Good afternoon, everybody. Happy Friday. I thought I’d take somequestions, but first, let me say a few words about the economy.

　　This morning, we learned that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in July. That’s ontop of about 300,000 new jobs in June. So we are now in a six-month streak with at least200,000 new jobs each month. That’s the first time that has happened since 1997. Over thepast year, we’ve added more jobs than any year since 2019. And all told, our businesses havecreated 9.9 million new jobs over the past 53 months. That’s the longest streak of privatesector job creation in our history.

　　And as we saw on Wednesday, the economy grew at a strong pace in the spring. Companies areinvesting. Consumers are spending. American manufacturing, energy, technology, autos -- allare booming. And thanks to the decisions that we’ve made, and the grit and resilience of theAmerican people, we’ve recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost anyother advanced country on Earth.

　　So the good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger. Things are getting better. Ourengines are revving a little bit louder. And the decisions that we make right now can sustainand keep that growth and momentum going.

　　Unfortunately, there are a series of steps that we could be taking to maintain momentum, andperhaps even accelerate it; there are steps that we could be taking that would result in morejob growth, higher wages, higher incomes, more relief for middle-class families. And so far, atleast, in Congress, we have not seen them willing or able to take those steps.

　　I’ve been pushing for common-sense ideas like rebuilding our infrastructure in ways that aresustained over many years and support millions of good jobs and help businesses compete.I’ve been advocating on behalf of raising the minimum wage, making it easier for working folksto pay off their student loans; fair pay, paid leave. All these policies have two things incommon: All of them would help working families feel more stable and secure, and all of themso far have been blocked or ignored by Republicans in Congress. That’s why myadministration keeps taking whatever actions we can take on our own to help working families.

　　Now, it’s good that Congress was able to pass legislation to strengthen the VA. And I want tothank the chairmen and ranking members who were involved in that. It’s good that Congresswas able to at least fund transportation projects for a few more months before leaving town --although it falls far short of the kind of infrastructure effort that we need that would actuallyaccelerate the economy. But for the most part, the big-ticket items, the things that wouldreally make a difference in the lives of middle-class families, those things just are not gettingdone.

　　Let’s just take a recent example: Immigration. We all agree that there’s a problem that needsto be solved in a portion of our southern border. And we even agree on most of the solutions.But instead of working together -- instead of focusing on the 80 percent where there isagreement between Democrats and Republicans, between the administration and Congress --House Republicans, as we speak, are trying to pass the most extreme and unworkable versionsof a bill that they already know is going nowhere, that can’t pass the Senate and that if it wereto pass the Senate I would veto. They know it.

　　They’re not even trying to actually solve the problem. This is a message bill that they couldn’tquite pull off yesterday, so they made it a little more extreme so maybe they can pass it today-- just so they can check a box before they’re leaving town for a month. And this is on an issuethat they all insisted had to be a top priority.

　　Now, our efforts administratively so far have helped to slow the tide of child migrants trying tocome to our country. But without additional resources and help from Congress, we’re just notgoing to have the resources we need to fully solve the problem. That means while they’re outon vacation I’m going to have to make some tough choices to meet the challenge -- with orwithout Congress.

　　And yesterday, even though they’ve been sitting on a bipartisan immigration bill for over ayear, House Republicans suggested that since they don’t expect to actually pass a bill that I cansign, that I actually should go ahead and act on my own to solve the problem. Keep in mindthat just a few days earlier, they voted to sue me for acting on my own. And then when theycouldn’t pass a bill yesterday, they put out a statement suggesting I should act on my ownbecause they couldn’t pass a bill.