President Obama Applauds Americans for Stepping Up, Urging Debt Compromise

The House and Senate have voted on a compromise guaranteeing more than two-trillion dollars in deficit reduction - and the President has signed it into law. President Obama calls it a first step to ensuring the U.S. lives within its means. The plan - passed by the House on a vote of 269 to 161 and the Senate on a vote of 74 to 26 - provides for authority to increase the public debt limit by between 2.1-trillion and 2.4-trillion dollars. It also requires Democrats and Republicans to work together to develop a bigger deficit reducing plan. He says it will have to be a balanced approach with everything on the table - including adjustments to protect certain programs and tax code reform. Obama says that also means getting rid of taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies. He says everyone needs to chip in.

President Obama thanks Americans for keeping up the pressure on their elected officials to put politics aside and work together for the good of the country. He says this compromise allows the U.S. to keep making key investments in education and research that lead to new jobs and assures lawmakers aren’t cutting too abruptly while the economy is still fragile.

Taking an opportunity to highlight the impact of the uncertainty surrounding the debt on the nation’s economic recovery - the President has also laid out some of his plans to focus on that when Congress returns from the August recess. He says the first step needs to be extending tax cuts for middle-class families. He also wants them to pass the trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea - which have already been negotiated. He says they would help displaced workers looking for new jobs while allowing U.S. businesses to sell more products.

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