Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and members of House and Senate Democratic leadership held a press conference in the Capitol this morning to discuss the progress made in President Obama’s first 100 days in office and the accomplishments of the 111th Congress. Below are the Speaker’s opening remarks:
“Good Morning. And a great morning it is for us. As we gather here in the Rayburn Room, Members of the House of Representatives are voting on the budget. The President’s budget, this is the first time in many years that we have had a President’s budget that is a statement of our national values, come to Congress and be passed.
“It’s a budget that reduces taxes, lowers the deficit, and creates jobs. It is a budget that is marked by its transparency as it honors the three pillars of the Obama initiatives; energy, health care and education. And those issues are issues that have been the hallmark of the first 100 days.
“Someone asked me: what mark would I give the President for his first 100 days? I would definitely give the President an A. In terms of health care, this Administration working with Congress as full partners has done more for health care than has been in decades, not since Medicare was passed. Just in the first 100 days. In terms of education, more since the GI Bill in the 1940s and in terms of energy, there is no contest.
“This budget and the recovery package that is its bookend are the greenest – this is the greenest budget in history and the stimulus is the greenest recovery package as well. We’re here to observe the first 100 days marked, as I say, by these two budget initiatives but also by many pieces of legislation in between.
“The first bill signed by the President eliminated discrimination against women in the workplace, the next one he signed would provide health insurance for 11 million children in our country.
“The legislation that Senator Reid took the lead on in the Senate, the legislation for the public lands bill, was the biggest conservation bill in nearly a generation. The Ted Kennedy Serve America legislation expands volunteerism and the opportunities for it in our country in a very dramatic way.
“All of this is geared toward one four letter word: jobs. This about creation of jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. And committing ourselves, again, to lower the deficit, to cut taxes and to do so in the most transparent way. It is a pretty exciting time for us, especially since this first 100 days comes at the time when we are passing out blueprint for the future.
“Mr. Schumer asked me, ‘an A huh?’ Well, if we graded on a curve for a recent President, I would say an A+++.
“With that, I’m very pleased to yield to a real fighter for America’s working families, a champion for fairness in our country, a person who helped engineer this magnificent blueprint for future for the Congress, Leader Reid.”
