a) TRANSCRIPT from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
b) TRANSCRIPT from the White House
c) STATEMENT from Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks Tuesday regarding this morning’s meeting at the White House and the need to prevent tax hikes:

“Congressional leaders of both parties will meet with the President at the White House today to talk about the work we have to do before the end of the year and, hopefully, about the things we can do together to foster the right conditions for businesses to start investing again and creating jobs.

“Americans are watching the economic drama that’s playing out in Europe. They expect us to read the signs of the times and work together to make sure that we avoid a similar crisis here, that we don’t walk right into the same problems through a lack of will or political courage.

“The American people expect us to put the national interest ahead of party interest. And, frankly, that’s why it’s been so distressing for many of us to watch our Democrat friends grope for a clear and unified position on whether or not to raise taxes in the middle of a recession.

“You would think that this issue would be simple and straightforward.

“The economists say that preventing a tax increase is one of the most important things Congress can do to help the economy. And the voters ratified that view earlier this month by sending candidates from both parties to Washington who vowed not to raise taxes once they got here.

“But our Democrat friends are apparently still reluctant to draw any clear lessons from the election. With millions of American households staring at the imminent prospect of smaller paychecks in just a few short weeks unless Congress does something, Democrats are still searching for a solution that enables them to benefit politically — regardless of what it does to the economy or to families.

“Just take the latest proposal.

“Some Democrats now say they only want to raise taxes on businesses that make more than $1 million a year. Where did that number come from? Well, it turns out this figure has no economic justification whatsoever. Nowhere will you find a study or survey which indicates that raising taxes on small businesses with over $1 million in income will create jobs or help spur the economy.

“In fact, the author of this proposal freely admits it isn’t an economic policy proposal at all, but rather one that was designed to provide better political messaging — an astonishing admission. 

“Let’s get something straight. Millions of out-of-work Americans don’t want a message. They want a job. Millions of struggling families trying to make ends meet don’t need the Democrat messaging to improve; they need the economy to improve.

“Selling bad economic policy to the American people is not an acceptable alternative to creating an environment that will put people back to work and help spur the economy.

“We’ve heard a lot of chatter here in Washington lately about the negotiations that are expected to take place on this looming tax hike in the weeks ahead — on how to prevent it. How about we start with this: the beginning and end of any negotiation shouldn’t be what’s good for any political party. It should be what’s good for the economy and for the American people. And if we leave the politics aside, if we look at the facts, the answer here is simple: no tax hikes on anybody — period.

“So the question isn’t what’s best for the economy and jobs — the answer to that is obvious. The question is when will our friends on the other side get serious about either one.

“It’s been reported that the author of the $1 million proposal ran it through a focus group to see how it polled. This is precisely the kind of thing Americans are telling us to put aside. The election was a month ago. It’s time to move on. It’s time to work together on the priorities Americans want us to address.

“Republicans have heard the voters loud and clear. They want us to focus on preventing a tax hike on every taxpayer, on reining in Washington spending and on making it easier for employers to start hiring again. That’s why Republican leaders are reiterating our offer to work with anyone, from either party, who is ready to focus on priorities like these.

“The day after the election, the President acknowledged that the `the overwhelming message’ of the voters `was that we want you to focus completely on jobs and the economy.’

“That’s the same message Republicans will bring to the White House today.

“And that’s why there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to reach an agreement on taxes soon.

“It’s unclear how long our friends across the aisle will continue to resist the message of the election and cling to the liberal wish list that got us a job-killing health care law, a `cap-and-trade’ national energy tax, an out-of-control spending spree, million more jobs lost, trillions more in debt, but not a single appropriations bill to fund the government or a bill to prevent the coming tax hikes.

“With just a few weeks left before the end of the year, they’re still clinging to the wrong priorities — instead of preventing a tax hike, they want to focus on immigration and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell —  and, maybe, if there’s time left, see what they can do about jobs and the economy.

“Indeed, their entire legislative plan for the rest of the lame duck session appears to be to focus on anything except jobs — which is astonishing when you consider the election we’ve just had.

“Republicans aren’t looking for a fight. We’re appealing to common-sense and a shared sense of responsibility for the millions of Americans who are looking to us to work together not on the priorities of the left, but on their priorities. And those priorities are clear. 

“Together, we must focus on the things Americans want us to do — not on what government wants Americans to accept.  There is still time to do the right thing. The voters want us to show that we heard them, and Republicans are ready to work with anyone who’s willing to do just that.”

12:50 P.M. EST
      THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  By the way, for those of you who are curious, we're using this room because we've got about a hundred volunteers decorating the White House.  So we're spending a little more time in the EEOB.

      I just wrapped up a meeting with leaders from both parties. It was our first chance to get together face to face since the election to talk about how we can best work together to move the country forward.

      It’s no secret that we have had differences that have led us to part ways on many issues in the past.  But we are Americans first, and we share a responsibility for the stewardship of our nation.  The American people did not vote for gridlock.  They didn’t vote for unyielding partisanship.  They’re demanding cooperation and they’re demanding progress.  And they’ll hold all of us –- and I mean all of us –- accountable for it.  And I was very encouraged by the fact that there was broad recognition of that fact in the room.

