Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, 3/14/2014
Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. |
That's why, today, the Obama administration is taking action to protect Americans from predatory and poor-performing career programs that burden students with debt and leave them unprepared to succeed.
I have with me today, as you can see, the Secretary of Education,
And with that, I give you Secretary Duncan.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Thank you so much, Jay. Career-training programs offer millions of Americans an opportunity to further their education and reach the middle class. And these values are absolutely the cornerstone of our economy, but too many of these programs today fail to provide students with the training they need at taxpayers' expense and the cost of students' futures. And that's why we're taking action to protect Americans from poor-performing career programs that burden students with debt and leave them with few opportunities to succeed.
Earlier this morning, we released a proposed regulation that addresses growing concerns about unaffordable levels of loan debt for students enrolled in gainful employment programs by targeting those that are the lowest-performing, while giving all programs the opportunity to improve. This rule is designed to identify those programs. They're doing a good job, and target those that are failing both students and taxpayers.
Over the past year, our
The effective programs, those that provide training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation, include nearly all programs at for-profit institutions, as well as certificate programs at public and private nonprofit institutions, such as community colleges.
And here's how it will work. Our department has proposed a framework with three different components: First, certification requirements; second, accountability metrics; and third, public disclosures, greater transparency. This proposal distinguishes programs that provide high-quality, affordable education and training from those that leave students with poor earnings prospects and high amounts of debt, or which lead to high student loan default rates. The programs with the worst outcomes would lose eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs more quickly to protect those students and taxpayers, while other poor-performing programs would be given additional time to improve and to better serve their students.
The proposed rule also increases transparency about gainful employment programs by requiring institutions to tell both current and potential students about key outcome measures, like debt, earnings, loan repayment rates, loan default rates, completion and withdrawal rates. This information would identify those programs that best serve students and help them make more informed decisions about their educational investment.
Under our proposed rule, programs that don't pass the two-part accountability metrics -- how much debt former students have relative to their income, and how often they are defaulting -- would eventually become ineligible to provide federal student aid.
To be clear, the majority of gainful employment programs out there today will pass these metrics. High-performing institutions, where real training is leading to good jobs, see an opportunity here -- they can expand their programs and serve more students in more communities. Success will be rewarded. But today, too many programs, particularly those at for-profit colleges, will fail if they don't improve.
We are especially concerned about the students at these schools. Of the students who are in the lowest-performing programs under our new metric, 98 percent of them are programs at for-profit institutions. What's more, students at for-profit colleges represent only about 13 percent of the total higher education population, but they make up 46 percent of all loan defaults.
And of the for-profit gainful employment programs that our department could analyze, and which could be affected by our actions today, the majority -- the significant majority, 72 percent, produce graduates who on average earned less than high school dropouts.
It's important that people understand these institutions are overwhelmingly taxpayer funded. For-profit colleges can receive up to 90 percent of the revenue from taxpayer dollars, with the additional revenue on top of that frequently coming from veterans' benefits and private student loans. In fact, the programs that would fall under this rule receive
To be clear, a program that leads to unaffordable debt and default isn't an opportunity, it's abuse. We want to shine a light on the career programs that are doing good work, while making sure that students and consumers are aware of those that are not. The regulation is designed to do six things. First, make improved information about gainful employment programs available to consumers. Second, result in higher-quality programs. Three, lead to reduced costs and reduced student debt. Four, result in higher earnings and a better return on educational investment for students, prospective students, and their families, as well as for taxpayers and the federal government. Fifth, lead to the growth for high-performing institutions, and we want them to expand and create greater access and more opportunity. And finally, eliminate the worst-performing programs.
The proposed rule provides institutions with the opportunity to make immediate changes to avoid becoming ineligible for federal financial aid. Institutions will have a transition period that takes into account any immediate reductions in cost for students or any improvements in the debt-to-earnings ratio for graduates. For many institutions, every one of their gainful employment programs passes those proposed metrics.
We want to see these high performing expand and serve more students, while we want to make sure that the ones that prey on students do not continue their abusive practices. We want more, not fewer choices for Americans pursuing their career training, which they need to enter the middle class.
