Biden addresses nation after Senate passes debt limit bill

INA-sources
 
 
President Joe Biden stressed the bipartisan nature of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling in his first Oval Office address on Friday, commending leaders from both parties and warning in stark terms about what could have happened if a deal was not reached. 
 
He also said that he would sign the debt ceiling bill on Saturday. 
 
“I'm speaking to you to report on the crisis averted and what we're doing to protect America's future,” Biden said, speaking from behind the Resolute Desk. 
The president went out of his way to mention House Speaker Kevin McCarthy by name, commending him for operating “in good faith.”
 
“He and I – and our teams – were able to get along, get things done, were straightforward with one another, completely honest with one another, respectful with one another,” Biden said. “Both sides operated in good faith. Both sides kept their word.” 
He said the rest of congressional leadership – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – all “acted responsibly and put the good of the country ahead of politics.” 
 
Biden also touted his own priorities, including protecting Medicaid, Medicare and veterans’ benefits from cuts and keeping his infrastructure and CHIPs and Science laws intact.
 
But despite taking a few swipes at Republican priorities, Biden still came back to cooperation, saying, “I know bipartisanship is hard and unity is hard, but we can never stop trying.”
 
“Because of moments like this one – the ones we just faced – where the American economy and the world economy is at risk of collapsing. There's no other way,” he said. “No matter how tough our politics gets, we need to see each other as not as adversaries but as fellow Americans. Treat each other with dignity and respect, to join forces with Americans to stop shouting, lower the temperature and work together to pursue progress, secure prosperity and keep the promise of America for everybody."
President Joe Biden said the budget deal that will raise the federal borrowing limit and avoid default is proof that the type of bipartisanship he promised as a candidate to seek was not only still possible but essential to avoiding disaster.
 
The president, speaking from the Oval Office on Friday evening, told Americans the package ensures economic progress going forward and amounts to a "crisis averted."
 
"Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher," he said.
 
The decision to speak in the most formal of presidential settings came after weeks of fraught negotiations over the borrowing limit with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
 
Source: CNN