Trying to get them to lay off sanctions . You are stringing a bunch of things along. Let us see if we can have a question . That is a lot less than henry had. [laughter] i thought we were trying to get along. [laughter] how about i separate out the iran question from the Health Care Question . On the Health Care Question, i think i have answered several times this is a new iteration of it. Bottom line is that we are going to continue to work every single day to make sure that implementation of the Health Care Law and the website and all elements of it, including the grandfather clause, work better, every single day. As i have said in Previous Press conferences, we are going to make mistakes. And we are going to have problems. But my intentions have been clear throughout. I just want to help as many people as possible feel secure, and make sure they do not go broke when they get sick. We are going to keep on doing that. On iran, there is the possibility of a resolution to a problem that has been a challenge for American National security for over a decade. And that is getting iran to, in a verifiable fashion, not pursue a nuclear weapon. Already, even with the interim deal that we struck in geneva, we have the first halt, and in some cases some rollback of Irans Nuclear capabilities. The first time we have seen that in almost a decade. And we now have a structure in which we can have a very serious conversation to see, is it possible for iran to get right with the International Community in a verifiable fashion, to give us all confidence that any Peaceful Nuclear program that they have is not going to be weaponized in a way that threatens us or allies in the region, including israel . As i have said before and i will repeat, it is very important for us to test whether that is possible, not because it is guaranteed, but because the alternative is possibly us having to engage in some sort of conflict to resolve the problem, with all kinds of unintended consequences. I have been clear from the start i mean what i say. It is my goal to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. I sure would rather do it diplomatically. I am keeping all options on the table. I would think that would be the preference of everybody on capitol hill, because that sure is the preference of the american people. And we lose nothing during this negotiation, precisely because there are verification provisions in place. We will have more insight into Irans Nuclear program over the next six months than we have previously. We will know if they are violating the terms of the agreement. They are not allowed to accelerate their stockpile of enriched uranium. In fact, they have to reduce their stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Ironically, if we did not have this six months in which we are testing whether we can get a comprehensive solution to this problem, they would be advancing even further on their nuclear program. It might of all that, what i have said to democrats and republicans is, there is no need for sanctions legislation. Not yet. If iran comes back and says we cannot give you a assurances we are not going to weaponize, if they are not willing to address some of their capabilities that we know could end up resulting in them having breakout capacity, it is not going to be hard for us to turn the dials back, strengthened sanctions even further. I will work with members of congress to put even more pressure on iraq. Iran. But there is no reason to do it right now. I am not surprised that there has been some talk from some members of congress about new sanctions. I think the politics of trying to look tough on iran are often good when you are running for office. Or if you are in office. But as president of the United States right now, who has been responsible over the last four years, with the help of congress, in putting together a comprehensive sanctions regime specifically designed to put pressure on them and bring them to the table to negotiate, what i am saying to them, what i have said to the International Community, what i have said to the american people, is, lets test it. It is the time to try to see if we can get this thing done. I have heard some logic that says, well, mr. President , we are supportive of the negotiations, but we think it is useful to have this club hanging over irans head. We still have existing sanctions in place that are resulting in iran losing billions of dollars every month in lost oil sales. We already have banking and financial sanctions that are still being applied, even as the negotiations are taking place. It is not as if we are letting up on that. I have heard arguments that this way we can be assured, and the iranians will know, that if negotiations fail, even new and harsher sanctions will be put into place. I do not think the iranians have any doubt that congress would be more than happy to pass more sanctions legislation. We can do that in a day. On a dime. But if we are serious about negotiations, we have to create an atmosphere in which iran is willing to move in ways that are uncomfortable for them, and contrary to their ideology and rhetoric, and their instincts and their suspicions of us. And we do not help get them to a position where we can actually resolve this by engaging in this kind of action. All right . Ok, everybody. I think i am going to take one more question. Colleen mccain nelson, and that is it. Thank you, mr. President. A lot of longtime advisers are leaving the white house. New advisors are coming in, or taking on new roles. As you reshape your team, how does that impact what you think you can accomplish, Going Forward . I just had lunch with pete, who is leaving the. That is tough. Not right now, at least. I love that guy. That will be a significant loss, although he will still be in town, and hopefully i will be able to consult with him on an ongoing basis. I