >> [speaking spanish] >> [speaking spanish]

other questions. >> the question was a bit open- ended. so if you're saying the take out the language on the affordable care act but at something else -- >> if they were to bring up the cr,

leave off any provisions that have to do with the defunding, but you have seen a list of different provisions that they have thought about adding. >> again, without specifying exactly what they would add to it heard their are other attempts to amend aspects of the care -- of the affordable care act. i don't think we should use this process is a legislative fix for the issues they're concerned about. we have other ways of doing that through the regular order. bringing the bill up a debating on the floor. building consensus among to percussion republicans. -- building consensus among democrats and republicans. in the house of representatives heard we would like to be in the majority. right now the ball is in their court. the deadline is coming, three days away. the ball is in their court.

that is not continuing to promote their ideological agenda. to most specific of which is repeal the affordable care act. that is not going to happen. the affordable care act, 43 times andtimes, 45 on. is not going to be repealed. not this way and i don't think it will ever be repealed. if they had a president and the ability to have majorities in both houses come i will tell you right now this bill will not be repealed. the america low -- the american people won't stand for. he said last week that he would not support his sequester. support of a clean budget bill. what i won't support is my colleagues on the republican side trying to inject their social agenda into a budget bill when we are on the brink of shutting the doors to our government when services are we are waiting to see

our colleagues provide us with a clean vote on a clean budget bill so we can keep the doors of government open. we have yet to see that could our republican colleagues have made very clear that it is their intention to put in their social agenda, regardless of what the american people are saying. what we are seeing is a fight among republicans. they can't decide among themselves what they want to do. while they are out there brawling, the american people are watching and pretty soon we are going to be impact did in major ways if they let our government close its doors. unnecessarily. stop theh they would fighting, internal fighting, and decided they want to do. hopefully what they decide to do is to give the american people the chance for the representatives to vote up or down on a clean bill to fund the government so we can provide the

services that americans pay for with their taxpayer dollars. now tasked by the senate only gets -- what has now been passed by the senate has this until the middle of november. is there any sign that at the there would45 days be anything different than what is happening right now? >> i'm glad you asked that. heard only hope unfortunately, hope has not gotten us there over the last three or four months. as i indicated earlier, we have been trying to go to negotiation on the budget for months now. the law requires it. we complete the conference by april 15, but as you know we are well over that. you can have a conference if our colleagues refuse to even appointed negotiators. his onlyope, and is

hope, that between now and november 15 o republican colleagues would be willing to come to the table and truly negotiate trade i think i should point out that we have tried eight tis now in the house of representatives to simply get a that would plan replace the sequester. at sequester is eating away important investments around the country. it is eating away the important investments in our infrastructure and transportation. it is eating away at important investments in scientific research. the congressional budget office told us just yesterday in the hearing before the budget committee that if we don't replace that sequester, we will have 800,000 fewer jobs in this country at this time next year. it could be as high as 1.2 million fewer jobs in this country this time next year. that is another self-inflicted wound, which is why we are going

to be working very hard to train 15 to eliminate that drag on the economy, which would effectively wipe out the last three months of job growth. that is outrageous. that is a self-inflicted wound that we can't afford in this country. i can only hope that in the next couple of months, our republican colleagues will do what he refused to do for the previous four months, which is to try and figure should on these issues. this is a very calculated strategy on the part of republicans. they didn't negotiate for four months in the normal course because they thought that by planning to shut down the government and threatening that we wouldn't pay our bills, they would somehow force a country and force a president to accept their extreme ideological agenda. aty knew they couldn't get the negotiating table through the normal course because that requires compromise. anthey are trying to force

uncompromising agenda by threatening to shut down the government and default on our debts. we hope that our sanity will finally come to the house republican party in the coming months. thatw much frustration is in the caucus at having to vote -- -- if it comes to that even a short-term measure that -- that would supply sequester measures. >> i will try again. we are three days away from watching republicans shut down the government. as of this moment, we don't know what the house republicans will put on the floor of the house for a vote. that is the lunacy of where we , where the greatest democracy in the world is being by folks who have not yet decided what i want to do to

fund the government in an annual budget bill was less than three days to go before the government shuts down. what do democrats want to do? democrats want to stop the game. democrats would like to have a clean bill. democrats are ready to make tough choices and hard decisions on how we can continue to reduce the size of the deficit and get americans back to work and how we strengthen the middle class. we are ready to do all those things, but it is tough one right now, friday afternoon, three short days before the government is going to shut down, our colleagues have still not told us what to do in terms of the budget so we don't have to shut the doors of government. 80% of the american people, 75% of republicans in this country say it is not appropriate to play with the american economy and our government services in this budget fight.

