President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on March 07, 2024 in Washington, D.C. This is Biden’s last State of the Union address before the general election this coming November. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — In remarks pivotal to his reelection this fall, President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address Thursday night portrayed himself as the defender of democracy, touted the bipartisan deals he’s brokered during his first term in office and appealed to Congress to support Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invasion.
“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” Biden said. “A future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor. Now some other people my age see a differently: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.”
Without ever uttering his name, Biden rebuked likely Republican opponent Donald Trump by calling him “a former president” and said that Trump’s recent comments at a rally in South Carolina about allowing Russia’s military to attack NATO allies were outrageous, dangerous and unacceptable.
“History is literally watching,” Biden said. “If the United States walks away, it will put Ukraine at risk. Europe is at risk. The free world will be at risk, emboldening others to do what they wish, to do us harm.”
Biden said that “what makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time.”
The president promised to seek the restoration of reproductive rights — speaking to a chamber full of Democratic women dressed in white, intended to show their support for such rights — and with a heavy emphasis on an economic agenda he vowed to reduce health care costs, impose higher taxes on the wealthy and bring back an expanded child tax credit.
Trump has made immigration a main theme of his campaign, and the Republican-led House earlier Thursday passed legislation named for a murdered college student from Georgia, Laken Riley, whose death has been tied by conservatives to White House immigration policies.
As Biden walked down the House aisle before the speech, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who was wearing a t-shirt bearing Riley’s name, attempted to hand Biden a button with Riley’s name on it. And when Biden mentioned immigration during his remarks, Greene continued to interrupt the president.
Biden’s address to the joint session of Congress was part campaign speech, part legislative agenda and part victory lap on the laws enacted during his first term. But it was also significant because it was the largest audience he is likely to have to himself all year, both in person and watching on television.
The speech marked an especially important moment for Biden’s reelection bid after dozens of Republicans questioned his mental faculties following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on classified documents, which said the president “would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Biden will have dozens of opportunities to take the message in his State of the Union speech directly to voters in the months ahead, beginning with a visit to the Philadelphia area on Friday and a trip to Atlanta on Saturday.
On foreign policy, Biden used the address to call for the protection of civilians in Gaza and for Hamas to release the hostages that militants have held since attacking Israel in October.
He pressed Congress to approve aid for Ukraine and Israel as well as the bipartisan border security and immigration bill that senators negotiated earlier this year — and that Republicans then dropped under pressure from Trump.
Biden began his speech referencing one that President Franklin Roosevelt gave in January 1941.
“President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary time. Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world,” Biden said.
“Tonight I come to the same chamber to address the nation. Now it is we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union,” Biden added. “And yes, my purpose tonight is to wake up this Congress, and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either.”
Biden assured lawmakers who think that Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop if he successfully overtakes Ukraine that he will not end his military campaign there.
Biden criticized Trump and Republican lawmakers in statehouses throughout the country for restricting or banning access to abortion in the last two years after the Supreme Court’s conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to end a pregnancy that had stood for nearly 50 years.
“My predecessor came into office determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned,” Biden said. “He’s the reason it was overturned and he brags about it. Look at the chaos that has resulted.”
Biden then called on voters to flip the U.S. House back to Democratic control while keeping the Senate blue during November’s elections.
“Clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America,” Biden said. “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024.”
“If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again,” Biden added.
Biden’s address touched on many of the policy issues that Americans view as important areas for lawmakers to address, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.
About 73% of Americans view the economy as a top policy priority for the Biden administration, followed by defending against terrorism at 63% and reducing the influence of money in politics at 62%.
Reducing health care costs, improving education and making Social Security financially sound all tied at 60% in the poll.
Dealing with immigration received 57% while reducing the availability of illegal drugs got 55% in the survey.
Biden also called on Congress to pass a so-called Unity Agenda that includes issues he believes Republicans and Democrats can agree on.
Those bills, he said, should increase penalties for people who traffic fentanyl, provide protections for children online, bolster artificial intelligence while protecting people from “its peril” and find new ways of treating cancer.
Biden also discussed the war in Gaza, saying that Hamas’ attack on Israel was the “deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Biden added that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, “many of whom are not Hamas.”
“Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population, like cowards – under hospitals, daycare centers and all the like,” Biden said. “But Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.”
Biden said the United States would lead an effort to get more humanitarian assistance through a temporary pier installed off the coast, but he called on Israel to “do its part” and allow more aid into Gaza.
“To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden said. “Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”
“As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time,” Biden said.
Democratic Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan held up small posters that called for an immediate ceasefire.
Hours before the president’s address, pro-Palestinian activists blocked roads leading to the U.S. Capitol, according to media reports.
