Bill Clinton: “Well, I had talks with both of them this afternoon, and I offered--first, I asked them to open the Government again, and…”

“Well, I had talks with both of them this afternoon, and I offered--first, I asked them to open the Government again, and to do it immediately, so that the people who have made plans for Christmas week to be here and elsewhere would not be disappointed and so that the Federal employees would not be basically disoriented during this Christmas week. And I offered some ideas about how we might reopen the Government and how we might resume our budget negotiations. And they agreed to take my ideas under advisement and to speak with each other, perhaps with others as well. So I don't think I should talk about specifically what I said to them until I hear back from them. I think that would be wrong. I owe it to them to have a chance to consider this in a confidential matter on their own time.”