think there are some folks here in congress who were not listening to their own constituents. if 80% of the american people are saying stop this gameplaying , democrats have said from the very beginning. draft a clean bill, you've got votes. even if there are some tough choices we have to make, but not once in his process and our ranking member mr. van hollen, -- 201 voting democrats. not once have we had our republican colleagues reach out to democrats and say, let's put together a budget bill so we can all vote on it. this has been a totally republican process and it should surprise no one that democrats are prepared to go against any republican bill which tries to inject extraneous matters that have to do with our social agenda into what should be purely a budget will three days

before republican shut down the government. >> i would just add, what frustrates our caucus is the fact that the republican caucus is not focused on finding solutions. we want to find solutions to the problems we have right now. but throwing out hypotheticals three days before the deadline is not the time to do that. hypotheticals may be a month ago, two months ago, four or five months ago. now it is crunch time. that is what frustrates all of you. ,t frustrates american people it certainly frustrates the democratic caucus. we don't know what their plan is to keep government operating an open right now. it is all hypothetical. in the end what i do know is there are hundreds of thousands of federal employees, this is real for them. this is not hypothetical. they do not know if they're

going to work after october 1 and what impact it will have on their families and their lives. we can suggest it will be negative. what impact the shut down on the government will have on our economy, the job loss that will not be recovered because of that word these are not inconsequential events. and it isand that incredibly frustrating to us that we hear once again at the 11th hour as opposed to doing this in an orderly way and in a -- that does not create man-made brinksmanship. this is all man made. this is all done by the republican caucus. because they are so bent on their ideology and to repeal the affordable care act, they are blinded by everything else. they are blinded to the consequences of what they are playing with. i think the american people are beginning to understand this all too well.

>> as i indicated, we have been frustrated that we have been denied a times the vote on our plan to replace the sequester. a going -- again, these are the very deep and immediate meet tax cuts that are having a negative impact on many important investments across this country. overall him of the non-partisan independent congressional budget office tells us that up to 1.2 million fewer jobs next year and their best estimate is 800,000 fewer american jobs this time next year. so are we frustrated that we had an opportunity to even have a vote on our plan to save 800,000 jobs? absolutely. fore going to keep fighting the opportunity to replace that sequester because it is not good for the country and we can achieve the same amount of deficit reduction, in fact even more deficit reduction without the job loss under the plan that

we have proposed as a democratic caucus here in the house. we thinkople's house, that the american people deserve a vote on that. the speaker was to vote no, if you want to vote to have 800,000 fewer jobs in this country at this time next year, that is his prerogative. we think in the people's house, the american people are entitled to have a vote on the proposal we put forward. >> we which is close by saying that we are hoping you will hear some news and we will hear some news in that our republican colleagues have decided to drop this obsession with their party platform and putting that, jamming that into a budget bill three days before they moved to close the government. to move forward with them on a clean vote on a budget bill. we have been for quite some time, but we also, as mr. van hollen said, it would be very helpful if they would show that they want to extend a hand to

201 representatives of the american people because it is time that the american people saw us doing some stuff together . if 80% of the american public is saying stop jamming the process on the budget to get your social andda, we agree with them we are ready to work with our republican colleagues because there is a middle ground. it is common ground out there, but we should start looking for it before we shut the doors of government. we want to thank you all for being here and we will be in touch. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> arkansas representative rick crawford and other house republicans spoke outside the capital about the impact of the healthcare law on americans and the economy. the news conference ended after a protester accused the republicans of wanting to deny health care to millions of people. this is 15 minutes.

