I have no announcements to make, so I'll take your questions. Jim.

Well, there’s a lot in your question, so let me go first to the broader fact, which is that we have seen consistent job growth over almost three years....

Well, the President has been and continues to be interested in doing the biggest deal possible. Now, that was true when he worked towards a grand bargain...

Well, I don’t have any comment for you on those reports. I'd refer you to the government of Israel for questions about deliberations or actions that...

One of the few bright spots? I would contest that. I think there have been, as I just noted, month after month of positive job creation. And there...

Well, I’m glad you asked that question because, as you know, I’m sure, and others here know, every proposal the President has put forward in these...

Well, it’s a terrible tragedy any time a young person is struck down with so much of their life ahead of them. And we see it far too often. The...

I have no scheduling announcements to make. I’m not even aware of the petition.

I don’t have any communications to read out.

Well, I think there are a lot of issues that are particular to a single city within a broader state and country having gun laws of one kind versus gun...

Well, he has had conversations with various lawmakers on this issue, including those who have a strong record of support for Second Amendment rights,...

I’m sorry, is -- I didn’t get the question.

Well, I’m not sure that I have an administration response. I would tell you that the President, as a man of faith, believes very deeply in the importance...

I don’t think any time you see a reduction in economic growth, that it’s good news, but I think we need to understand what lies underneath it. ...

Well, I haven’t seen anyone suggest that the fact that the housing market has been rebounding from the burst of the housing bubble, that that’s...

I think the point of sequester, sequestration -- and I imagine the people in their homes shudder every time they hear us use those words because they...

Well, I think I made clear at the very top here that we disagree with those in Congress who increasingly seem to suggest that it would be a good thing...

We have legislation to avoid it.

Well, I don't -- the President believes that we should be able to deal with this in the remaining portion of the goal of $4 trillion of deficit reduction...

I could read you quote after quote after quote from Republicans saying how desperately important it is to avoid sequester because of the impact -- the...

Well, it says here in the Wall Street Journal, Speaker Boehner suggests that having sequester in his back pocket is a good thing, in terms of negotiations....

The widely reported proposal the President put on the table with the Speaker of the House remains on the table. And that includes the spending cuts,...

Well, you know, there is a lot of reports about conversation internally. I don’t have a readout of any of the President's personal conversations...

Wendell, I’m not sure what rhetorical game you’re trying to engage in. What he said -- I mean, what is true is that we have a health care spending...

Yes.

I have none. (Laughter.)

Jessica.

Well, it’s a logical fallacy to suggest that universal background checks won’t make a different. We do absolutely have to enforce the law and we...

Well, he will continue to make this issue a priority, and I’m sure you will hear from him on this issue in the future, but I have no scheduling announcements...

I don’t have that expectation. He’s just looking forward to seeing her.

Yes, Mark.

Let me say a couple of things. First of all, the President’s commitment to and seriousness about enforcement of our borders and our laws against...

Again, I don’t want to prejudge --

I don’t want to rule out or rule in something that --

But there’s not a debate based on anything that is specific.

And there’s been -- I think you’ve heard a variety of things from different members of that group about what that means. And we will wait to judge...

Again, you’re asking me to make a judgment about something that is not -- does not exist in legislation. I want to wait -- we want to wait and see...

We will look to the Senate to -- or the Congress to develop proposals on this issue if the Congress desires. And we would want to make sure that it...

That position is consistent with the President’s views. It is consistent with legislation that has previously been introduced in Congress, and the...

You would never hear the President make judgments like that. He does not believe that any of this important work is easy, and if it were easy it would...

Well, but his first -- prior to that, the first big event, if you will, of his second term, was on the issue of gun violence.

So there is an effort...

Well, as you know, the United States continues to have significant troop presence in Afghanistan. We are winding down that presence, as the President...

Well, I think all of us here today would hesitate to rank terrible things in order of their terribleness. So the fact is we shouldn’t get to that...

I think that, again, looking for exit ramps here for all of these problems is a diversion from the real issue, which is the need to address our fiscal...

I thought you were going to say, can you give a date certain, and I was going to say I’m not going to provide a timetable. The President is encouraged...

I don’t have any tick-tock on that. I mean, he may have found out the way the rest of us did when we saw it announced, but it’s the Governor of...

Well, I think the President is encouraged that we have a record number of women and now African Americans serving in the U.S. Senate, and hopes there...

Well, one thing it needs is a confirmed director, which it has lacked in the six years since that position was made a confirmable post. So the Congress...

I don't have an assessment to make of that. I would point you to relevant agencies, including the Department of Justice. But one step that we need...

Well, I don't make those forecasts, and I would point you to forecasts of independent and outside economists about the potential, anyway, the expectation,...

We are constantly monitoring Syria’s proliferation-sensitive materials. That includes, obviously, chemical weapons and facilities. And we believe...

Well, I think part of the overall approach here needs to be enforcement of the laws that we have, and that includes making a background check system...

And I think that’s part of an issue that needs to be addressed. But the citing of that statistic is designed to divert attention from another issue...

Sure, we need to enforce the law. But I’m not going to get into discretion in enforcement. That’s something I would direct to the Department of...

Donovan, last one.

Again, I don’t understand the point. The fact that there are other -- there are a variety of things we need to do doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t...

Again, I would refer you to -- I don’t want to make declarations about law enforcement from here. I would refer you to the Justice Department. But...

Look, I think that making our background checks universal, making sure that everybody plays by the same rules is something that is broadly supported...

Well, I agree, but this -- but I think Mayor Bloomberg would say that we need universal background checks.

And I’m not arguing with that. I think the point is that we need to do a lot of things, and one thing we shouldn’t do is say because we have other...