Pres. Obama Discusses Debt Ceiling and Gun Control; Full Transcript of President Obama’s Press Conference.

Pres. Obama Discusses Debt Ceiling and Gun Control

WASHINGTON, DC
Monday, January 14, 2013

In the final press conference of his first term, President Obama pressed Republicans in Congress to raise the debt ceiling.“We are not a deadbeat nation” said the President, as he signaled that he’s open to using an executive order raise the legal limit the country can borrow to pay its bills.

As the President starts his second term, reducing gun violence is also a top administration priority. Vice President Joe Biden will deliver his task force recommendations this week to the President.

Full Transcript of President Obama’s

Press Conference

The following is the complete transcript of President Obama’s press conference on Monday in Washington. (Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service.)

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Q: I wanted to ask about gun violence. Today marks the one-year — or one-month anniversary of the shooting in Newtown, which seemed to generate some momentum for reinstating the assault weapons ban. But there’s been fresh opposition to that ban from the NRA, and even Harry Reid has said that he questions whether it could pass Congress. Given that, how hard will you push for an assault weapons ban? And if one cannot pass Congress, what other measures would need to be included in a broad package in order to curb gun violence successfully?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, as I said, the vice president and a number of members of my Cabinet went through a very thorough process over the last month, meeting with a lot of stakeholders in this, including the NRA, listened to proposals from all quarters. And they’ve presented me now with a list of sensible, common-sense steps that can be taken to make sure that the kinds of violence we saw at Newtown doesn’t happen again.

I’m going to be meeting with the vice president today. I expect to have a fuller presentation later in the week to give people some specifics about what I think we need to do. My starting point is not to worry about the politics. My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works. What should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that we’re reducing the incidence of gun violence? And I think we can do that in a sensible way that comports with the Second Amendment.

And then members of Congress, I think, are going to have to have a debate and examine their own conscience because, you know, if, in fact — and I believe this is true — everybody across party lines was as deeply moved and — and — and saddened as I was by what happened in Newtown, then we’re going to have to vote based on what we think is best.

We’re going to have to come up with answers that set politics aside, and that’s what I expect Congress to do.

But I — but I — what you can count on is, is that the things that I’ve said in the past — the belief that we have to have stronger background checks, that we can do a much better job in terms of keeping these magazine clips with high capacity out of the hands of folks who shouldn’t have them, an assault weapons ban that is meaningful — that those are things I continue to believe make sense.

(Inaudible) — will all of them get through this Congress? I don’t know. But what’s uppermost in my mind is making sure that I’m honest with the American people and with members of Congress about what I think will work, what I think is — is something that will make a difference. And to repeat what I’ve said earlier, if there is a step we can take that will save even one child from what happened in Newtown, we should take that step.

Q: (Off mic.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’ll — I’ll present the details later in the week.

Gun Policy Experts Discuss Reducing Gun Violence

Mayor Bloomberg and Governor O’Malley Remarks >>>VIDEO<<<

WASHINGTON, DC 
Monday, January 14, 2013

More than 20 gun policy experts and government officials discuss and recommend federal actions to reduce gun violence in the U.S. at a summit hosted by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Center for Gun Policy and Research on Monday.

The “Summit on Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis” begins with research presentations. Participants then weigh research and data to adopt specific recommendations, which will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, made opening remarks. He offered concrete policy ideas for Congress and the White House.

The first panel focused on gun violence statistics along with a look at gun regulation, especially the Brady bill. The group also looked at public health and safety of guns in society.  The next panel talked about keeping guns away from high-risk individuals.  The final panel participates in a discussion titled “Gun Policy Lessons from the United States: High-Risk Guns.”