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President Obama held a news conference at 2:00 PM EST on Friday, December 20, 2013.

The White House live stream video.

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White House transcript: Press Conference by the President

The President’s Statement:

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  I know you are all eager to skip town and spend some time with your families.  Not surprisingly, I am, too.  But you know what they say — it’s the most wonderful press conference of the year — right now.  (Laughter.)  I am eager to take your questions, but first, I just want to say a few words about our economy.

In 2013, our businesses created another 2 million jobs, adding up to more than 8 million in just over the past 45 months. This morning, we learned that over the summer, our economy grew at its strongest pace in nearly two years.  The unemployment rate has steadily fallen to its lowest point in five years.  Our tax code is fairer, and our fiscal situation is firmer, with deficits that are now less than half of what they were when I took office.

For the first time in nearly two decades, we now produce more oil here at home than we buy from the rest of the world, and our all-of-the-above strategy for new American energy means lower energy costs.  The Affordable Care Act has helped keep health care costs growing at their slowest rate in 50 years.  Combined, that means bigger paychecks for middle-class families and bigger savings for businesses looking to invest and hire here in America.

And for all the challenges we’ve had and all the challenges that we’ve been working on diligently in dealing with both the ACA and the website these past couple months, more than half a million Americans have enrolled through healthcare.gov in the first three weeks of December alone.  In California, for example, a state operating its own marketplace, more than 15,000 Americans are enrolling every single day.  And in the federal website, tens of thousands are enrolling every single day.  Since October 1st, more than one million Americans have selected new health insurance plans through the federal and state marketplaces.  So, all told, millions of Americans, despite the problems with the website, are now poised to be covered by quality, affordable health insurance come New Year’s Day.  Now, this holiday season, there are mothers and fathers and entrepreneurs and workers who have something new to celebrate — the security of knowing that when the unexpected or misfortune strikes, hardship no longer has to.

And you add that all up and what it means is we head into next year with an economy that’s stronger than it was when we started the year.  More Americans are finding work and experiencing the pride of a paycheck.  Our businesses are positioned for new growth and new jobs.  And I firmly believe that 2014 can be a breakthrough year for America.  But as I outlined in detail earlier this month, we all know there’s a lot more that we’re going to have to do to restore opportunity and broad-based growth for every American.  And that’s going to require some action.

It’s a good start that earlier this week, for the first time in years, both parties in both houses of Congress came together to pass a budget.  That unwinds some of the damaging sequester cuts that created headwinds for our economy.  It clears the path for businesses and for investments that we need to strengthen our middle class, like education and scientific research.  And it means that the American people won’t be exposed to the threat of another reckless shutdown every few months.  So that’s a good thing.

It’s probably too early to declare an outbreak of bipartisanship.  But it’s also fair to say that we’re not condemned to endless gridlock.  There are areas where we can work together.

I believe that work should begin with something that Republicans in Congress should have done before leaving town this week, and that’s restoring the temporary insurance that helps folks make ends meet when they are looking for a job.  Because Congress didn’t act, more than one million of their constituents will lose a vital economic lifeline at Christmastime, leaving a lot of job-seekers without any source of income at all.

I think we’re a better country than that.  We don’t abandon each other when times are tough.  Keep in mind unemployment insurance only goes to folks who are actively looking for work — a mom who needs help feeding her kids when she sends out her resumes, or a dad who needs help paying the rent while working part-time and still earning the skills he needs for that new job. So when Congress comes back to work, their first order of business should be making this right.  I know a bipartisan group is working on a three-month extension of this insurance.  They should pass it, and I’ll sign it right away.

Let me repeat:  I think 2014 needs to be a year of action.  We’ve got work to do to create more good jobs, to help more Americans earn the skills and education they need to do those jobs and to make sure that those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let families build a little bit of financial security.  We still have the task of finishing the fix on our broken immigration system.  We’ve got to build on the progress we’ve painstakingly made over these last five years with respect to our economy and offer the middle class and all those who are looking to join the middle class a better opportunity, and that’s going to be where I focus all of my efforts in the year ahead.

And let me conclude by saying just as we’re strengthening our position here at home, we’re also standing up for our interests around the world.  This year, we’ve demonstrated that with clear-eyed, principled diplomacy, we can pursue new paths to a world that’s more secure — a future where Iran does not build a nuclear weapon; a future where Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed.  By the end of next year, the war in Afghanistan will be over, just as we’ve ended our war in Iraq, and we’ll continue to bring our troops home.  And, as always, we will remain vigilant to protect our homeland and our personnel overseas from terrorist attacks.

Of course, a lot of our men and women in uniform are still overseas, and a lot of them are still spending their Christmas far away from their family and their friends, and in some cases, are still in harm’s way.  So I want to close by saying to them and their families back home, we want to thank you.  Your country stands united in supporting you and being grateful for your service and your sacrifice.  We will keep you in our thoughts and in our prayers during this season of hope.

So, before I wish a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night, I will take some questions.  Jay prepared a list of who’s naughty and nice — (laughter) — so we’ll see who made it.