Cabinet Room

4:50 P.M. EDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.
 
Thankfully, Congress passed and signed into law a spending bill to keep the government open.
 
And that’s good news to the American people because the government will not shut down and a needless crisis has been averted — at least temporarily — saving millions of Americans from needless pain.
 
And — but the truth is we shouldn’t have gotten there in the first place.  By the end of a governing crisis — it’s time to end these constant — anyway.  I’m going to be good. 
 
This agreement averts the immediate crisis, but it ends in just 44 days.  And I strongly urge my Republican colleagues in the Congress not to wait 44 days.  Don’t waste time like you did this summer and pass a year-long budget agreement.  Honor the deal we made a few months ago when they were threatening to renege on our national debt.  
 
And we cannot, under any circumstances, allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.  Too many lives are at stake — too many children, too many people.  I fully expect the Speaker and the majority of the Republicans in Congress to keep their commitment to secure the passage of the support needed to help Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression and brutality. 
 
Let’s all remember that we have the strongest economy in the world.  So, let’s build on it.  Let’s build on what we’ve done.
 
We are — and I — I told you before — I think Madeleine Albright was correct.  We are the indispensable nation in the world.  And let’s begin to act like it.  Make sure that American people and our allies and friends around the world know what we are doing and what we intend to do.
 
That’s why I wanted to convene this Cabinet meeting: to get an update on the progress we’re making on pressing priorities for our country.  And those include understanding the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, which we talked about last meeting. 
 
It includes taking action on gun violence, following up on our recent announcement of the new White House Office on Gun Violence Prevention.  That’s going to be overseen by the Vice President.  And today’s meeting is going to provide an implementation update on both of those items.
 
And with that, let’s get our meeting started.
 
4:53 P.M. EDT