10:07 A.M. EST

MR. CARNEY: Good morning, everyone. I wanted to give you a little information before I take your questions in this off-camera gaggle.

Well, first of all, as you know, the President will be speaking in an open press event to House Democrats in Leesburg later today, so you’ll have that to look forward to.

Also today, senior administration officials will meet with businesses association groups and small business association groups here at the White House. Valerie Jarrett, Jeff Zients, Gene Sperling, and Alan Krueger will be in attendance. The larger business association meeting takes place right about now. How about that? And it includes representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the Business Roundtable, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the National Retail Federation. I think we provided you a full list of participants, so I will not take up time reading them.

In the afternoon, the same senior administration officials will meet with representatives from a number of smaller business associations, including the Small Business Majority, the NFIB, the National Association of Women Business Owners, and others. The groups will discuss the President’s efforts to find a balanced approach to reduce the deficit and avoid the devastating effects of the sequester along with the discussion of the President’s approach to comprehensive immigration reform and how it fits into our broader economic agenda.

And with that, I go to your questions. Mr. AP.

Q Thanks, Jay. Senator Hagel’s confirmation vote has been postponed with Republicans saying they need more information from him. Should Senator Hagel provide Congress with more information about his past activities?

MR. CARNEY: Well, Senator Hagel has provided extensive information about his activities. I’m not sure which activities you’re referring to. I think there’s been a question about past speeches. And as you know, Senator Hagel has conducted an exhaustive search for all of his speaking engagements over the past five years, as the committee requested. He has provided all available prepared texts and transcripts from those speeches to the committee. There are some speeches that Senator Hagel gave for which there were no prepared remarks and no transcripts. A list of those speeches has also been provided to the committee.

So the broader issue here is we continue to expect the Senate to act quickly to confirm Senator Hagel. As you know, since his confirmation hearing, more senators on both sides of the aisle have announced their support for his confirmation. That includes Senators Johanns, Harkin, Gillibrand, Begich, Udall, Hagan, and Blumenthal.

We continue to urge the Senate to move quickly. This is a uniquely qualified nominee for the position of Secretary of Defense, A. And B, the position of Secretary of Defense needs to be filled. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House Press Office