In recent years, we have seen the rapid growth of enrollment and the rise of default rates at for-profit institutions. These problems, and the widespread evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse, prompted
College must open up doors of opportunity, but students in these failing programs often ended up worse off than before they enrolled.
Thank you so much. I'll stop there and take your questions.
Q Mr. Secretary, can you give us some aggregate numbers about the number of for-profit institutions you're talking about that would likely be ineligible if they stayed on the same path? And how many students we're talking about? And isn't it possible that some of the students are bad students?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Anything is possible, yes.
Q But isn't that part of the --
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Let me just walk through the numbers. And to be clear, we're not talking about institutions, we're talking about programs. So this is at the programmatic level. So institutions might have 10, 20, 50 different programs and widespread. Some institutions, all of their programs are passing, some it's a mix, some not many.
So at the program level, we're talking about roughly 8,000 programs and a total enrollment -- 4.5 million people. And if things don't change, we anticipate about a quarter of those 8,000 programs failing. But to be clear, we just looked at a one-year snapshot; we actually think there will be rapid improvement. We've actually seen some pretty significant improvement in these past couple years. And our hope is that many fewer programs will actually fail at the backend.
Q On the call yesterday, I believe I heard that this would be -- this is a proposed regulation that you envision taking effect in 2016, is that correct?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: So we'll put this out, we'll get public comment, get feedback for the next 60 days, the next two month; take that feedback very seriously. And if we go according to plan, this rule would go into effect
Yes, ma'am.
Q Thank you, Mr. Secretary. What do you say to some of your critics who would argue that ultimately this could wind up hurting some students by depriving them of the chance to get a higher learning opportunity?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: So I think said six or seven times we want more opportunity, not less; we just want those to be high-quality opportunities. And, again, many, many programs -- the majority of programs pass these metrics. We want to see them grow, we want them serving more people. We need this sector to do well. We need more people -- often, these are folks who are struggling, trying to make their way up the economic ladder. This has to be a path to the middle class.
So we want to expand opportunity, but it's got to be high-quality opportunity. When that opportunity is leading to massive debt, when that opportunity is leading to massive default rates, that's not opportunity any of us can be proud of, that's not fair to people trying to climb the economic ladder, it's not fair to taxpayers, and, frankly, it's abusive.
Q And, Mr. Secretary, so you're issuing a "buyer beware" warning, basically, about for-profit colleges?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: No, I wouldn't even say "buyer beware." We just want much greater information out there. These are hardworking, often single moms with two and three children trying to do the right thing; people going back to work, who want to go back to work who have been laid off. We just want them to know what are graduation rates, what's my earning potential, what are debt rates, and just having clear information there.
We want to see good actors, great programs grow and expand to serve more folks, but where the wrong thing is happening for both people and taxpayers, we have a real problem with that. Again, you go back to so many people coming out the backend with earnings less than high school dropouts -- that's not why people are investing their time and energy and resources. Other places, this is an absolute chance to enter the mainstream, enter the middle class of America. That's what we want. And so this is about being tough, being clear, but helping people improve as well.
Q What percentage of money did you say these for-profit institutions get from the federal government?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, this is important for people to understand. First of all, the total number is roughly
Q If they're so unsuccessful or their track record is so poor, why do people continue to go into them? Is it because they're -- basically the taxpayer is paying for it all?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: There's been no accountability and there's been very little transparency, and it's been interesting to me -- you sort of look at this, these are for-profits; they have historically had no risk. So all of their revenue comes from us as taxpayers, the overwhelming majority. And whether or not they're producing graduates who can be successful, there was no sense of accountability. A pretty good business model, but not good for people and not good for taxpayers, not good for people doing it.
And, again, there are many players who are doing a fantastic job, doing it the right way, really helping people get real skills that lead to real jobs --
Q In the for-profit sector?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Absolutely. Advanced manufacturing, IT jobs, health care jobs, green energy jobs. We just want to see more of those -- we want to see those types of programs grow and thrive, but those that are being abusive, we think is just simply not fair to people struggling to improve and it's not fair to us as taxpayers.
Q Just one other on this. So they can get up to 90 percent if they can get another --
SECRETARY DUNCAN: X percent.