>> ready? thank you for coming out here today. we just came out to provide a little bit of perspective here. some of the things that are being talked about with regard to the cr and obamacare being at the center of this debate. number one, we know america is up to our eyeballs in debt. we don't think it is time to rush forward with trillions in new entitlement spending. so what i'm doing is introducing a resolution that will simply asked the question. members can say yes or no. my question is does it make sense to move ahead with 1.3 trillion dollars in new entitlement spending when we are in the middle of a debt crisis? we're going to put that question to all the members. our answer is no. we hope that our colleagues across the aisle and across to capital would see that as an opportunity to also say no it doesn't make sense. in that light made we can take some appropriate action. that is our resolution is

basically calling on members to explain why they think it is a good idea to rush forward with one point $3 trillion in new entitlement spending when we are in the middle of a debt crisis. that said, want to thank the members that have come out today. we know that they are all busy and have things to be doing, so i appreciate him coming out and being here today. if any questions today i will be happy to answer them. >> and went to the dr. fleming speak. he is obvious a medical doctor and can't, with some detail on this. out,ank you all for coming i am congressman john fleming from louisiana. physician and small business owner. yesterday the president was giving a speech in maryland and he quoted a congressman saying that that congressman said that obamacare is the worst piece of legislation ever. well, ladies and him and, that congressman was me. i fully stand behind that

statement. as you just heard, congressman ,rawford said, for heaven sakes and it. when we have entitlement programs that america can ill afford, we are now launching even a new entitlement program that will be a massive transfer of income from one class of people to another. destroying our income, destroying jobs, and really, perversely actually removing roles from the healthcare they are already on. why in the world would be want to do that. in the final analysis, what obamacare represents for the american people is not only loss of the insurance that they already have, but a steep rise -- we know that since the beginning of the year 77% of all new jobs are part-time jobs.

that is because companies all across america are rapidly moving their employees from full-time to part-time jobs heard they are losing not only their healthcare in some cases, but they are also losing their jobs, their income and certainly their standard of living. i certainly stand behind this measure. i think we should remind those who voted for obamacare, all of them democrats not a single republican ever voted for this bill. we should have an reminder constituents time and time again of the fact that this is a whole new entitlement program that is destructive for america. thank you, i yield back or it >> thank you, dr. fleming. i got an e-mail from a constituent this morning works at one of the largest hospitals in my district. they had a meeting, administration rolled out the news that their healthcare costs were going up. as a result their retirement benefits were going down.

these are just some of the symptoms that we are seeing already manifesting themselves with the implementation of this law that is ill-conceived. my point is this third we want senator reed to answer the question, does it make sense to speed forward with $1.3 trillion in new entitlement spending in the middle of a debt crisis? if there's anybody else that would like to weigh in i will give them the opportunity. if not i can take a question. >> alternative fallback tradition. if defunding is not achieve? >> we don't know what to expect from the senate. we still haven't seen anything yet. this is not anything other than the fact that we need to make sure that our folks back home know where their senator stands, where their member of congress stands. we want to get them on record. it is been three years since the law was signed and people need to get a little reaffirmation of whether or not their member of

congress or their senator thinks it is a good idea to continue to spend recklessly. we think it is not. >> when the president was speaking about it, yesterday. he brought up the fugitive slave act feeling that would be a worse -- >> that was in a state rep. i didn't specify any particular legislation in the past, but the point is that they obamsacare or government rule, 1/6 of the entire economy. probably the most important part of our economy. what could be more intimate for each intimate -- for each individual american than healthcare. that only now do americans have to be accountable for the finances to the arrest, now they have to be accountable to the irs for the healthcare. if you add that to the loss of jobs and loss of health care and

the cost of healthcare, i think it is incomparable. history. the democrats are going to come back at you with this. want to clarify exactly what you are talking about? >> i think that is it was very clear. i'm going to yield to my college from kentucky, mr. andrew barr. sixth congressional district. i think this resolution is important because it went out that obamacare threatens to further undermine the solvency of important health care programs that are currently in existence. in my district, we have a number of seniors just like every other district dependent on medicare.

you are already seeing the fiscal pressures that obamacare is placing on medicare. the medicare trustees are saying right now that the hospital insurance trust fund is set to go bankrupt in the year 2026. a whole new entitlement program that the cbo projects are constantly $2 trillion over the next 10 years will put further pressure on medicare. remember, obamacare raises medicare to the tune of 700 and 16 billion dollars. there are rural hospitals all over kentucky that are seeing their reimbursement slashed as a result of obamacare. obamacare victimizes medicare. independent payment advisory board which is a financing mechanism for obamacare, is threatening to ration health our seniors. for this resolution makes a point. that is that obamacare threatens an already fiscally insolvent safety net in our country.