Many activists have pushed for Biden to call for a permanent ceasefire, as Israel’s assault on Gaza since October. Voters across numerous primary states in this week’s Democratic 2024 Super Tuesday cast “uncommitted” ballots as a protest of Biden’s continued support of Israel’s bombardment in Gaza.
Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama delivered the traditional Republican response to Biden after he spoke, blasting his handling of immigration, the economy, crime and foreign policy, while questioning if the 81-year-old is up to the challenge of leading the country.
“The American people are scraping by while the President proudly proclaims Bidenomics is working,” she said, seated at a kitchen table. “Goodness, y’all. Bless his heart. We know better.”
Other Republicans, such as Greene, yelled at Biden to “say her name” during his speech, referring to Riley. Greene and Troy Nehls of Texas wore pins with Riley’s name on their clothes. Greene also wore a shirt that read: “Say Her Name,” followed by Riley’s name.
The “Say Her Name” is a social movement spurred by intersectional feminist Kimberlé Crenshaw that specifically raises awareness for Black women who are victims of police brutality and gender based violence.
Biden expressed his condolences to Riley’s family, saying he knew how it felt to lose a child, talking about his son, Beau, who died of cancer.
After the outburst from Greene, Biden took another swipe at Trump. He called out how the former president has used dehumanizing language to describe migrants claiming asylum at the southern border.
“I will not demonize immigrants saying they are ‘poisoning the blood of our country,’” Biden said. “I will not separate families. I will not ban people because of their faith.”
House Republicans have repeatedly clashed with the Biden administration on its policies at the southern border, as the White House deals with the largest number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in 20 years.
That disagreement has continued to escalate, first with the walking back of a bipartisan border security deal that would have resulted in the overhaul of U.S. immigration law. It reached a crux with the recent impeachment of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February.
Since Republicans walked away from that immigration deal, Biden has pressed for them to reconsider it, so his administration can adequately address migration at the southern border.
“Unfortunately, politics has derailed this bill so far,” Biden said. “I’m told my predecessor called members of Congress in the Senate to demand they block the bill.”
Republicans have argued that Biden can take executive action to address the border — however, immigration law is set by Congress. So far, the Biden administration has taken 535 executive actions related to immigration compared to the 472 executive actions under the Trump administration, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute.?
Following the speech, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pumped his fists up and down and shouted, “We are exhilarated.”
Sen. Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said that “the whole world is watching” what the U.S. does. He also dismissed worries about Biden’s age.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia said he was pleased to hear Biden’s support for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, and wants to see humanitarian aid delivered quickly to the region.
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said she felt optimistic after Biden’s speech, especially how he touched upon conservation and climate initiatives. She said she believes he’ll be supportive of the Senate’s work on the delayed farm bill.
“Our farmers need it, our families need it and our rural communities need it,” Stabenow, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, said.
Louisiana’s GOP Rep. Garret Graves said he felt Biden’s speech was more of “a campaign speech” rather than a “sincere sort of message to the American people.”
“This administration thought it was a good idea to double and triple down on stupid,” Graves said, talking about some tax proposals Biden mentioned. “The very policies that got us into this quandary that we’re in right now.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky issued a statement saying Biden couldn’t paper over his failures as president and praising Britt. ?“Well given his performance, he did the best he could to try to explain a very bad record. Forty-year high inflation. A wide-open southern border. It’s hard to find anything President Biden could say he accomplished other than spending a huge amount of money and running up the national debt. It was a tough sell and he couldn’t make it.”
As for Britt, McConnell said,“The youngest Republican woman to ever serve in the Senate, smart, capable, and by delivering the message from her house, she was able to identify the problems that everyday families have in trying to put food on the table, trying to afford gasoline, and all the rest. She did a fabulous job.”
Remarks as prepared for delivery.
Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Members of Congress. My Fellow Americans.
In January?1941, President Franklin Roosevelt?came to?this chamber?to speak to the nation.
He said,?“I address you at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union.”
Hitler?was on the march.?War?was raging in Europe.
President Roosevelt’s purpose was to?wake up?the Congress?and?alert?the American people that this was?no?ordinary?moment.
Freedom?and?democracy?were under assault?in the world.
Tonight I come to the?same chamber?to address the nation.
Now it is we?who face an?unprecedented?moment in the history?of the Union.
And?yes,?my purpose tonight is to both?wake up?this?Congress,?and?alert?the American people that this is?no ordinary moment either.
Not since?President Lincoln?and the?Civil War?have?freedom?and?democracy?been under assault here at home?as they are today.
What makes our moment?rare?is that?freedom?and?democracy?are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time.
Overseas,?Putin?of?Russia?is on the march, invading?Ukraine?and sowing chaos?throughout?Europe and beyond.
If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you,?he will not.
But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend?itself.?That?is all Ukraine is asking. They are not asking for American soldiers.
