THE PRESIDENT: No, I'm more than willing to engage in private negotiations, but I don't think that's a fair representation of exactly how these issues developed. We did have some interest on the part of some Republicans with New Markets -- I know some of you have to go vote, so as long as you don't say they're abandoning me on the -- (laughter) -- on the patients' bill of rights, I'm going to give the senators who have to leave a pass.

We did have a lot of interest on the front end in that -- and I made some calls around myself. But I have actually tried -- I have actually had several private conversations on these issues, and I will continue to do it. I think -- I believe we could pass the patients' bill of rights. We already passed a strong bill through the House with virtually 100 percent of our caucus, and a pretty good group of Republican votes with us. We're having trouble in the Senate, manifest in the conference committee, because some of the interest groups are still fighting what I think everybody who's looked at this believes is necessary to make a good bill.

But I'm trying to negotiate on that. I had a private meeting on the gun safety legislation. I've had several conversations about that. I will -- I'm willing to do anything to resolve these things. But what we can't do here is to -- let me just say what the difference is in blunt terms.

There is no great powerful special interest out there trying to beat the New Markets legislation. And therefore, what we had was people -- Washington was able to work the way it ought to work, because all we had were our philosophical differences. But we had a common goal. So we agreed in the best tradition of the founding fathers to let the Republicans try their ideas in 40 of their enterprise areas -- whatever the proper name is -- renewal community areas, and 40 for our empowerment zones. We agreed to provide for poor areas all over the country -- including those that aren't here, in either one of those two groups -- these special incentives of the New Markets.

It was a wonderful example. And if all we ever had to do was reconcile our philosophical differences, we could pass all kinds of bills up here. But when you have an independent, powerful interest group that won't let them go, then we can have all the private talks that we want, until we're blue in the face, it's still hard to work it through. I haven't given up. But if you want to know the difference in New Markets and those things, it's not that we haven't had private talks; it's that there's no overwhelming interest group trying to beat this thing.