Q -- the rest of it. But, overall, this sector, this for-profit higher education, do you have an aggregate figure for how much money comes from the government?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: It's close to
Q No, no, but the percentage.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Again, the vast majority go right up to that 90 percent.
Q The vast majority go up to -- wow, okay.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: And, again, many go beyond because of the veterans' benefits.
Q I know you're talking programs and not specific institutions, but can you cite any especially egregious offenders here who use these programs? Is there anyone that really stands out?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: I'm not interested in names. Again, as I said earlier, there are some institutions that every single one of their programs passed these metrics, and that's a really good thing. There are other programs -- there are other institutions where very few or almost none passed these metrics, and there's tremendous spread -- there's everything in between.
And, again, we just want good players, good actors to grow and thrive, and we want bad actors to, frankly, go away. And as folks here know, we're just not the only ones interested in this -- many states attorneys, attorney generals are looking at this in the most egregious situations. So you could look at those cases or those complaints, criminal charges are involved here.
Q Since you're here with us, could you give us an update on the related program that the President announced last year for traditional colleges and universities, where he was going to create a rating system kind of like
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Actually not like
Q I stand corrected.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Thank you. And lots of differences there and some pretty significant disincentives that are for good behavior we think in the
Q Mr. Secretary, I would like to ask you a variation of the question I asked the Chancellor of the
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, folks who are in the gainful employment space -- so for-profits, nonprofits, public/private community colleges -- it applies across the board.
Q Would that include metallurgical schools and agricultural schools?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, I don't know program by program, but I think so. Yes. James is much smarter than me, he says yes.
Q What are you doing to extend these rules to K-12? For example, there are some surely bad actors in the K-12 sector, so what are you doing to push bad actors, as you say, to push bad actors out of the K-12 sector?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Well, that's a very different sector, to be clear, and lots of things we're doing to try and improve that sector. We've invested billions of dollars to turn around low-performing schools. There's actually an amazing low-performing -- technical -- it's a longer conversation, I don't want to go into it, but we're trying to turn around low-performing schools.
We would love to fix the No Child Left Behind law with
Overall, big picture, we're actually pretty pleased with the progress. High school graduation rates are at all-time highs, 80 percent. Dropout rates are down very significantly. Over the past decade, Hispanic dropout rates have been cut in half. African American dropout rates have been cut in half. Their improvements are leading to higher high school graduation rates. College enrollment rates are up; we have to make sure that translates into graduation rates, but some pretty positive trends there. But we are challenging the status quo in unprecedented ways in historically underperforming schools.
Q You have no plan to push bad actors out of the K-12 sector?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: No, to be very clear, we are investing north of
Q Mr. Secretary, I wanted to ask about the geographic dispersion of how the impact might get as the efforts go forward to sort of ramp up these programs.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, I don't know sort of state by state or whatever it might be. And, again, I think many communities have good programs, many communities have bad programs, and we just want to see more good programs grow and flourish and expand. And we want to see those bad programs, frankly, wherever they are, we want to see them either change and improve and do it with a sense of urgency, or we don't think as taxpayers it's a right thing to do to continue to fund them.
Q Obviously, you're reluctant to name bad actors now at this point and you're being very deliberate over the timeline over the next few years. For a veteran who is coming home this week, or for someone who's looking to transition to jobs this week, by the end of 2016 could have an associate's degree, is there any
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, we have a huge amount of information on our website and transparency and scorecards. And it's been interesting that, as we try to get more information -- again, we just think the truth is important; there's been pretty significant resistance to just sort of getting basic information out there. So we think veterans deserve the best -- not just veterans, but everyone deserves the best. We just want much more transparency around outcomes, and we'll see everything from As to Fs and we want people to make informed choices.
And historically, honestly, what's driven much of this market has been marketing, and less on the results side. And I'm less interested in the marketing; I'm more interested in where people are getting great results. Real training leading to real jobs -- we want to see those grow.
Q Is the marketing budget or percentage spent on marketing a factor that you guys are putting into that --
SECRETARY DUNCAN: It's not. There's been lots of public -- that's a longer conversation -- lots of public deliberations there. I'm interested in outcomes. I'm interested in outcomes.
