He also praised a Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage and a congressional rewrite of the No Child Left Behind law as further victories for causes he’s made central to his presidency.
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In July, the US Senate combined elements of a bill called the CORRECTIONS Act with the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Act aimed, jointly, at reducing the prison population and lowering sentences, sometimes by as much as ten years.
“We still have some unfinished business”, an upbeat Obama said at what’s likely to be his last press conference of the year before flying off to Hawaii for a family Christmas vacation.
Congress also extended $680 billion in tax cuts for businesses and individuals, with the White House in particular touting the tax breaks for the wind and solar industry.
Applications approved by the Clemency Project have to undergo several more layers of review inside the Justice Department, before getting to the White House.
Recalling prior debates over what the government should be able to access, and whether government was “becoming too much like Big Brother”, Obama said the USA has struck the right balance between security and protecting civil liberties. More particularly, Mr. Obama stated he was optimistic about making “real progress” on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.
“Congress and I have a long runway to get some things done for the American people”, he said.
The White House will work to cement Obama’s achievements by strengthening health care, expanding clean energy production, implementing the Iran nuclear deal and normalizing relations with Cuba. Those successes have been tempered by a lack of progress on the president’s other priorities, like closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center. “I believe in your ability to prove the doubters wrong, and change your life for the better”, Obama said in a letter to those who received clemency.
Wang noted the “severe threat posed by global terrorism”, a reference to the Islamic State group, which has exploited the chaos to seize large parts of Syria.
Julie Stewart, the president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said in a statement after Friday’s announcement that the “work is not done”. Bashar Assad will have to leave for Syria to reach a peace, Obama said. However, he said, “Every battle I’ve had with Congress over the last five years has been uphill”. He won’t be rolling out sweeping new policy proposals that would be unlikely to get serious consideration amid the focus on electing his successor.
HORSLEY: Well, you know, there are some, like former White House Counsel Greg Craig, who argue the president has the authority to close Guantanamo without a green light from Congress, but Obama insists he’s not going to push for that just yet. He said he expected Democrats to nominate a strong candidate, though he did not publicly side with front-runner Hillary Clinton or top challenger Bernie Sanders.
“As Americans, we should not forget how good these patriots are”, Obama said Thursday of the USA intelligence and law enforcement officials responsible for preventing terror attacks. “As we keep up the pressure [in 2016] our terror campaign will continue to hit [terrorists] harder than ever – taking out their leaders, their commanders and their forces”.
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And he also will spend time on the presidential campaign trail stumping for the Democratic nominee.
