Remarks on the Federal Budget Negotiations

Let me just make a comment, if you all are ready, on this deficit problem. Frankly, I had a good report from the Hill, and I want to commend the Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee for voting to deal with the budget problem forthrightly.

The Democrats in the House wanted to avoid fiscal responsibility and keep government spending growing and deficit growing. And the Republicans said: Look, no more business as usual. No more dodging responsibility. It is time to get the budget agreement done. Without an agreement, the deficit gets worse, the economy gets worse, and clearly it's the American people that will suffer.

So, if there is no budget agreement with real spending reduction and real process reform by the end of the week, I will have to veto it -- I will veto any continuing resolution that suspends Gramm-Rudman and budget discipline and thereby destroys our best chance of bringing this deficit under control once and for all.

So, I want to thank the Republicans who have stood firm on this. I do not want to see further delays and kicking this problem on down the road. Enough is enough! The American people want a deal, and they want it now. They want to get the deficit down, and that's what I want.

That's it. Thank you.