      I just want to say I thought it was a productive meeting.  I thought that people came to it with a spirit of trying to work together.  And I think it’s a good start as we move forward.

      I think everybody understands that the American people want us to focus on their jobs, not ours.  They want us to come together around strategies to accelerate the recovery and get Americans back to work.  They want us to confront the long-term deficits that cloud our future.  They want us to focus on their safety and security, and not allow matters of urgent importance to become locked up in the politics of Washington.

      So today we had the beginning of a new dialogue that I hope –- and I’m sure most Americans hope -– will help break through the noise and produce real gains.  And, as we all agreed, that should begin today because there’s some things we need to get done in the weeks before Congress leaves town for the holidays.

      First, we should work to make sure that taxes will not go up by thousands of dollars on hardworking middle-class Americans come January 1st, which would be disastrous for those families but also could be crippling for the economy.  There was broad agreement that we need to work to get that resolved before the end of the year.

      Now, there’s still differences about how to get there.  Republican leaders want to permanently extend tax cuts not only to middle-class families but also to some of the wealthiest Americans at the same time.  And here we disagree.  I believe, and the other Democrats who were in the room believe that this would add an additional $700 billion to our debt in the next 10 years.  And I continue to believe that it would be unwise and unfair, particularly at a time when we’re contemplating deep budget cuts that require broad sacrifice.

      Having said that, we agreed that there must be some sensible common ground.  So I appointed my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, and my budget director, Jack Lew, to work with representatives of both parties to break through this logjam.  I’ve asked the leaders to appoint members to help in this negotiation process.  They agreed to do that.  That process is beginning right away and we expect to get some answers back over the next couple of days about how we can accomplish our key goal, which is to make sure the economy continues to grow and we are putting people back to work.  And we also want to make sure that we're giving the middle class the peace of mind of knowing that their taxes will not be raised come January 1st.  

      I also urged both parties to move quickly to preserve a number of other tax breaks for individuals and businesses that are helping our recovery right now and that are set to expire at the end of the year.  This includes a tax credit for college tuition, a tax credit for 95 percent -- a tax break for 95 percent of working families that I initiated at the beginning of my presidency, as well as a tax cut worth thousands of dollars for businesses that hire unemployed workers.

      We discussed a number of other issues as well, including the importance of ratifying the New START treaty so we can monitor Russia’s nuclear arsenal, reduce our nuclear weapons, and strengthen our relationship with Russia.  I reminded the room that this treaty has been vetted for seven months now; it’s gone through 18 hearings; it has support from senators of both parties; it has broad bipartisan support from national security advisors and secretaries of defense and secretaries of state from previous administrations, both Democrat and Republican; and that it’s absolutely essential to our national security.  We need to get it done.

      We also talked about the work of the bipartisan deficit reduction commission and the difficult choices that will be required in order to get our fiscal house in order.  We discussed working together to keep the government running this year -– and running in a fiscally responsible way.  And we discussed unemployment insurance, which expires today.  I’ve asked that Congress act to extend this emergency relief without delay to folks who are facing tough times by no fault of their own.

      Now, none of this is going to be easy.  We have two parties for a reason.  There are real philosophical differences -– deeply held principles to which each party holds.  And although the atmosphere in today’s meeting was extremely civil, there’s no doubt that those differences are going to remain no matter how many meetings we have.  And the truth is there’s always going to be a political incentive against working together, particularly in the current hyperpartisan climate.  There are always those who argue that the best strategy is simply to try to defeat your opposition instead of working with them.

      And, frankly, even the notion of bipartisanship itself has gotten caught up in this mentality.  A lot of times coming out of these meetings, both sides claim they want to work together, but try to paint the opponent as unyielding and unwilling to cooperate.  Both sides come to the table; they read their talking points; then they head out to the microphones -– trying to win the news cycle instead of solving problems, and it becomes just another move in an old Washington game.

      But I think there was recognition today that that's a game that we can’t afford.  Not in these times.  And in a private meeting that I had without staff -- without betraying any confidences -- I was pleased to see several of my friends in the room say, let’s try not to duplicate that.  Let’s not try to work the Washington spin cycle to suggest that somehow the other side is not being cooperative.  I think that there was a sincere effort on the part of everybody involved to actually commit to work together to try to deal with these problems.

      And they understand that these aren't times for us to be playing games.  As I told the leaders at the beginning of the meeting, the next election is two years away, and there will be plenty of time for campaigning.  But right now we’re facing some very serious challenges.  We share an obligation to meet them.  And that will require choosing the best of our ideas over the worst of our politics.

      So that’s the spirit in which I invited both parties here today.  I'm happy with how the meeting went.  And I told all the leadership that I look forward to holding additional meetings, including at Camp David.

      Harry Reid mentioned that he’s been in Congress for 28 years; he’s never been to Camp David.  And so I told him, well, we're going to have to get them all up there sometime soon.

      And I very much appreciate their presence today.  I appreciate the tenor of the conversations.  I think it will actually yield results before the end of the year, and I look forward to continuing this dialogue in the months ahead.

      Thank you very much, everybody.

                                    END                             1:00 P.M. EST

Boehner Statement on Meeting of President Obama and Congressional Leaders