With the government shutdown now a thing of the past, President Barack Obama is following through with his commitment to address immigration reform.

Obama, who said he would get to the issue as soon as the shutdown was resolved, expressed his desire to get immigration reform to the forefront of American politics before the end of the year in order to make progress in a timely fashion.

"It's good for our economy, it's good for our national security," Obama said at the White House. "It's good for our people, and we should do it this year."

The Republican-controlled House is opposed to a pathway to citizenship for immigrants currently in the Untied States.

Brendan Buck, a spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner, said Republicans only want to take things one small step at a time as opposed to bringing in such a significant change.

"The speaker agrees that America has a broken immigration system and we need reform that would boost our economy," Buck said. "He's also been clear that the House will not consider any massive, 'Obamacare'-style legislation that no one understands."

With many of the American people upset about not only the recent government shutdown but also because of more revelations of the NSA spying on other countries, Obama understands that it is important to find something else to move forward on.

"Rather than create problems, let's prove to the American people that Washington can actually solve some problems," he said. "Keep putting the pressure on all of us to get this done."