Bill Clinton: “We are about to start a meeting with the economic and budget team about the unfinished work in the budget that has to be…”

“We are about to start a meeting with the economic and budget team about the unfinished work in the budget that has to be done in the next few days. But before we start I'd like to make just a very brief comment on today's vote. First of all, I hope that we can now move forward with this process in a way that is fair, that is constitutional, and that is timely. The American people have been through a lot on this, and I think that everyone deserves that. Beyond that, I have nothing to say. It is not in my hands; it is in the hands of Congress and the people of this country, ultimately in the hands of God. There is nothing I can do. But there are things I can do something about. And the most important thing I can do now is to work in the next few days to work to cross party lines to do the work that we have to do here. We have got to pass a budget that protects the surplus and still to save Social Security, that keeps the American economy going amidst all this economic turmoil in the world, that protects, instead of damages, the environment, and that gives the kind of priority to our elementary and secondary education that it so clearly needs. Those are my priorities. I think those are the priorities of the American people. It will require us to put progress ahead of partisanship, but it clearly will strengthen our country. And that's what we're going to work on, and I hope we can do it.”