In fact, there are no American soldiers at war in?Ukraine. And I am?determined?to keep it that way.
But now assistance for Ukraine is being blocked?by those who want us to walk away from our leadership in the world.
It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, thundered, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Now, my predecessor, a former Republican President, tells Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.”
A former American President actually said that,?bowing down?to a Russian leader.
It’s?outrageous.?It’s?dangerous.?It’s?unacceptable.
America is a founding member of NATO the military alliance of democratic nations created after World War?II?to prevent war and keep the peace.
Today,?we’ve made NATO?stronger?than ever.
We welcomed?Finland?to the Alliance last year, and just this morning,?Sweden?officially joined NATO,?and their Prime Minister?is here tonight.
Mr. Prime Minister,?welcome?to NATO, the?strongest?military alliance the world has ever known.
I say this to Congress: we must stand up to Putin. Send me the Bipartisan National Security Bill.
History is watching.
If the United States?walks away?now, it will put?Ukraine?at risk.
Europe?at risk. The?free world?at?risk,?emboldening?others who wish to do us harm.
My message?to President Putin?is simple.
We will not walk away.?We?will not bow down.?I?will not bow down.
History is watching, just like history watched?three?years ago?on January 6th.
Insurrectionists?stormed?this very Capitol?and placed a?dagger?at the throat?of American democracy.
Many of you were here on that?darkest of days.
We all saw with our own eyes these insurrectionists were not patriots.
They had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power and to overturn the will of the people.
January 6th?and the lies about the 2020 election,?and the plots to steal the election,?posed the?gravest threat?to our democracy?since the Civil War.
But they?failed.?America?stood strong?and democracy?prevailed.
But we must be honest the threat?remains?and?democracy?must?be defended.
My predecessor and some of you here seek to?bury?the truth of January 6th.
I will not do that.
This is a moment?to?speak?the truth?and?bury?the lies.
And here’s the simplest truth. You?can’t?love your country?only?when you win.
As I’ve done ever since being elected to office, I ask you all,?without?regard to party, to?join?together?and?defend?our democracy!
Remember?your?oath of office to?defend against?all?threats foreign?and?domestic.
Respect?free?and?fair?elections!?Restore?trust?in our institutions! And make clear – political violence?has absolutely?no?place?in America!
History is watching.
And history is watching another assault on freedom.
Joining us tonight is?Latorya?Beasley,?a?social worker?from Birmingham, Alabama.?14?months ago tonight, she and her husband welcomed a baby girl thanks to the miracle of IVF.
She?scheduled?treatments to have a second child, but?the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state, unleashed by the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
She was told?her dream would have to wait.
What her family has gone through should never have happened.?And unless Congress acts,?it could happen again.
So tonight,?let’s stand up?for families like hers!
To my friends across the aisle, don’t keep families waiting any longer. Guarantee?the right to IVF nationwide!
Like most Americans, I believe Roe v. Wade got it right. And I?thank?Vice President Harris?for being an?incredible leader,?defending reproductive?freedom?and?so much more.
But my predecessor came to office?determined?to see?Roe v. Wade?overturned.
He’s the reason?it was overturned.?In fact,?he?brags?about it.
Look at the?chaos?that has resulted.
Joining us tonight is?Kate Cox,?a wife and mother?from?Dallas.
When she became pregnant again,?the fetus had a fatal condition.
Her doctors told Kate that her own life and her ability to have children in the future were at risk if she didn’t act.
Because Texas law banned abortion,?Kate?and her?husband?had to leave the state?to get the care she needed.
What her family has gone through should never have happened as well.?But it is happening to so many others.
There are state laws banning the right to choose, criminalizing doctors, and forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states as well to get the care they need.
Many of you in this Chamber?and?my predecessor?are promising to pass?a?national ban?on reproductive freedom.
My God,?what freedoms will you?take?away?next?
In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court majority wrote,?“Women are not without –?electoral or political power.”
No kidding.
Clearly, those bragging about overturning?Roe v. Wade?have?no clue?about the power of women in America.
They found out though?when reproductive freedom??was on the ballot and?won?in?2022,?2023,?and they will find out?again,?in?2024.
If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you, I will restore?Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again!
America?cannot?go back. I am here tonight to?show?the way?forward.?Because?I know how far we’ve?come.
Four years ago next week, before I came to office, our country was hit by the worst?pandemic?and the worst?economic crisis?in a century.
Remember the?fear.?Record?job losses. Remember the spike in crime.?And the murder rate.
A?raging virus?that would take more than?1 million American lives?and leave?millions?of loved ones behind.
A mental health crisis?of?isolation?and?loneliness.
A president, my predecessor, who?failed?the?most basic?duty. Any President owes the American people?the duty to?care.
That?is?unforgivable.
I came to office?determined?to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history.