we need to focus on saving medicare. we need to focus on forcing the government to keep the promises it has already made. obamacare makes that impossible. there's another important dimension to this discussion. you, andy. i want to add another thing. i heard from one of the seniors in my district recently, to simply put the question to me. am i going to have to choose between medicare, social security and obamacare? i can answer that question. i don't know that anybody can today. that they can say with certainty that no you won't have to choose , all three of them will be there, but as andy indicated and dr. fleming indicated this presents a major challenge to the solvency of the programs we and promise to our seniors that we intend to deliver. again, i would just ask that senator reed answer the simple question, does it make sense to

speed ahead with $1.3 trillion in the middle of a debt crisis. the folks in my district that answer is no and for me the answer is no, it doesn't make sense. we just need to slow this down a little bit and give the american people in new perspective. interesting fact in this seems a bit backwards, but in 2008 the national debt was $10 trillion. four years later it is up to 16 trillion. interesting fact here, while that debt has increased by 60%, the annual interest expense on it has actually increased. going from 451 billion dollars to only 360 billion dollars in 2012. why do you make that? interest rates are being artificially suppressed. when the normalized, and i say when because it will be normalized, that will put even further pressure on our budget. probably the interest on a debt becomes a single biggest line item in our federal budget.

as we see obamacare continuing to put further pressure on programs like medicare and as andy indicated he has a lot of critical access hospitals in his rural district, said why, they are all asking me what can we do fix to fix his problem. i know the wrong answer is. forward withing 1.3 trillion dollars in additional entitlement spending in the middle of a debt crisis. having said that, any further questions? i know congressman king was planning on being here. if there are no further >> all of you may districts, but anyone who is in -- who doesn't think this is high risk is not playing with a full deck.

of this message has nothing to with a government shutdown. i can't speak to the political dynamics of other members districts. i can tell you that i'm the first republican since 1873. i would hardly consider my district to be a safe republican district. i certainly am not a proponent of shutting down the government. this is a measure that was forced members of congress and senators to say yes it makes to spendno it doesn't, $1.3 trillion in additional entitlement funding in the middle of a debt crisis. it has nothing to do is shutting down the government. it is a clarification so that folks back home no where there member of congress stands, whether senators stand with regard to our spending problem in this town. i think we need to reassess that, reaffirm that, and give senators an opportunity to speak to their folks back home through voting yes or no on this resolution.

>> how could you call yourself christian and you want to deny healthcare to 30 million people in america? how can you call yourselves children of god? >> i think it is a good time on that note to end this. >> you call yourselves christians. these are killers. they're worse than the guy who has the navy yard incident. these people are demons. we are here today to call on the pope to exercise them, pray for them. to beeed god's power relieved from these demons that are possessing them. you see they broke up the press conference when we talked about god heard they do not represent children of god. they are not children of god. they are not. souls.praying for their we are praying for their souls.

we need to do something about it. we need to vote them out of office. they are destroying our confidence. i just asked him a question, that's all. ?hat estimate question, this is a free country. he refused to answer because he is a demon. he is a demon. maxine waters of congress said these are demons. these are demons. you are not christlike in your standing. >> my name is rocky wyman and i am part of the prayer movement. we are here today, we're going to have an exorcism here in front of the capitol steps. where going to pray for these demons that are destroying our nation. we need to pray for them.

i have a young man here who is homeless, he needs healthcare and he can't get healthcare. they want to hold up the budget, shut down the federal government just because they don't want 30 million people to have health care. .hat is a demonic spirit we are going to pray and pray and pray that god will deliver these demons from capitol hill. these are demons. i repeat, if maxine waters said this out in california, i believe it. we have been fighting them. they are worse than the guy that did the shooting at the navy yard. the policies are killing millions of americans. my name is rocky twyman.

the prayerunder of -- movement. >> friday, the senate voted along party lines to remove language from the house passed ill defunding the president's health care law and to fund the government through november 15. after the vote, president obama spoke to reporters at the white house and said republican plans to delay or repealed his health care law not happen. until october 1 to pass a budget avoiding a government shutdown. the president begins by announcing he spoke on the phone with iranian president hassan ronny. this is about 15 minutes. >> good afternoon everybody. before i discuss the situation in congress the me say a few

things about two important opportunities in our foreign- policy. this now i spoke on the phone with president ronnie of the islamic republic of iran. jim buss discussed her efforts to reach an agreement over iran's nuclear program. i reiterated to present ronnie what i said in new york. success is by no means guaranteed. i believe we can reach a comprehensive solution. i directed secretary kerry to consider. we had constructive discussions yesterday with our partners, the european union, the united kingdom, france, germany, russia and china, together with the iranian foreign minister. going forward, president roh honey and i have corrected or teams to continue working expeditiously in cooperation with the p5 plus one to her soon agreement throughout this

