President Barack Obama says he had a "great conversation" today with Senate Republicans.
It was his third stop on this week's outreach effort on Capitol Hill, where he's been talking with lawmakers from both parties about the budget and other issues.
Senators said today's 90-minute meeting featured exchanges on the budget, the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, tax reform and the regulatory burden on businesses.
He met with House Republicans yesterday. That's the same day the House Budget Committee chairman, Wisconsin's Rep. Paul Ryan, proposed a new budget plan that includes repealing Obama's health care law and cutting spending for programs Obama and Democrats want to preserve. Obama brushed off that proposal as more of the same from Republicans.
Obama started the week of outreach on Tuesday with a session with Senate Democrats.
Statement by the President
I thank the Senate for taking another step forward in our common effort to help reduce gun violence by advancing a bill that would reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons and set a 10-round limit for magazines. These weapons of war, when combined with high-capacity magazines, have one purpose: to inflict maximum damage as quickly as possible. They are designed for the battlefield, and they have no place on our streets, in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers.
The Senate has now advanced legislation addressing three of the most important elements of my proposal to help reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Now the full Senate and the House need to vote on this bill, as well as the measures advanced in the past week that would impose serious penalties on anyone who buys a gun as part of a scheme to arm criminals, improve school safety, and help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, people with a severe mental illness, and others who shouldn't have them. Each of these proposals deserves a vote.
