Transcript - Remarks: Joe Biden Addresses the Debt Ceiling Standoff at The White House - May 17, 2023 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:18 ()

Hey, everybody. Well, I'm about to take off in a few minutes, if you hear the helicopter out there, to Japan -- not in the helicopter, but to Andrews. Anyway -- and to meet with the leaders of G7.

Joe Biden

00:00:18 - 00:00:34 ()

America's role in the world is vital, especially right now as we work together with other countries to support Ukraine and take on the challenges that demand international cooperation, from tackling the climate crisis to strengthening the -- the global economy.

Joe Biden

00:00:34 - 00:00:46 ()

And before I leave, I wanted to say a word about the status of negotiations with the Congressional leaders. We had a productive meeting yesterday and -- with all four leaders of the Congress.

Joe Biden

00:00:46 - 00:00:51 ()

It was civil and respectful. And everyone came to the meeting, I think, in good faith.

Joe Biden

00:00:51 - 00:01:09 ()

I'm confident that we'll get the agreement on the budget, that America will not default. And every leader in the room understands the consequences if we fail to pay our bills. And it would be catastrophic for the -- for the American economy and the American people if we didn't pay our bills.

Joe Biden

00:01:09 - 00:01:32 ()

And I'm confident everyone in the room agreed, with the Speaker -- from the Speaker to the Majority Leader to the -- Majority Leader in the House and the Senate -- excuse me -- the Majority Leader in the Senate, the Minority Leader in the Senate, as well as the Leader -- the Democratic Leader in the House, that we're going to come together, because there's no alternative to do the right thing for the country. We have to move on.

Joe Biden

00:01:32 - 00:01:41 ()

And to be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we're going to, in fact, pay our debts.

Joe Biden

00:01:41 - 00:01:47 ()

The leaders have all agreed we will not default. Every leader has said that.

Joe Biden

00:01:47 - 00:02:13 ()

And I'm proud of the progress my administration has made. We've reduced the deficit in the first two years by $1.7 trillion in the first two years. And I've proposed a budget that will reduce another $3 trillion over the next decade. That includes more revenue by asking the wealthy and large corporations to begin to pay -- pay their fair share and cutting subsidies that exist in the law now to Big Oil and Big Pharma.

Joe Biden

00:02:13 - 00:02:30 ()

Yesterday, we all agreed that both the Speaker McCarthy and I would designate senior members that we would negotiate to give our authority to make agreements and detail on what we wanted. So we narrowed the group. We narrowed the group to meet and hammer out our differences.

Joe Biden

00:02:30 - 00:02:44 ()

And we've done that. In fact, they've met last night, and they're going to be meeting again today. And -- and I'll be in constant contact with my team while I'm at the G7. And I'll be in close touch with Speaker McCarthy and other leaders as well.

Joe Biden

00:02:44 - 00:02:59 ()

Now, what I have done in anticipation that we won't get it all done until I get back is I've cut my s- -- trip short in order to be -- for the final negotiations and sign the deal with -- with the Majority Leader.

Joe Biden

00:02:59 - 00:03:06 ()

I made clear that -- and I'll say it again: America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills.

Joe Biden

00:03:06 - 00:03:09 ()

The nation has never defaulted on its debt, and it never will.

Joe Biden

00:03:09 - 00:03:21 ()

And we're going to continue these discussions with Congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement. And I'll have more to say about that on Sunday, when I'm going to have a press conference on this issue.

Joe Biden

00:03:21 - 00:03:29 ()

As it stands now, the intention is to go to the G7, be back here on Sunday, hold a press conference.

Joe Biden

00:03:29 - 00:03:58 ()

And in the meantime, I'm going -- I've spoken to the Australian leader Albanese, and I've spoken to -- I'm going to be seeing him at the G7. He'll be there as well, along with the Indian Prime Minister and along with the Japanese as well. So the Quad members will be there. We'll get a chance to talk separately at the meeting, but it's unlikely I'm going to be going on to Australia.

Joe Biden

00:03:58 - 00:03:59 ()

So, thank you very much.

Question

00:03:59 - 00:04:10 ()

Mr. President, what about work requirements specifically are you still considering? It sounds like it's still on the table and you haven't ruled it out. Which would you be willing to accept?

Joe Biden

00:04:10 - 00:04:32 ()

Well, I'm not -- they're -- I'm not going to accept any work requirements that's going to impact on medical health needs of people. I'm not going to accept any work requirements that go much beyond what is already -- what I -- I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist. But it's possible there could be a few others, but not anything of any consequence.

Joe Biden

00:04:32 - 00:04:33 ()

Question

00:04:33 - 00:04:34 ()

What message does this send --

Joe Biden

00:04:34 - 00:04:35 ()

Question

00:04:35 - 00:04:47 ()

-- to PNG and Australia? I know that it was important to you to focus on Asia on this trip, but this is having to be put aside. Does this -- is this almost a win for China?

Joe Biden

00:04:47 - 00:04:51 ()

No. No, because we're still meeting. We still have four good allies.

Question

00:04:51 - 00:04:59 ()

Mr. President, do you intend to speak with President Xi soon, sir?

Joe Biden

00:04:59 - 00:05:06 ()

That's my -- whether it's soon or not, but we will be meeting.