Q Mr. Secretary, on this issue, I mean, is there also maybe a broader issue about whether too many colleges are making -- measuring success just by enrollment and graduation, and not making it a higher career-ready thing?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: It's a great question; that actually goes back to the original question. That's why we're working on this rating system more broadly. And this is an area where it's easy to critique all this, but I really challenge ourselves to be part of the solution. So bigger picture -- each year, the federal government puts out about
In the current budget that the President proposed for 2015 -- this has never happened; we would love to see it happen -- is additional dollars going to universities that are graduating Pell grant recipients.
Q And also, an unrelated question. But the state of
SECRETARY DUNCAN: They absolutely have the right to do this. This is a state-led effort; it always has been, always will be. And whatever
Q Secretary, there's going to be a briefing in about an hour on
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Is this Congressman Polis's bill?
Q It's
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Okay, so I don't know details of each one. I'm just a huge fan of Congressman Polis; I think he's worked so hard on these issues. Not dissimilar to this conversation -- the more honest we are, the more transparent we are, the more we're dealing with the facts and trying to improve whatever they are. We desperately need to do that. And I worry tremendously not just about physical bullying, but about cyber bullying. I worry that if we don't have safe schools, children simply can't learn. There's certain fundamentals, certain foundational things. Children have to be safe, they have to be fed, they have to be able to see the blackboard. Their physical and social and emotional needs need to be met, and then we can talk about algebra, trig, and AP biology and chemistry.
So I don't know all the details, but whatever we can do to bring greater transparency, greater information, and share best practices, we have to protect kids. One of the hardest parts of my jobs is meeting with parents who have lost their children due to both physical and cyber bullying. And my wife and I have two young kids; that's something obviously no family, no parent should have to go through.
Q Mr. Secretary, what is the future of Obama-Singh Knowledge Initiative? What are we still waiting on?
SECRETARY DUNCAN: I'm sorry, his what initiative?
Q Obama-Singh Knowledge Initiative that was signed between the two leaders here at the
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, I'll have to follow up with you on details on that. I don't -- I'll come back to you.
Thank you so much.
SECRETARY DUNCAN: Thanks, guys.
Josh.
Q Thanks, Jay. A U.S. official has been saying that the Malaysian jet that disappeared may have been caused -- the disappearance may have been caused by a person, and it could have been an act of piracy. Can you confirm that that's something that investigators --
Q A U.S. official.
Q That U.S. official has demanded anonymity to make that comment.
Our hearts of course go out to the families of the passengers who are in this agonizing situation. Unfortunately, definitive conclusions still clearly cannot be drawn at this time. The U.S. government is tracking the situation closely, and we are in communication across agencies and with international partners to provide any appropriate assistance we can in this investigation. We are also continuing to participate actively in the search efforts. We are consulting with our international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy, including to the new search areas to the West.
So to the extent that you have questions about what happened to that flight, I can assure you that I don't have conclusive answers. I don't think anyone does. But we are participating with an array of international partners, assisting the Malaysian government in the effort to find out what happened to the plane and where it is.
Q I know that you don't know any more than any of us where the plane is, but is it among the possibilities that investigators are considering that the plane may have landed somewhere?
Q And, Jay, the President has been saying for a long time that he doesn't have it within his power to further ease deportations. He's confronted hecklers, but he's said even as recently as last week that he's already stretched his administrative ability pretty far. Has the President changed his mind?
The discussion focused on their mutual efforts to pass common-sense immigration reform legislation through the House. The President emphasized his deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system. And he told the members that he has asked new Secretary of Homeland Security,
What the President has made clear, and what those speaking for him have made clear, is that he does not have the authority to achieve comprehensive immigration reform; only
There is no other way to fix all that is wrong with our immigration system. What the President has asked Secretary Johnson to do is conduct a review of practices to ensure that within the confines of the law we are carrying out these policies in the most humane way possible, because he is very cognizant of the pain that families who are separated have been feeling as a result of deportations.
