Leon Panetta to Congress: ‘Put Politics Aside,’ End Shutdown (+video)

Former Secretary of State and CIA director Leon Panetta urged a bitterly divided Congress to fund the government until mid-December — and then hold a summit on contentious issues – like entitlements and tax reform — that are holding up an agreement to end a four-day-old shutdown.

“The first thing is to … put politics aside and take the steps necessary to solve this crisis,” Panetta told CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

“The Speaker [of the House John Boehner] has to allow the House to vote” on funding the government and “on lifting the debt,” he said, adding that a later summitlike conference could “negotiate issues involving entitlements … [and] tax reform” toward a “deal that would restore some confidence.”

“I suspect the majority of Republicans and Democrats would support a clean [continuing resolution,” he added, scolding lawmakers: “You can’t let the extremes control the party … work needs to be done.”

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