process we will stay in close touch with our friends and allies in the region, including israel. we are mindful of all the challenges ahead. the very fact that this was the first communication between an american and iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but indicates the process of -- the prospects of moving beyond that difficult history. i believe there is a basis for a resolution. iran's supreme leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons. i have made clear that we respect the right of the iranian people to access peaceful nuclear energy in the context of iran meeting its obligations. the test will be meaningful, transparent, and verifiable actions, which can also bring relief from the conference of -- comprehensive international sanctions that are currently in place. resolving this issue would also serve as a major step forward in

a new relationship between the united states and the islamic republic of iran. one based on mutual interest and respect. it will facilitate a better relationship between iran and the international community as well as others in the region, one that would help the iranian people fulfill their potential, but also help us address other concerns that could bring greater peace and stability to the middle east. a path to a meaningful agreement will be difficult, and at this point both sides have significant concerns that will have to be overcome. but i believe we have a responsibility to pursue diplomacy, and we have a unique opportunity to make progress with the new leadership in tehran. i also communicated to president rouhani my respect for the iranian people. this comes on the same day as we can possibly come to a diplomatic resolution on syria, when they security council

votes. this binding resolution will ensure that the assad regime must keep its commitments or face consequences. we will have to be vigilant about following through, but this could be a civilian victory a significant victory for the international community and demonstrate how strong diplomacy can allow us to secure our country and pursue a better world. now, america's security and leadership do not just depend on our military strength or diplomacy. first and foremost, america's strength depends on its strong economy, where our middle class is growing and everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead. let me speak about the situation that has developed over the past few weeks on capitol hill. here at home the united states congress has two pressing responsibilities -- pass a budget on time and pay our bills

on time. if congress chooses not to pass a budget by monday, the end of the fiscal year, they will shut down the government along with many vital services that the american people depend on. the good news is that within the past couple hours, the united states senate acted responsibly by voting to keep our government open and delivering the services the american people expect. now it is up to house republicans to do the same. i say that because obviously democrats have a great interest in making sure that these vital services continue to help the american people. so far, republicans in the house have refused to move forward. and here is the thing. unlike the last time they threatened this course of action, this debate is not really about deficits.

our deficits are falling at the fastest pace that they have in 60 years. by the end of this year we will have cut our deficit by more than half since i took office. so that is not what this is about. in fact, if you have been following the discussion, the republicans in the house do not make a pretense that that is what this is about. instead, house republicans are so concerned with appeasing the tea party that they have threatened a government shutdown or worse unless i gut or repeal the affordable care act. i said this yesterday, let me repeat it. that is not going to happen. more than 100 million americans currently already have new benefits and protections under the law. on tuesday, about 40 million more americans will be able to finally buy quality affordable health care, just like anybody else.

those marketplaces will be open for business on tuesday, no matter what, even if there is a government shutdown. that is a done deal. as i said before, if republicans have specific ideas on how to genuinely improve the law, rather than cut it, rather than delay it, rather than repeal it, and i am happy to work with them on that, through the normal democratic processes. but that will not happen under the threat of a shutdown. so over the next three days, house republicans will have to decide whether to join the senate and keep the government open or shut it down, because they cannot get their way on an issue that has nothing to do with the deficit. i realize a lot of what is taking place now is political grandstanding, but this grandstanding has real effects on real people. if the government shuts down on

tuesday, military personnel, including those risking their lives overseas for us right now, will not get paid on time. federal loans for rural communities and small business owners, families buying a home will be frozen. i'm already starting to get letters from people worried about that this will have an impact on them directly. critical research into life- saving discoveries will be immediately halted. federal government has a large role across the country and touches the lives of millions of people, and those people will be harmed. even the threat of a shutdown already is probably having a dampening effect on our economy. we saw that the last time these kinds of shenanigans were happening up on capitol hill. any republican in congress who is currently watching, i encourage you to think about who you are hurting. there are probably young people in your office right now looking to work for you without much pay

