On the recordSeptember 13, 2016
last evening at 4 o'clock or thereabouts, I had the opportunity to go to the White House and visit with the President, along with Leader McConnell, Speaker Ryan, and Leader Pelosi. We met for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was a very good meeting. We had to discuss a number of issues. We discussed a lot, but I will not talk about them all today. There was a discussion about a path forward to fund the government to prevent a government shutdown--in spite of what the Wall Street Journal said today. The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial that the Republicans should just close the government again. I don't think there are many Republicans who agree with the Wall Street Journal editorial. There is reason for some very, very cautious optimism about our meeting last night. We are going to proceed carefully. I know the Republicans will do the same. We have been down this road with the Republicans before. Happy talk is just that a lot of times. We have been optimistic in the past only to see the Republicans fail to live up to their end of the agreement. If we are going to pass a CR that keeps our government open and funded, there are a number of problems that must be addressed. We have to stop ignoring the problems with Zika. This has been a problem, according to the President of the United States, since last February. We have done nothing to give these people some relief, and they need it.…





