PRESIDENT Obama met with the new Republican-led Congress for the first time this year on Tues, Jan. 13, staking out areas of compromise in big political issues, such as trade, tax reform, and cybersecurity.
“I’m hopeful that with a spirit of cooperation and putting America first, we can be in a position where at the end of this year, we can look back and say we’re that much better off that we were hen we started this year,” Obama said, surrounded by high-ranking Congressional leaders including House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the two Republicans now in charge on Capitol Hill.
Since the new GOP-led Congress was seated, the power dynamic in Washington has changed. Republicans have taken aim at shutting down or changing core elements of the President’s agenda, including immigration and health care, while the White House has responded with a flurry of veto threats.
But both Congress and the White House have voiced their hopes of compromise on issues where they have common interests. Republicans have been far more supportive, for instance, of Obama’s efforts to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement. Both parties have also discussed the need to overhaul the nation’s complex tax code.
At Tuesday’s White House meeting with Congress, Obama identified cybersecurity as a third potential area of compromise, renewing his call for Congress to pass legislation on improving cyberspace as a more secure, freely-shared network. He hopes to encourage the private sector to share cyber-threat data with the government and shield companies from lawsuits if they opt to do so.
“I think we agreed that this is an area where we can work hard together, get some legislation done, and make sure that we are much more effective in protecting the American people from these kinds of cyberattacks,” Obama said.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who suffered a major workout injury, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
On his way to the White House, Boehner told reporters that he expected to press the president to lessen his opposition to economic legislation championed by Republicans.
“We’re going to make it clear to the president that we’re listening to the American people, who want us to work together on their priorities, and their priorities have to do with the economy and jobs,” Boehner said. “We hope he’ll start to listen, too, and reconsider his opposition to some of our jobs bills.”
The White House also said that President Obama was likely to update lawmakers on foreign policy issues, including the military campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
(With reports from Associated Press)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek January 14-16, 2015 Sec. A pg.5)
