After ending a summit with six Gulf nations, President Obama held a press conference Thursday night from Camp David in Maryland. Topics spanned the world: from the Amtrak tragedy in Philadelphia, to an emerging trade deal in the Pacific, to assuaging the Gulf nations’ concerns over his administration’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. Let’s break it down.
On Amtrak and Infrastructure
Obama began the press conference offering his condolences for the victims of this week’s Amtrak crash.
“I want to express my gratitude for the first responders, who raced to save lives, and for the many passengers who, despite their own injuries, made heroic efforts to get fellow passengers to safety,” the president said. “For a lot of people on that train, it was a routine journey, a commute, a business trip. For the Amtrak employees who were badly hurt, it was their office. … That somehow makes it all the more tragic.”
He then turned away from the personal, to the political.
Until we know for certain what caused this tragedy, I just want to reiterate what I have already said, that we are a growing country with a growing economy,” Obama said. “We need to invest in the infrastructure that keeps us that way, and not just when something happens like a bridge collapse or a train derailment, but all the time. That’s what great nations do.”
Investigators and emergency workers continue to sift through the wreckage of Amtrak’s Northeast Regional Train 188 in Philadelphia. Earlier Thursday, workers recovered an eighth body—the last person from the train’s manifest who needed to be accounted for. More than 200 people were sent to area hospitals after the train derailed Tuesday night, and 43 remain hospitalized.
In Washington—aside from the condolences offered by lawmakers—much of the talk about the crash has centered on Amtrak’s funding. On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committeeapproved a bill that would cut the train service’s funding to $1.14 billion, from last year’s total of $1.4 billion. Congressional Democrats had pushed for even more funding in the wake of the crash.
A reporter asked Obama whether it’s time to consider raising the federal gas tax in order to bolster the Highway Trust Fund, which is nearing insolvency.
“I think that’s going to be something that we need to explore,” Obama said. “My hope is we have a chance to have a serious discussion and look at all potential revenue sources. What is absolutely true is the Highway Trust Fund has consistently gone smaller and smaller and smaller and inadequate for the needs.”
On His Talks With the Gulf Nations
The conference marked the end of a summit Thursday between Obama and representatives from six Gulf nations—Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman. The six are known as the Gulf Cooperation Council. The administration hoped to assuage worries within the delegation that the U.S. is less than fully devoted to the Gulf countries’ defense. Much of their concern stems from Secretary of State John Kerry’s ongoing negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal. According to a report in Reuters, the president told the representatives that a “broader rapprochement” with Iran is not in the works.
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