think jonathan, coming in, will be terrific. He may deny it, but i have been trying to get in him in here for some time. He ran my transition office. At that time, i think he was still feeling he wanted to develop other organizations. John is a great strategist. He is as good as anybody on domestic policy. And i think he will be a huge boost to us and give us more bandwidth to deal with more issues. I suspect we may have additional announcements in the new year. There is a natural turnover that takes place. People get tired. People get worn out. Sometimes you need fresh legs. But what i can tell you is that the team i have now is tireless, and shares my values, and believes the thing i think i have repeated four or five times in this press conference, which is, we get this incredible privilege for a short time, to do as much as we can for as many people as we can, to help them live better lives. And that is what drives them. That is the sacrifice they make, being away from families, soccer games, and birthdays. Some of them will end up working over christmas on issues like iran. The fact that they make those kinds of sacrifices i am always grateful for them. If they say to me after making those sacrifices for 3, 4, ive years, i need a break, then i completely understand. All right . Have a great holiday, everybody. Appreciate you. Merry christmas. Happy new year. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] what is ahead today on cspan. Next, russian president fundament couldnt delivering his annual state of the nation address in moscow. Mccain talks about the evolving financial and political situation in ukraine. The constitution has put together to fundamental priorities. Rights and freedoms of the individual and a strong state, i their mutual obligation to respect and protect one another. The constitution must be stable. This pertains to the rights and freedom of the individual and the citizens. These provisions of the fundamental law are invaluable. Life is not stand still and the constitutional process should not be seen as completed and void of life. Small adjustments of other chapters of the fundamental law that are based on Law Enforcement practices, on life itself, are possible and sometimes necessary. As you know, there are plans to make amendments to the constitution, whereupon the Supreme Court and the high business core will be consolidated. Often, these courts interpret laws differently and sometimes quite differently and make different regiments on similar cases different judgment on similar cases. As a result, there is legal uncertainty. Sometimes there is injustice that reflects on people. The consolidation of these courts will turn Court Practices into a single work and will strengthen the guarantees that the most important constitutional principles, equality of all before law, will guarantee that the constitution presents the key, national ideas. We must support the aspiration and increasing aspiration of the citizens and Political Parties to participate in the life of this country. We must support citizen engagement. People will have an opportunity in managing their municipality or city in dealing with the everyday issues. There are many issues in the system of local government and the scope of responsibility and the resources for municipalities. Regrettably, as you very well know, they are not balanced. That results in confusion with authorities. As a result, there are often corruption scandals. The powers and area of education, Public Health, and social protection of the population have been devolved in the region devolved in the regions. In this regard, i am speaking to the old Russian Council of local government, members of the federal assembly, and the government of the Russian Federation. Let us revisit these issues to bring the situation in line with common sense with the requirements of the times. I believe clarifying the general principle and creating a strong, independent and financially sustainable authority locally is a key task. This is something we must start doing and to provide legislative framework for in 2014. This will mark the 150th anniversary of the reform. It was the local government that allowed russia to make a breakthrough and find the ability to productive large progressive reforms. Were all interested through the mechanisms of elections, well prepared, ambitious and professional individuals come to this institution of power. We will continue to work on legal competition, improving Political Institutions and providing an environment for them to be open. Recent elections have shown that political life in this country is less bureaucratized and the results are much less predictable. I believe that many new parties have made themselves heard by winning seats in municipal and regional legislatures and they lay down a Great Foundation for their involvement in future role federal future federal a lot campaigns. They will be strong campaigners. Russia needs a broad public debate that will bring about practical results where public initiatives become part of the governments policy and society oversees their execution. I believe that all of these are key government decisions that should go through the zero reading or public reading with the participation of nongovernmental organizations and other institutes of civil society. Public councils might be mostly setup up at the federal and regional bodies of the executive. They already exist in some of the bodies, and what is important is that they must not be a formal and decorative entity, they should act as experts and be active participants in the system that is fighting corruption. A public framework should be created. I am asking the chamber, the council on human rights, and other organizations to continue to draft the law on public oversight. One of the priorities in the joint work of society and states should be the support of