The President. I want to thank Senator Reid and Senator Durbin. Dick and I have had a really good discussion with them. The elections are over; the problems haven't gone away. And I assured the Senators that we will cooperate as closely as we can to solve common problems. I, of course, said this after I congratulated them on great victories. I know they were proud of their team's efforts. And they ran good campaigns, and they talked about issues that the people care about, and they won.
My attitude about this is that there is a great opportunity for us to show the country that Republicans and Democrats are equally as patriotic and equally concerned about the future and that we can work together. Senator Reid and I are both from the West. I'm from west Texas; he's from Nevada. And we tend to speak the same language, pretty plain-spoken people, which should bode well for our relationship.
So I appreciate you all coming. I'm really looking forward to working with you.
[At this point, Sen. Reid made brief remarks.]
The President. Thank you, sir. Dick, do you want to say something?
[Sen. Durbin made brief remarks.]
The President. I was hoping you would notice that. Thank you all.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:18 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Sens. Reid and Durbin.
George W. Bush, Remarks Following a Meeting With Senators Harry Reid and Richard J. Durbin Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/271969