And we have. It doesn’t make the news but in?thousands?of?cities?and?towns?the American people are writing?the?greatest?comeback?story?never?told.
So let’s tell that story?here?and?now.
America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down, investing in all of America, in all Americans to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one?behind!
The pandemic?no longer?controls our lives.?The vaccines that?saved us?from COVID?are now being used to help?beat cancer.
Turning?setback?into?comeback.
That’s America!
I inherited an economy that was on the?brink. Now our economy is the?envy?of the world!
15 million?new jobs in just?three?years – that’s a record!
Unemployment at 50-year lows.
A record 16 million?Americans are starting small businesses?and each one is an act of hope.
With historic job growth and small business growth for?Black, Hispanic, and?Asian-Americans.
800,000?new manufacturing jobs in America and counting.
More?people have health insurance today?than?ever?before.
The racial wealth gap is the smallest it’s been in?20 years.
Wages?keep?going up?and?inflation?keeps?coming down!
Inflation has?dropped?from?9%?to?3%?–?the lowest in the world!
And trending lower.
And now instead of importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs –?right here in America?where they belong!
And the American people?are beginning to feel it.
Consumer studies show?consumer confidence is soaring.
Buy American has been?the law of the land?since the 1930s.
Past administrations?including?my predecessor?failed?to Buy American.
Not?any more.
On?my?watch,?federal projects?like helping to build?American?roads?bridges?and?highways?will be made with?American products?built by?American workers?creating good-paying?American jobs!
Thanks to my Chips?and Science Act?the United States is investing more?in research and development than ever before.
During the pandemic a shortage of semiconductor chips?drove up prices for everything?from?cell phones?to?automobiles.
Well instead of having to import semiconductor chips,?which America invented I might add,?private companies are now investing?billions of dollars?to build new chip factories?here?in?America!
Creating?tens of thousands?of jobs many of them?paying over?$100,000 a year?and don’t require a college degree.
In fact my policies have attracted $650 Billion of private sector investments in clean energy and advanced manufacturing creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America!
Thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure?Law,?46,000 new projects have been announced across your communities –?modernizing our roads and bridges, ports and airports, and public transit?systems.
Removing poisonous lead pipes so?every?child?can drink?clean?water?without risk of?getting brain damage.
Providing?affordable?high speed?internet for?every?American?no matter where you live.
Urban,?suburban,?and?rural?communities —?in red states?and blue.
Record investments in tribal communities.
Because of my investments,?family farms are better be able?to stay in the family and children and?grandchildren won’t have to leave home to make a living.
It’s transformative.
A great comeback story is Belvidere, Illinois. Home to an auto plant for nearly?60 years.
Before I came to office the plant was on its way to shutting down.
Thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods. Hope was?fading.
Then I was elected to office?and we raised Belvidere?repeatedly?with the auto company?knowing unions make all the difference.
The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get those jobs back. And together, we succeeded!
Instead of an auto factory shutting down?an auto factory is re-opening?and a new state-of-the art battery factory?is being built to power those cars.
Instead of a town being left behind it’s a community moving forward again!
Because instead of watching auto jobs of the future go overseas 4,000 union workers with higher?wages will be building that future, in Belvidere, here in America!
Here tonight?is UAW President,?Shawn Fain,?a great friend,?and a?great labor leader.
And?Dawn Simms,?a third generation UAW worker??in Belvidere.
Shawn,?I?was proud to be the first President in American history to walk a picket line.
And today?Dawn?has a job?in her hometown providing?stability?for her family?and?pride?and?dignity.
Showing?once again,?Wall Street?didn’t build this country!
The middle class built this country! And?unions?built the middle class!
When Americans get?knocked down,?we get?back up!
We?keep going!
That’s?America!?That’s you,?the American people!
It’s because of?you?America is coming back!
It’s because of you, our future is?brighter!
And it’s because of you that tonight?we can proudly say the State of our Union is strong and?getting stronger!
Tonight I want to talk about the future of possibilities that we can build together.
A future where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy?and biggest corporations no longer get all the breaks.
I grew up in a home where not a lot trickled down on my Dad’s kitchen table.
That’s why I’m determined?to turn things around?so the middle class does well?the poor have a way up?and the wealthy still does well.
We all do well.
And there’s more to do?to make sure you’re feeling?the benefits of all we’re doing.
Americans pay?more?for prescription drugs?than?anywhere?else.
It’s wrong?and I’m ending it.
With a law I proposed and signed and not one Republican voted for we finally beat Big Pharma!
Instead of paying $400 a month for insulin seniors with diabetes only have to pay $35 a month!
And now I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it!
For years?people have talked about it but I finally got it done and gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs just like the VA does for our veterans.
That’s not just saving?seniors?money.