human rights organizations. We hope that such organizations would be free of pursuing political agendas so that there will be focusing on the interests and problems faced by the individual. In this regard, the role of the Senate Chamber is growing. It should become a forum where the interests of various groups and associations will be expressed. There should be more professionals. I should account for at least half of the members of this civic chamber. [applause] that approach would ensure a balance of interest of social and professional groups and will take into account issues and challenges they face on a fuller scale. How important subject that requires a public debate is interethnic relations. This is where many of our problems and a source of economic and Territorial Development are concentrated. Including corruption and flaws in the operation of the government institutions. There are setbacks in the educational policies was often leads to a distorted understanding of the true reasons for interethnic tensions. This is something that is not by representatives of certain nations. This is more international that comprises both certain natives of certain southern parts of russia who have cut themselves loose and corrupt Law Enforcement personnel who provide protection for ethnic mafias and all kinds of separatists. We must meet this challenge together. We must protect interethnic peace and therefore the unity of our society. The unity and integrity of the russian state. [applause] dear colleagues, in the may 2012 decrees, specific measures were identified that were designed to ensure Dynamic Development a la the areas. In all of the areas. Those decrees provided a Single Program of action, accumulating the willpower and desires of millions of people. The aspiration of russians people of russias people to a better life. Often times one hears there is not enough resource and funds. It implements plans to bring the bar down to simplify the tasks. Dear colleagues, i am now embarking on an important and responsible subject. I do not believe that we are built on a printable. On a formal principle. The Economic Situation may change and is changing, but this is not an excuse for revising our goals. One needs to do actual work and to look for solutions and to set budget and other priorities property properly. I suggest all Government Programs be brought up to speed within the next two years. The budget of all levels should be switched to problematic printable. That does not mean everything should be written in a mechanical way. It means that every executive should be made personally responsible for achieving results. Resources should be used to achieve changes in specific sectors and industries. We are increasing salaries and education and Public Health so that the work of teachers and physicians will become prestigious once again. It will bring in quality. However, as we agreed, this should not be achieved only through budget infusions, but due to reform that are intended to increase the effectiveness of the census. People will see how the schools and universities, hospitals, Outpatient Clinics are working better and better. As salaries are increased, something that must be done, an entire set of other measures needs to be implemented so that all of the goals will be achieved. What kind of measures . An effective contract, a valuation of experts, and implementation of financing. Social development of competition, the opening up of the budget sphere to nonorgan it is also optimization of the budget ended due to a reduction of ineffective expenses and the removal of barriers for budget institutions to achieve independence. Where are all of these measures . 18 months have passed since the may 2012 decrees. Either things are done in a way as to invite negativity in society or nothing is done at all. We will not reach the goals set if we keep working like this. As a result, individuals are not feeling radical changes. We have been allocating resources, but unless reforms are conducted, quality will not increase. Only effective expenses will increase. This is what is happening in this is what i want the federal authorities and the executives of the reasons of the Russian Federation to Pay Attention to. An important task is to create a system of independent evaluation of the quality of social services. This will help link their financing to the results of the work and therefore effectively optimize the budget network. There is a need for direct action, legislation that will determine unified approaches to standards and criteria, as well as the obligation of all the levels of authority, in terms of creating a system of independent quality and evaluation of the quality of social services. This law must be adopted during the spring session. This is my request for you, dear colleagues. We have been able to do a lot to improve the Public Health system lately. There are now fewer deaths as a result as of cardiovascular and other endeavors. And other diseases. Life expectancy has increased. However, we are still not close enough to the ratio that we have established for ourselves. The basic question is a real transition to the insurance based danceable and Public Health. Principle to Public Health. The goal is such that the insurance principle must work so that the individuals will feel responsible for their own health, so there will be financial incentive for people to engage in a help based in a healthy lifestyle, whereas Insurance Companies would be interested in medical establishments providing quality medical services. It would monitor this and evaluate their operations from the financial perspective so that patients who have an opportunity to choose those medical establishments. The system of mandatory medical insurance should, to the fullest degree, secure government guarantees for free medical assistance. Patients must be able to know w