because they believed that public service was notable. -- was noble. you are preparing to send them home without a paycheck. you have families with kids back in your district who serve their country in the federal government, and now they might have to plan how they will get by if you shut the government down. past shutdowns have disrupted the economy, and this shutdown would as well. it would throw a wrench into the gears of our economy at a time when those gears have gained some traction. that is why many republicans senators and many republican governors have urged republicans to knock it off, pass a budget, and move on. let's get this done. this brings me to congress' second responsibility. once they vote to keep the government open, they have to vote within the next couple of weeks to allow the treasury to pay the bills for the money that

congress has already spent. i want to repeat -- raising the debt ceiling is simply authorizing the treasury to pay for what congress has already authorized. failure to meet this responsibility would be far more dangerous than a government shutdown. it would effectively be an economic shutdown with impacts not just here, but around the world. we do not fully understand what might happen, the dangers involved, because no congress has ever actually threatened default. but we know it would have a profound destabilizing effect on the entire economy, on the world economy, because america is the bedrock of world investment. the dollar is the reserve currency.

the debt that is issued by the treasury is the foundation for our capital markets. that is why you do not fool with it. some republicans have suggested that unless i agree to an even longer list of demands, rolling back pet projects they would like to see, we would push the button, turn america into default for the first time in history, and risk throwing us back into a recession. i am willing to work with anybody who wants to have a serious conversation about our fiscal future. i have demonstrated that, by putting forward serious reforms that would bring down our long-

term deficits. i have said in the past and i will continue to say that i'm willing to make a whole bunch of tough decisions and ones that may not the entirely welcomed by my own party, but we are not going to do this under the threat of blowing up the entire economy. i will not negotiate over congress' responsibility to pay the bills that have already been racked up. voting for the treasury to pay america's bills is not a concession to me. that is not doing me a favor. that is simply carrying out the solemn responsibilities that come with holding office up there. i do not know how i can be more clear about this. nobody gets to threaten the full faith and credit of the united states just to extract political concessions.

no one gets to hurt our economy when millions of innocent people, just because there are a couple of laws you do not like. it has not been done in the past. we are not going to start doing it now. i am not going to start setting a precedent, not just for me, but for future presidents, where one chamber in congress can basically say each time there needs to be a vote to make sure that the treasury pays its bills, we will not sign it unless our particular hobbyhorse gets advanced. imagine if you had a republican president and a democratic speaker, and the speaker said we will not pass a debt ceiling unless we raise corporate taxes by 40%, or unless we pass background checks on guns, or whatever other list of agenda

items democrats were interested in. does anybody actually think that we would be hearing from republicans that that that was acceptable behavior? that is not how our constitutional system is designed. we are not going to do it. the american people have worked too hard to recover from a bunch of crises, several of them now over the last couple of years inflicted by the same folks in congress we are talking about now, to see extremists in congress cause another crisis. keep in mind this whole thing has to do with keeping government open for a few months. the continuing resolution, the bill that is designed to avert a government shutdown, basically just funds the government for a couple of months so we could be

doing this all over again. i'm sure the american people are thrilled about that. that is why we have to break this cycle. my message to congress is this do not shut down the government, do not shut down the economy, pass a budget on time, they our pay our bills on time. refocus on the everyday concerns of the american people. there will be differences between democrats and republicans. we can have all kinds of conversations about how to resolve those differences. there will be areas where we can work together and where we can disagree. but do not threaten to burn the house down simply because you have not gotten 100% of your way. that is not how our democracy is supposed to work. every day that this goes on is another day that we are not focused on doing what we need to be focused on, which is

rebuilding this great country as this great country of ours so our middle class is growing and everybody has opportunity if they are willing to work hard. that is what i am focused on. that is what congress should be focused on as well. thank you very much, everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> today on c-span, "washington journal" with your calls. they will be in at noon to debate funding the government passed the summer 30th. next, your calls in the day's headlines. a look at congress as they prepare to work through the weekend. the fiscal year runs out september 30. then an update on the navy's investigation into the shooting this month in the navy yard with chief of information rear admiral john kirby.

on the u.s.ssion postal service. legislation in congress and how the agency could be impacted by government shutdown. we are joined by federal times senior writer, shawn wryly. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: the house meets at 10 today, considered to discuss the funding bill. at this hour, no indication that the house will take it up as is or if it will be amended in send back to the senate. several of the papers this morning reporting that senator said that senator ted cruz of texas met with house republicans, encouraging them not to pass the senate bill. the wall street journal reporting that 60 house republicans want speaker boehner to attach a one-year delay of the health-care law to the spending bills. two days until