It’s saving taxpayers money cutting the federal deficit by $160 Billion because Medicare will no longer have to pay?exorbitant?prices to Big Pharma.
This year?Medicare is negotiating lower prices for?some?of the costliest drugs on the market that treat everything from?heart disease?to?arthritis.
Now it’s time to?go further?and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices?for?500?drugs?over the next decade.
That will not only save lives it will save taxpayers another $200 Billion!
Starting next year that same law caps?total prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 a year even for expensive cancer drugs that can cost?$10,000, $12,000,?$15,000 a year.
Now I want to?cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year for everyone!
Folks Obamacare, known as the Affordable Care Act is still?a very big deal.
Over one hundred million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
But my predecessor and many in this chamber want to take that protection away by repealing the Affordable?Care?Act?I won’t let that happen!
We stopped?you?50 times?before?and we will stop you?again!
In fact?I am?protecting?it and?expanding?it.
I enacted tax credits that save $800 per person per year reducing health care premiums?for millions of working families.
Those tax credits expire next year.
I want to make those savings permanent!
Women are more than half of our population but research on women’s health has always been underfunded.
That’s why we’re launching the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research,?led by Jill who is doing an incredible job as First Lady.
Pass my plan for?$12 Billion?to?transform?women’s health research?and benefit?millions of lives?across America!
I know the cost of housing is so important to you.
If inflation keeps coming down mortgage rates will come down as well.
But I’m not waiting.
I want to provide an annual tax creditthat will give Americans $400 a month for the next two years as mortgage rates come down to put toward their mortgage when they buy a first home?or trade up for a little more space.
My Administration?is also eliminating title insurance fees?for federally backed mortgages.
When you?refinance?your home?this can save you?$1,000 or more.
For millions of renters, we’re cracking down on big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents.
I’ve cut red tape so more builders can get federal financing, which is already helping build a record 1.7 million housing units?nationwide.
Now pass my plan to build and renovate 2 million??affordable homes and bring those rents down!
To remain the strongest economy in the world we need the best education system in the world.
I want to give every child a good start by providing access to pre-school for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Studies show that?children who go to pre-school?are nearly 50% more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a 2- or 4-year degree?no matter?their background.
I want to expand high-quality tutoring and summer learning time and see to it that every child?learns to read by third grade.
I’m also connecting?businesses and high schools?so students get hands-on experience?and a path to a good-paying job?whether or not?they go to college.
And I want to make college?more affordable.
Let’s continue increasing Pell Grants for working- and middle-class families and increase our record investments in HBCUs and Hispanic and Minority-serving Institutions.
I fixed student loan programs?to reduce the burden??of student debt for nearly 4 Million Americans including nurses firefighters and others in public service like Keenan Jones a public-school educator in Minnesota who’s here with us tonight.
He’s educated?hundreds?of students so they can go to college?now?he?can help his own daughter?pay for college.
Such relief is?good?for the economy because folks are now able to?buy?a home?start?a business even?start?a family.
While we’re at it I want to give public school teachers?a raise!
Now let me speak to a question of?fundamental fairness?for all Americans.
I’ve been delivering?real results?in a?fiscally responsible?way.
I’ve already?cut?the federal deficit?by over?one trillion?dollars.
I signed a?bipartisan?budget deal?that will cut?another?trillion dollars?over the next decade.
And now?it’s my goal to cut?the federal deficit?$3 trillion?more?by making big corporations?and the very wealthy?finally?pay their fair share.
Look,?I’m a capitalist.
If you want to make?a million bucks –?great!
Just pay your fair share in taxes.
A fair tax code is how we invest in the things that make a country great,?health care, education, defense,?and more.
But here’s the deal.
The?last?administration enacted a?$2 Trillion?tax cut?that?overwhelmingly?benefits?the?very wealthy?and the?biggest?corporations?and?exploded?the federal?deficit.
They?added more?to the national debt?than in?any?presidential term?in American history.
For folks at home?does anybody?really?think?the tax code is fair?
Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2?trillion?in tax breaks?
I sure don’t.?I’m going to keep fighting like hell?to?make?it fair!
Under my plan nobody?earning?less?than?$400,000?will pay an additional?penny?in federal taxes.
Nobody. Not one penny.
In fact?the Child Tax Credit I passed during the pandemic cut taxes for?millions?of working families?and?cut?child poverty in HALF.
Restore the Child Tax Credit because?no child?should go hungry in this country!
The way to make the tax code fair is to make big corporations and the very wealthy?finally?pay their share.
In?2020?55?of the biggest companies in America made?$40 Billion?in profits and paid?zero?in federal income taxes.
Not any more!
Thanks to the law I wrote and signed big companies??now have to pay?a?minimum?of?15%.
But?that’s?still less than working people pay?in federal taxes.
