The president said he looks forward to having more bipartisan meetings in the future.

"My hope is this is not going to be a rare situation; we're going to be doing these on a regular basis," he said. "And I'm very thankful that everybody here has taken the time to come. I'm confident that if we move forward in a spirit of keeping in mind what's best for the American people that we should be able to accomplish a lot."

Mr. Obama's approval ratings average just below 50 percent in recent polls, down sharply from this time last year. Approval ratings for Congress are significantly lower, averaging just over 22 percent.