Just minutes ago, after a meeting on the Hill with members of the Senate Democratic Caucus to discuss ongoing efforts to avoid defaulting on the country's obligations and find a balanced approach to deficit reduction, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner made a brief statement to the press:
Secretary Tim Geithner: Thank you, Mr. Leader. Thanks for giving me a chance to come up here and talk through these problems and how we solve them. There is unanimity in that room that we are a country that meets its obligation, we are a country that pays our bills and that we'll act and do what's necessary to make sure that we can maintain that commitment. As the Majority Leader said, we have looked at all available options and we have no way to give Congress more time to solve this problem and we are running out of time. And the eyes of the country are on us, and the eyes of the world are on us and we need to make sure we stand together and send a definitive signal that we are going to take the steps necessary to avoid default and also take advantage of this opportunity to make some progress in dealing with our long-term fiscal problems. We don't have much time; it's time we move. Thank you very much.
Watch here.