It’s time to?raise?the corporate minimum tax to?at least?21%?so?every?big corporation finally begins?to pay their fair share.
I also want to end the tax breaks for?Big Pharma, Big Oil,?private jets,?and massive?executive pay!
End it now!
There are?1,000?billionaires in America.
You know what the average federal tax rate?for these billionaires is??8.2 percent!
That’s?far less?than the vast majority of Americans pay.
No?billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, a nurse!
That’s why I’ve proposed a minimum tax of 25% for?billionaires.?Just?25%.
That would raise?$500 Billion?over the next 10 years.
Imagine what that?could do?for America. Imagine a future with?affordable child care?so millions of families can get the care they need and still go to work and help grow the economy.
Imagine a future with paid leave because no one?should have to choose between working and taking care of yourself or a sick family member.
Imagine a future with?home care?and?elder care?so seniors and people living with disabilities can stay in their homes and family caregivers get paid what they deserve!
Tonight,?let’s all agree once again to stand up for seniors!
Many of my Republican friends want to put?Social Security?on the chopping block.
If anyone here tries to cut?Social Security?or?Medicare?or raise the retirement age?I will stop them!
Working people?who?built?this country?pay more?into Social Security?than millionaires?and billionaires do.?It’s not fair.
We have?two?ways to go?on Social Security.
Republicans will?cut?Social Security?and give?more tax cuts?to the wealthy.
I will?protect?and?strengthen?Social Security and make the wealthy pay their fair share!
Too many corporations?raise?their prices to?pad?their profits?charging you?more and more?for?less and less.
That’s why we’re cracking down?on corporations that engage in?price gouging?or?deceptive pricing?from food to health care to housing.
In fact,?snack companies think you won’t notice when they charge you just as much for the same size bag?but with?fewer?chips in it.
Pass Senator Bob Casey’s bill to put a stop to shrinkflation!
I’m also getting rid of?junk fees?those?hidden fees?added at the end of your bills without your knowledge. My administration just announced we’re cutting credit card late fees from?$32?to just?$8.
The banks and credit card companies?don’t like it.
Why?
I’m saving American families?$20 billion?a year?with all of the junk fees?I’m eliminating.
And I’m not stopping there.
My Administration has proposed rules to make?cable travel utilities?and?online?ticket sellers tell you the total price?upfront?so there are no surprises.
It matters.
And so does this.
In November,?my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of Senators.
The result was a?bipartisan bill?with the?toughest?set of?border?security?reforms we’ve ever seen??in this country.
That bipartisan deal would hire 1,500 more border security agents and officers.
100 more immigration judges to help tackle a backload of 2 million cases.
4,300?more asylum officers and new policies so they can resolve cases?in?6 months?instead of 6 years.
100?more high-tech?drug detection machines?to?significantly?increase the ability?to?screen?and?stop?vehicles?from smuggling?fentanyl?into America.
This bill would save lives?and bring order to the border.
It would also give me as President?new emergency authority?to temporarily?shut down?the border??when the number of migrants at the border is?overwhelming.
The?Border Patrol Union?endorsed the bill.
The?Chamber of Commerce?endorsed the bill.
I believe that given the opportunity a majority of the?House and Senate?would endorse it as well.
But unfortunately,?politics have derailed it so far.
I’m told my predecessor called Republicans in Congress and demanded they block the bill.?He feels it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him.
It’s not about him or me.
It’d be a winner for America!
My Republican friends?you?owe it?to the American people?to get this bill done.
We need to act.
And if my predecessor is watching instead of playing politics and pressuring members of Congress to block this bill,?join me in telling Congress to pass it!
We can do it together. But here’s what I will?not?do.
I will?not?demonize immigrants saying they “poison the blood of our country” as he said in his own words.
I will?not?separate families.
I will?not?ban?people from America because of their faith.
Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office I introduced a comprehensive plan to fix our immigration system, secure the border, and provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers?and so much more.
Because unlike my predecessor,?I know who we are?as Americans.
We are the?only?nation in the world?with a?heart?and?soul?that draws from?old?and?new.
Home to Native Americans whose ancestors have been here for thousands of years.?Home to people from every place on Earth.
Some came?freely.
Some chained by?force.
Some when famine struck,?like my ancestral family in Ireland.
Some to flee?persecution.
Some to chase dreams that are impossible?anywhere?but here in America.
That’s America,?where we all come from somewhere,?but we are all Americans.
We can fight about the border,?or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it.
Send me the border bill now!
A transformational moment?in our history?happened?59?years ago today?in Selma, Alabama.
Hundreds of foot soldiers for justice marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge,?named after a Grand Dragon of the KKK,?to claim their fundamental right to vote.
They were?beaten?bloodied?and left for?dead.
Our?late?friend and former colleague?John Lewis?was at the march.
We miss him.
