The keys to Biden's speech in front of Congress 1:31
(CNN) -
US President Joe Biden spoke directly to working and middle-class Americans who "feel abandoned and forgotten" in a rapidly changing economy, in his first address to a joint session of Congress, promising that its ambitious economic and infrastructure plans amount to a "labor project to build America."
Addressing many of the voters who left the Democratic Party to support former President Donald Trump, Biden stated that his economic plans are aimed directly at improving his economic situation, while strengthening the position of the United States around the world and positioning it to compete against other world powers like China.
“My countrymen, the trickle economy has never worked.
It's time to grow the economy from the bottom up and half out, ”Biden said Wednesday night.
"A broad consensus of economists, left, right and center, agree that what I propose will help create millions of jobs and generate historic economic growth."
The president proposes drastic political changes to address income inequality in the United States, plans that will cost trillions of dollars and vastly expand the reach of the government, pushing for a much more progressive agenda than his 2020 campaign would have suggested.
While trying to sell that transformative exchange rate, he argued that his administration has acted to "restore people's faith that our democracy delivers" through its economic and logistical response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He cited the call to action of former President Franklin Roosevelt, another president who used government mechanisms to push for radical change, "in another time when our democracy was put to the test."
"In America, we do our part," he said.
"That is all I ask."
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Ambitious proposals face a daunting path to approval
Republicans and some Democrats alike have opposed the scale of his massive proposals to repair the nation's roads, bridges, and railways and expand broadband, including the $ 1.8 trillion he would spend to help families. Americans with expenses.
But Biden presented them as generational investments in the future, underscoring that the vast majority of the infrastructure jobs he intends to create would not require a college degree.
Here's what Biden's $ 1.8 trillion American Families Plan includes
Focusing on basic issues that could appeal to Americans of all political persuasions, he outlined the jobs that would be created by modernizing roads, bridges, and highways and replacing all of the nation's lead pipes and service lines for ensure that "all children can turn on the tap and be sure to drink clean water."
He noted that the plan would make huge investments in broadband to bring high-speed Internet to 35% of rural Americans who don't already have it.
All of those investments, he said, will bolster America's economic power and ensure more products are made domestically.
"We are competing with China and other countries to win the 21st century," said the president.
“There is simply no reason why wind turbine blades cannot be built in Pittsburgh rather than in Beijing.
There is no reason, ”Biden said.
Biden marked the accomplishments of his first 100 days in a strong position despite the deeply polarized nature of the American electorate after four chaotic and tumultuous years under former President Donald Trump.
A new CNN poll released Wednesday showed that 53% of Americans approve of the way Biden is doing his job, and nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe he is keeping his campaign promises.
The covid-19 and the insurrection loom over the speech
In his speech, Biden reminded his audience of the crises he has inherited, from the one-time pandemic to the failed insurrection on Capitol Hill on January 6, fostered by his predecessor.
He argued that the United States is emerging from "the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression" and "the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War."
After the tumult and pain of the pandemic, he declared that "America is on the move again."
In these first months of his presidency, Biden was underpinned by positive voter perception of his efforts to lift the nation out of the turmoil and economic woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
About 66% of Americans approve of his crisis management, and he highlighted his team's achievement in administering more than 200 million vaccines in less than 100 days.
It was a historic night, not just for Biden, but because there were two women sitting behind him on the stand: Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Asked about the importance of the moment during an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday, Pelosi replied, "It's about time."
Harris agreed with that sentiment as he entered the House of Representatives: "Normal," he told reporters on Capitol Hill when asked how Americans should view the historic milestone.
Biden realized the importance as soon as he took the podium: “Madam President, Madam Vice President,” said Biden, “no president has ever said those words from this podium.
No president had ever said those words.
And it's about time ».
"Go get vaccinated"
Biden spent a lot of time highlighting his administration's achievements in eradicating the pandemic, noting that 90% of Americans now live within five miles of a vaccination center and that everyone over the age of 16 can get vaccinated.
The president said that the progress of the last 100 days was "one of the greatest logistical achievements this country has seen," but also warned that this is not the time for people to let their guard down.
"Go get vaccinated, America," Biden said.
Covid-19 vaccination efforts in the United States may now decline, says official.
These are the reasons
In the Republican response to Biden's speech, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott claimed that the tide was turning on COVID-19 when Biden took office. Although Trump and his team accomplished a historic feat in developing multiple vaccines in record time, officials in the Biden administration have said they inherited a chaotic and insufficient vaccine delivery system that they had to completely overhaul.
"Last year, under Republican leadership, we passed five bipartisan covid packages," Scott said.
"Congress supported our hospitals, saved our economy and funded Operation Speed Warp, delivering vaccines in record time."
He argued that Democrats decided to "go it alone" with their $ 2 trillion covid-19 bailout package, which he criticized in part because it did not include a demand to reopen schools.
«The covid-19 united the Congress five times.
This administration separated us, ”Scott said.
One of Biden's toughest tasks in the coming months will be persuading people who didn't vote for him to get vaccinated, or finding the right messengers to help convince them.
The rate of vaccination dropped sharply, and supply outstripped demand, especially in the rural, conservative counties that Trump won in 2020.
Scientists say that between 70% and 85% of Americans will have to be vaccinated for the nation to achieve group immunity and prevent dangerous variants of the coronavirus from spreading in the coming months.
But polls have shown persistent resistance and disinterest in getting vaccinated among large numbers of Republicans.
About 43% of the population received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nearly 30% are fully vaccinated.
Challenges ahead
Although economic and anti-pandemic plans formed the central axis of his speech, Biden also addressed the many challenges his administration faces, such as the crisis on the southern border with Mexico and the passionate calls for federal legislation on Police reform following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a former Minneapolis police officer last May.
The president, who called gun violence an "epidemic in the United States," called for so-called ghost weapons to be banned.
He urged Congress to have the "courage" to make a pledge on police reform before the anniversary of Floyd's death next month.
Trying to bridge the political gap on the issue, he said the vast majority of law enforcement officials honorably serve American communities and want to respond to calls for justice.
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Hopes grow for a commitment to police reform, but huge political hurdles lurk
"We have all seen the knee of injustice on the necks of black Americans," Biden said.
“Now is our chance to make real progress.
… We have to come together to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve;
to eradicate systematic racism in our criminal justice system.
Scott was optimistic about compromise on this issue, speaking in personal terms of his own experience as a black man who was stopped for no reason and followed around a store while shopping.
He criticized Democrats for rejecting the police reform proposals he offered last summer, but added: “I'm still working.
I'm still hopeful.
Republicans see the increase in unaccompanied minors across the border as a potentially powerful campaign issue in the 2022 midterm elections. Biden addressed the issue head-on Wednesday night, asking Congress to draft legislation. create a path to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants.
He advocated for legal status for the so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the United States as children, and called on Congress to "end our grueling war on immigration."
“For more than 30 years, politicians have talked about immigration reform and have done nothing about it.
Time to fix it, ”he said.
U.S. Congress Joe Biden