But there is no fix here that does not include legislation. That is why it is so important for the House to move forward, for the House to continue the progress that we saw earlier when leaders announced that they had settled on a set of standards and principles that would guide them in the effort to reform the immigration system comprehensively. And I would note that Speaker Boehner has said very recently that it is important to move forward on immigration reform. The President could not agree more.
Q So what changed between when the President said last week he's done everything he could do, and now when he's saying there might be other things that he can do, even if it's not a fix?
What remains the case -- because we have obviously priorities when it comes to enforcement; they are border security and they are public safety. And on the public safety end, that means making sure that we are using the resources we have, when it comes to enforcement, on ensuring that those with criminal records, convictions, are made a priority when it comes to detainment and deportation. And I think that's part of what the Secretary will engage in when he looks at this review -- to ensure that the guidelines that are on the books, that reflect the laws that are on the books, are being followed and executed as well as possible, acknowledging all along, as the President has, that is it long past time that the House take up comprehensive immigration reform and pass it. Because there is no doubt in my mind -- and I know that you all know this -- that if that bill were allowed to have a vote on the floor of the House, it would pass and it would pass with Democrats and Republicans, because neither party has a corner on understanding the importance of this issue or knowing that passage of comprehensive immigration reform would be a tremendous boon for our economy and our businesses and our security.
So this is just another reminder that
Q Knowing that Republicans are actively looking for reasons to argue that the President has overreached, how concerned is the
So I think that the House ought to, as the Speaker has said, take up this issue, acknowledge that it's serious, acknowledge that there are economic and security benefits to passing comprehensive immigration reform, take that argument to their districts and their states where we're confident it will be embraced, and let's get this done. This is the right thing to do. It's the right thing for the economy. It's the right thing for our security, and it's, frankly, the right thing politically for the Republicans to take up.
Q But they say they can't trust him to enforce the law. Doesn't this play into that directly?
What the President has said is -- and he's made this very clear -- there is no substitute for legislation that fixes our broken immigration system.
Q Jay, has the President decided on what the cost will be for
We have obviously not gotten to a situation where
We will have to see how the next several days unfold. I would note that Secretary Kerry mentioned that his counterpart said that President Putin is not prepared to make a judgment about or a decision about
That referendum, as Secretary Kerry,
We still hope that there is an avenue here that
Q So a diplomatic solution looks like it's simply not going to happen?
Q And how quickly will you respond?
Jim.
Q Getting back to the missing flight, or missing plane, is there a sense within the
First and foremost, I think all of us who have been following this story can only imagine the agony that the family members of those passengers continue to suffer because of the lack of answers. So we are focused on it, we are working with the Malaysian government, we are working with our international partners. What we aren't engaged in, publicly, anyway, or anonymously, is in speculation about what might have happened. We're working with a whole host of authorities to try to find out what did happen.
Q And has the President offered any thoughts on what's happening or has he been watching this?
Q And getting back to Secretary Kerry's comments, he said that President Putin has indicated that he's not going to weigh in on what's happening in
That's the path out. That's the path that avoids transgression of international law, violation of a sovereign state's territorial integrity. That's the path that allows
Q There's a Russian media report of a U.S. drone being intercepted over Crimea.
Q And on immigration, you said something about -- and it was in the readout last night that Secretary Johnson will be looking at policies so that enforcement is pursued more humanely. What does that mean? That maybe perhaps special dispensation might be offered for families that are being broken up?
Q I'd refer you to DHS, which is engaging in this review. I think the point is, as I mentioned earlier, we have our very top priorities when it comes to enforcing our immigration laws, and that's border security and that's public safety. And when it comes to public safety, we have as our priorities targeting those with criminal records, those who have been convicted of crimes, violent crimes in particular, and that is what the guidelines say about what our priorities should be. And the review I believe will assess how effectively those guidelines are being utilized on the ground.
And I just want to make clear that the President understands and is concerned about the pain caused by separations that have come about through deportation, but he also understands and has made clear that there's no comprehensive fix here that he can himself enact.
Jon.
Q Jay, on the missing
Q But can you answer -- I'll try one more time a little more directly. Are we investigating -- is the
Q So that would be a yes.