Joining us tonight are other marchers who were there including Betty May?Fikes, known as the “Voice of Selma”.
A daughter of gospel singers and preachers, she sang songs of?prayer?and?protest?on?that?Bloody Sunday,
to help?shake?the nation’s conscience. Five months later, the?Voting Rights Act?was signed into law.
But?59?years?later,?there are forces taking us back in time.
Voter suppression. Election subversion.?Unlimited dark money.?Extreme?gerrymandering.
John Lewis was a great friend?to many of us here.?But if you truly want to honor him?and all the heroes who marched with him,?then it’s time for more than just talk.
Pass and send me the Freedom to Vote Act?and the?John Lewis Voting Rights Act!
And stop denying another core value of America our diversity across American life.
Banning?books.
It’s wrong!
Instead of?erasing?history,?let’s?make?history!
I want to protect other fundamental rights!
Pass the?Equality Act,?and my message to?transgender Americans:?I have your back!
Pass the PRO Act for workers rights!?And raise the federal minimum wage because every worker has the right to earn a decent living!
We are also making history by confronting the climate crisis,?not denying it.
I’m taking the most significant action on climate ever?in the history of the world.
I am cutting our carbon emissions?in half?by 2030.
Creating tens of thousands of clean-energy jobs,?like the IBEW workers building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
Conserving?30%?of America’s lands and waters? by?2030.
Taking?historic action?on environmental justice?for fence-line communities?smothered?by the legacy of pollution.
And patterned after the Peace Corps?and Ameri Corps,?I’ve launched a Climate Corps?to put 20,000 young people to work at the forefront of our clean energy future.
I’ll?triple?that number this decade.
All Americans deserve the freedom to be safe, and America is safer today than when I took office.
The year before I took office,?murders went up 30% nationwide the biggest increase in history.
That was?then.
Now, through my American Rescue Plan,?which every Republican voted against,?I’ve made the largest investment in public safety ever.
Last year, the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history, and violent crime fell to one of the lowest levels in more than 50 years.
But we have more to do.
Help cities and towns invest in?more?community police officers,?more?mental health workers,?and?more?community violence intervention.
Give communities the tools to crack down on?gun crime,?retail crime,?and?carjacking.
Keep building?public trust,?as I’ve been doing by taking executive action on?police reform,?and calling for it to be the law of the land, directing my Cabinet to?review?the federal classification of marijuana, and?expunging?thousands of convictions? for?mere?possession,?because no one should be jailed?for using or possessing marijuana!
To take on crimes of domestic violence, I am ramping up federal enforcement?of the Violence Against Women Act, that I proudly wrote,?so we can finally end the scourge of violence against women in America!
And there’s another kind of violence?I want to stop.
With us tonight?is?Jasmine,?whose 9-year-old sister?Jackie?was murdered with 21 classmates and teachers?at her elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Soon after it happened,?Jill and I went to Uvalde and spent hours with the families.
We heard their message,?and so should everyone in this chamber do something.
I did do something by establishing the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the White House that Vice President Harris is leading.
Meanwhile,?my predecessor told the NRA he’s proud he did nothing on guns when he was President.
After another school shooting in Iowa?he said we should just?“get over it.”
I say we?must?stop it.
I’m proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years!
Now we must?beat the NRA?again!
I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines!
Pass?universal background checks!
None of this?violates the Second Amendment?or vilifies responsible gun owners.
As we manage challenges at home,?we’re also managing crises abroad including in the Middle East.
I know the last five months have been gut-wrenching for so many people, for the Israeli people,?the Palestinian people, and so many here in America.
This crisis began on?October 7th?with a massacre by the terrorist group Hamas.
1,200 innocent people women and girls men and boys slaughtered,?many enduring sexual violence.
The deadliest day?for the Jewish people?since the Holocaust.
250?hostages taken.
Here in the chamber tonight?are American families?whose loved ones are still being held by Hamas.
I pledge to?all?the families?that we will not rest until?we bring their loved ones home.
We will also work around the clock to bring home?Evan?and?Paul,?Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.
Israel has a right to go after Hamas.
Hamas could end this conflict today by releasing the hostages,?laying down arms,?and surrendering those responsible for October 7th.
Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population.?But Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
This war?has taken a greater toll?on innocent civilians?than all previous wars?in Gaza?combined.
More than?30,000?Palestinians?have been killed.
Most?of whom are?not?Hamas.
Thousands?and?thousands?are?innocent?women?and?children.
Girls and boys?also orphaned.
Nearly 2 million?more Palestinians under?bombardment or displaced.
Homes destroyed,?neighborhoods in rubble,?cities in ruin.
Families without food, water, medicine.
It’s heartbreaking.
We’ve been working non-stop to?establish?an?immediate ceasefire?that would last for at least six weeks.
