[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[January 2, 1996]
[Pages 1-2]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters on the Budget Negotiations
January 2, 1996

    Q. Mr. President, is this the meeting at which you're going to start 
making some compromises on the most contentious issues?
    The President. Well, I'm looking forward to it, and I hope we can 
reach an agreement. I want to compliment the Senate on voting to

[[Page 2]]

reopen the Government today for the next several days while we attempt 
to finalize this, and I hope the House will follow suit. That's a very 
good sign, and I'm looking forward to the meeting tonight.
    Q. Will the House follow suit, Mr. Speaker?
    Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Well, our Members will be back 
by noon tomorrow, and we hope to meet with all of them and brief them on 
tonight's meeting and whatever happens tomorrow morning and maybe get 
something done during the day tomorrow. I think if we can both get 
movement on the balanced budget and get the Government back to work and 
paid for, that really would be a good step in the right direction.
    Q. Will you encourage them to take the Senate bill?
    Speaker Gingrich. We're going to have a good meeting tonight, and 
we'll report to the Members what happened when they get back tomorrow.

Note: The exchange began at 6:15 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House, prior to a meeting with congressional leaders. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of this exchange.