Q And on
Q Okay. And then one last one. This is the third anniversary of the beginning of the conflict in
So the answer is the days when Assad could rule all of
Q But I assume when the President said I believe Assad's days are numbered, he meant that he would be out of power in
Q But do you still believe Assad's days are numbered? And, obviously, the number would be --
Q Well, no, you haven't. Do you still believe that his days are numbered? And I assume that number would be -- everybody's days are numbered, I guess in a larger sense, but --
Q But the President -- when the President said I believe Assad's days are numbered, the impression wasn't that he was still going to be in power a year and a half later, was it?
Q I'm not asking if you're glad, I'm asking if you think he's still going to be there much longer.
Yes, Major.
Q Could you go back, and come back to me?
Q A much lighter question. There's a bill headed to the President's desk probably pretty soon that's supposed to fund cancer research but also would eliminate public funding of the party conventions. Does the President intend to sign this bill -- H.R. 2019?
We support this bill because its chief aim is increasing our investments in potentially life-changing and lifesaving children's research.
Yes, Major.
Q There is great anxiety that after this referendum Putin may decide to use the troops that are now massing along the Ukrainian border to expand his area of influence eastward. Are you prepared --
Q Westward, I'm sorry, forgive me, westward. Are you prepared to say something on behalf of the
I'm not going to speculate about any particular thing that might happen. We are focused on efforts to avoid conflict, to avoid further escalation. We're encouraging the Russians to move towards a dialogue with the Ukrainian government, move towards engaging with the international community, allowing international monitors into all of
Q You would agree that that's not necessarily a hypothetical, that anxiety is genuine about that --
Q -- and the threatening presence of the troops is of grave concern for everyone in the sovereign nation of
Q But should
Q Does the President believe it's time for him to weigh in with Putin again directly?
Q It's been a while. It's been a while.
Q I know he's been the main interlocutor. I'm just saying does the President think now --
So I don't have a conversation schedule to tell you about right now, but I think it's been fairly demonstrated that from the President on down we've been directly engaged in this.
Q On immigration, let's try to cut to the chase. It's no secret in the Latino community that there's been tremendous conversation with this administration about the deportation issue and a lot of pressure, both public and private, about getting a reassessment of the kind the President set in motion last night. It's also well known that the threat of that reassessment has been communicated to House Republicans -- if they didn't move immigration reform, the President would engage possibly in this prosecutorial discretion on the nonDREAMer side of the deportation question. Are you not sending a signal to the Hill, you better pick up the pace, because if you don't we have executive branch tools and we very well might use them, and you better reassess this slow walk in immigration? Isn't that what's happening here?
Q No, but with the DREAMers -- it's clear that with discretion, decisions can be made that address the particular issue deportation has raised with those who have been lobbying this administration to take the same look there that you did with the DREAMers.
Q And you give them hope that that's going to happen.
But whatever the result of that review, I promise you it will not provide a substitute for the urgent need to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Q Last, you can't be as satisfied as the statement said last night about the unemployment insurance extension legislation. It's five months; you wanted much longer than that. It requires pay-fors, which sets a precedent you said didn't necessarily have to stand. It's the best you can do, an unhappy compromise, I'm guessing.
And this is not just the right thing to do for these Americans looking for work; it's the right thing to do for our economy, as economists have made clear. The benefits of this legislation are felt directly and quickly in our economy. And so we urge the
Look, the point we've made and continue to make is that far often than not -- in fact, in the vast majority of occasions --
Q Lost that argument.
Q So on the deportation issue, you've set up a couple of times today a straw man --
Q Yes, by saying -- by suggesting that there's no way in which any action that he could take could solve all of the problems that a comprehensive immigration bill would solve, which is not at all --
Q I'm sure there are some people who make that suggestion. I'm not saying there are not. But many of the suggestions that activists and now the lawmakers that have been through the
And I guess the question is -- without sort of the answer about, like, well, it wouldn't solve everything -- does the President hope that this review comes back and either -- and concludes from the DHS or from his own lawyers that, yes, there are additional subsets or additional groups that you could do something with?
Having said that, without predicting what the outcome of the review will be, what is absolutely the case is that this review will not produce a solution that obviates the need in any way for comprehensive immigration reform to be passed.