It would get the hostages home,?ease the intolerable humanitarian crisis,?and build toward something more enduring.
The United States has been leading?international efforts to get more?humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
Tonight,?I’m directing the U.S. military?to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships?carrying?food, water, medicine?and?temporary shelters.
No?U.S. boots will be on the ground.
This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.
But Israel must also do its part.
Israel must allow?more?aid into Gaza and?ensure?that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the cross fire.
To the?leadership?of Israel I say this.
Humanitarian assistance?cannot?be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.
Protecting?and?saving?innocent lives?has to be a?priority.
As we look to the future,?the only real solution is a two-state solution.
I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime.
There is?no?other path that guarantees Israel’s?security?and?democracy.
There is?no?other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with?peace?and?dignity.
There is no?other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its?Arab?neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.
Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran.
That’s why I built a coalition of more than a?dozen?countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in the?Red Sea.
I’ve ordered strikes to?degrade?Houthi capabilities?and?defend?U.S. Forces in the region.
As Commander in Chief,?I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and military personnel.
For years,?all I’ve heard from my Republican friends and so many others is China’s on the rise and America is falling behind.
They’ve got it backward.
America is rising.
We have the best economy in the world.
Since I’ve come to office,?our GDP is up.
And our?trade deficit?with China is down to the?lowest?point in over a?decade.
We’re standing up?against?China’s?unfair?economic?practices.
And standing?up?for?peace?and?stability?across the?Taiwan Strait.
I’ve revitalized our?partnerships?and?alliances?in the Pacific.
I’ve made sure that the most advanced American technologies can’t be used in China’s weapons.
Frankly for all his tough talk on China,?it never occurred to my predecessor to do that.
We want competition with China,?but not conflict.
And we’re in a stronger position to win the competition for the 21st?Century against China?or?anyone?else for that matter.
Here at home?I’ve signed over?400?bipartisan bills.
But there’s more to?do?to?pass?my Unity Agenda.
Strengthen?penalties on fentanyl trafficking.
Pass bipartisan privacy legislation to protect our children online.
Harness the promise of A.I. and protect us from its peril.
Ban?A.I. voice impersonation and more!
And keep our one truly sacred obligation,?to train and equip those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home,?and when they don’t.
That’s why I signed the PACT Act,?one of the most significant laws ever, helping millions of veterans?who were exposed to?toxins?and who now are?battling more than?100 cancers.
Many of them didn’t come home.
We owe them and their families.
And we owe it to ourselves?to keep supporting?our new health research agency called ARPA-H and remind us that we can do big?things like end cancer as we know it!
Let me close with this.
I know I may not look like it,?but I’ve been around a while.
And when you get to my age?certain things?become?clearer?than ever before.
I know the American story.
Again?and?again?I’ve seen the contest between competing forces?in the battle for the?soul of our nation.
Between those who want to?pull?America back to the?past?and those who want to?move?America into the?future.
My lifetime has taught me to?embrace?freedom?and?democracy.
A future based on the?core values?that have defined America.
Honesty.?Decency.?Dignity. Equality.
To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.
Now some other people my age see a different story.
An American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution.
That’s not me.
I was born amid World War II when America?stood for freedom?in the world.
I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Claymont, Delaware among working people who?built?this country.
I watched in?horror?as two of my heroes,?Dr. King?and?Bobby Kennedy,?were assassinated?and their legacies?inspired?me?to pursue a career in service.
A public defender,?county councilman,?elected United States Senator at 29,?then Vice President, to our first Black President, now President, with our first woman Vice President.
In my career I’ve been told I’m?too young?and I’m?too old.
Whether young or old,?I’ve always known what endures.
Our North Star.
The very idea of America,?that we are all created equal?and deserve to be?treated equally?throughout our lives.
We’ve never fully lived up to that idea,?but we’ve never walked away from it either.
And I won’t walk away from it now.
My fellow Americans the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are it’s how old our ideas are?
Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among?the oldest of ideas.
But you can’t lead America?with?ancient?ideas that only take us?back.
To?lead America,?the land of possibilities,?you need a?vision?for the future?of what America?can?and?should?be.
Tonight you’ve heard mine.
I see a future where we defend democracy not diminish it.
I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms not take them away.
I see a future?where the middle class?finally has a fair shot?and the wealthy?finally have to pay their fair share in taxes.
I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis?and our country from gun violence.
Above all, I see a future?for all Americans!
I see a?country?for all Americans!
And I will always?be a?president?for all Americans!
Because I?believe?in America!
I?believe?in?you?the American people.
You’re the reason?I’ve never been more optimistic?about our future!
So let’s build that future together!
Let’s remember?who?we are!
We are the?United States of America.
There is nothing beyond our capacity when we act together!
May God bless you all.
May God protect our troops.