Bush News Conference

Time is running short, so I urged the speaker and the leader of the Senate to name conferees for six of the annual appropriations bills that have already passed the House and the Senate.

The two houses need to work out their differences on these bills and get them to my desk as soon as possible. They also need to pass the remaining spending bills, one at a time, and in a fiscally responsible way.

Congress has work to do on education. As we saw from the recent nation's report card, the No Child Left Behind Act is getting results for America's children.

Test scores are rising. The achievement gap is beginning to close. And Congress should send me a bipartisan bill that reauthorizes and strengthens this effective piece of legislation.

BUSH: Congress has work to do on housing. Back in August, I proposed a series of reforms to help homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments. We're into six weeks later; Congress has yet to finish work on any of these measures.

These are sensible reforms that would help American families stay in their homes and Congress needs to act quickly on these proposals.