The opposite is true, as I said earlier when I was asked this, I think by Major, one thing we can say is that if the House would follow the
So there are a lot of things that need to be addressed, and our hope is that Republicans won't block progress here. It's in the country's interest most importantly. It's in the economy's interest, equally importantly. And it's also in
Q Jay, can I follow on that? Just to ask --
Q You don't have to restate that whole thing, you can just --
Q You mentioned that the President's concern about inhumane treatment seems to focus on the separation of families. Is that part of Secretary Johnson's charge, to look at ways to reduce specifically that?
And the guidelines that we have which set priorities -- border security and public safety -- and within the context of public safety, it sets a priority on targeting convicted criminals, violent criminals, and making sure that they're removed because they pose the greatest threat in the country.
Q Not a priority on keeping families together?
Q Could you just speak to the timeline too? Was there a time certain?
Yes, Doug.
Q Jay, on the subject of Kerry's press conference -- he used an interesting term, a curious term to me -- "hooliganism" -- to describe some of the unrest that's being fomented in three
But I don't have anything more on reports of the nature that you just described except that we are very concerned about the prospect for any kind of violent conflict that the situation in
Q On that note, Lavrov said that they have no intention of a military intrusion in
<p>
Q You don't believe, in other words?
Q One last question on that -- has there been any reconsideration at all of resurrection of a missile defense shield in
Q Jay, I want to go back to the question about the timeline. I know you don't have a specific date, but did
Q Okay. And going back to
I would point you to what Chancellor Merkel has said publicly and what other leaders have said publicly when it comes to steps that might be taken as soon as Monday should the scheduled referendum take place.
Q Has he spoken to Chancellor Merkel today, since her remarks?
Q And getting back to sanctions here, there's obviously legislation pending in both chambers, and one of the things that's holding up the legislation in the House is this IMF quota increase. As you know, Republicans are saying that they could get on board with this if that were dropped. Given the enormity of the situation, given the referendum that's going to pass, the increased presence of troops along the Ukrainian border, does
So there is a direct connection between passing IMF quota reform as part of this package and providing additional support to
My understanding is that Senator Reid filed cloture on the
Q Jay, at this point, it doesn't appear as though you will be able to get it through both chambers. So given the resistance that you're hearing on the Hill, given the resistance that you're hearing from Democrats and Republicans, in some cases, do you think, in order to move this through quickly, that the President would consider dropping it?
Q What do you say to those who say the IMF has assistance programs that would allow enough funding?
Jared.
Q You said that sanctions could come quickly --
Q Thank you -- could come quickly, as soon as Monday.
Look, when we look at sanctions, as a general matter, we look at the consequences of imposing them. That is certainly the case here. But the actions we've taken through the executive order -- the visa bans and other measures that we've taken already -- they reflect our belief that that's the right policy to pursue given the circumstances created by Russian actions in
So I'm not going to speculate about what reaction there might be if, in fact, the action you describe takes place on Monday or soon thereafter. We're obviously monitoring all the situations and examining how any scenario might play out.
Q Do you anticipate and are you prepared for actions like effects to the North Distribution Network, additional actions taken against American companies, diplomatic pressure on
On other matters, I'm not going to speculate.
Jared, I owe it to you, and then I'll give you a week in review.
Q Week ahead.
Q We know the week in review. (Laughter.)
Q I saw it.
Jared.
Q Just a quick one, what does the President hope to get out of Monday's meeting with
We hope that we will see progress. This has been a very difficult issue for a long, long time. It's one that Secretary Kerry and
Thanks.
Week ahead -- not in review -- begins this way: On Monday, the President will welcome Palestinian Authority President
On Tuesday, the President will award 24
In the evening, the President will attend a DNC event here in
On Wednesday, the President will attend meetings here at the
On Thursday, the President will travel to
On Friday, the President will attend meetings at the
I feel bad because you had your hand up, Jessica. Did you have anything --
Q Yes. One of the readouts came out of the Lavrov-Kerry meeting, and Lavrov said that he wasn't going to make any moves until after the referendum. Is that too late?
We're going to continue to engage with
Thank you all very much.
END
Copyright: | (c) 2011 Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. |
Wordcount: | 12899 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News