Summary
Live coverage of President Biden`s first address to a joint session of Congress continues.
Transcript
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: But that tight shot of the dais, that is pure history. The female vice president, a woman of color, and a female speaker of the House sharing that dais for the first time ever.
It is 9:00 p.m. exactly here on the East Coast. We are seconds away from President Biden`s first joint address to Congress.
Any moment now, we expect the sergeant-at-arms to announce his arrival. President will walk into the chamber, and up to the lectern to deliver his address.
That was just about where this speech will stop resembling any former joint address to Congress or State of the Union.
We have never seen this sort of thing done during a pandemic before. There is no blueprint for this. They`re doing their best on the advice of the Capitol physician. Instead of addressing a packed chamber of more than 1,500 people, the president will be speaking to just 200 lawmakers and government officials.
We`re seeing a number of members of Congress from both parties, senators and members of the House arriving, including the leader of the Republicans there, Kevin McCarthy.
Most of the president`s cabinet not in attendance this evening. We saw the secretary of state, secretary of defense arrive. They will be it for the cabinet. This will change the tenor and move of the address but makes the speech no less significant.
The president making his first address to Congress tonight at what is widely viewed to be an inflection point for the country, as the president puts forth his plans for the nation.
Senator Leahy, president pro temp. There`s been some questions as to whether Senator Leahy would attend tonight. He said he would not commit in advance to the fact that he was going to be there pause of his key role in the presidential line of succession. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan there. Senator Amy Klobuchar behind her, of course, Democratic leader, Senator Chuck Schumer exchanging elbow bumps with others.
Senator Mitch McConnell greeting Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who`s been at the heart of so much internal Republican consternation with her division of herself from her party in terms of their adherence and the legacy of Donald Trump.
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MADDOW: It`s also history, we should note, that we`ve got the second gentleman tonight looking on, along with first lady, Dr. Jill Biden.
Joy, I can`t believe you didn`t have anything to say at all about the first lady`s dress.
JOY REID, MSNBC HOST, "THE REIDOUT": I held it in. I think it`s very pretty. And you know I`m secretly texting people to find out.
MADDOW: You got very quiet, as she walked in.
REID: Yeah. I know her sartorial splendor will not go unremarked. It sure looks lovely. I love the flowers, I love the color.
MADDOW: Gabriella Hearst is the designer.
REID: There you go. See, you`re into it, too.
MADDOW: No. I just tell people what they tell me, because I don`t understand what any of this means. I`ve been wearing the same thing for 13 years.
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REID: I`m buying you that dress for Christmas.
MADDOW: Unless it`s a black blazer, it won`t fit.
REID: But no, I think she looks lovely. And it`s very -- it`s age appropriate, but it`s showing a little bit of something. She`s giving you a little bit of reveal but not too much reveal. So, I love it.
NICOLLE WALLACE, MSNBC HOST, "DEADLINE: WHITE HOUSE": Did you notice how she was received? She really is the most warmly, and no one is afraid of public embracing and cheering Dr. Jill Biden. You heard the room sort of --
REID: Except the people who hate she`s called doctor which is weird.
WALLACE: Yeah, I don`t even know if there`s --
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WALLACE: That was a swing and a miss from our friends across the street at Fox News. An effort to try to demonize her was --
REID: She`s undemonizable. She`s just like -- she just appears to be just from looking at her the nicest person in the world. And she`s a teacher. Who doesn`t love that?
MADDOW: Here is the president.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM WALKER, HOUSE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Madam Speaker, the president of the United States.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Members of Congress, I have a high privilege and distinct honor to present to you the president of the United States.
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JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Good to be back. Mitch and Chuck will understand, it`s good to be almost home, down the hall.
Anyway, thank you, all.
Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President.
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No president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words, and it`s about time.
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First Lady and her husband --
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-- Second Gentleman, Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress and the cabinet, distinguished guests.
My fellow Americans, while the setting tonight is familiar, this gathering is just a little bit different. Reminder of the extraordinary times we`re in.
Throughout our history, presidents have come to this chamber to speak to Congress, to the nation and to the world, to declare war, to celebrate peace, to announce new plans and possibilities.
Tonight, I come to talk about crisis and opportunity, about rebuilding the nation, revitalizing our democracy, and winning the future for America.
I stand here tonight, one day shy of the 100th day of my administration. Hundred days since I took the oath of office and lifted my hand off our family Bible and inherited a nation, we all did, that was in crisis. The worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.
Now, after just 100 days, I can report to the nation: America is on the move again.
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Turning peril into possibility, crisis to opportunity, setbacks into strength.
We all know life can knock us down, but in America, we never, ever, ever stay down. Americans always get up. Today, that`s what we`re doing. America is rising anew, choosing hope over fear, truth over lies, and light over darkness.
After 100 days of rescue and renewal, America is ready for takeoff, in my view. We`re working again, dreaming again, discovering again, and leading the world again.
We`ve shown each other and the world that there is no quit in America, none. One hundred days ago, America`s house was on fire. We had to act.
And thanks to the extraordinary leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Schumer and the overwhelming support of the American people, Democrats, Independents and Republicans, we did act. Together we passed the American Rescue Plan, one of the most consequential rescue packages in American history. We`re already seeing the results.
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We`re already seeing the results.
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After I promised we`d get 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots into people`s arms in 100 days, we will have provided over 220 million COVID shots in those hundred days.
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Thanks to all the help of all of you.
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We`re martialing, with your help, everyone`s help. We`re martialing every federal resource. We`ve gotten vaccines in nearly 40,000 pharmacies and over 700 community health centers, where the poorest of the poor can be reached.
We`re setting up community vaccination sites, developing mobile units to get to hard-to-reach communities. Today, 90 percent of Americans now live within five miles of a vaccination site. Everyone over the age of 16, everyone is now eligible to get vaccinated right now, right away. Go get vaccinated, America. Go and get the vaccinations. They`re available.
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You`re eligible now. When I was sworn in on January 20th, less than one percent of the seniors in America were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. One hundred days later, 70 percent of seniors in America over 65 are protected, fully protected. Senior deaths from COVID-19 are down 80 percent since January, down 80 percent because of all of you. And more than half of all the adults in America have gotten at least one shot.
A mass vaccination center in Glendale, Arizona, I asked the nurse, I said, "What`s it like?" She looked at me and she said, "It`s like every shot is giving a dose of hope," was the phrase, "a dose of hope." A dose of hope for an educator in Florida who has a child suffering from an autoimmune disease wrote to me, said she`s worried -- that she was worried about bringing the virus home.
She said she then got vaccinated at a large site in her car. She said she sat in her car when she got vaccinated and just cried. Cried out of joy and cried out of relief.
Parents see the smiles on their kids` faces for those who are able to go back to school because the teachers and school bus drivers and cafeteria workers have been vaccinated. Grandparents hugging their children and grandchildren instead of pressing hands against the window to say goodbye. Means everything. Those things mean everything.
You know, there`s still, you all know it, you know it better than any group of Americans -- there`s still more work to do to beat this virus. We can`t let our guard down. But tonight, I can say it, because of you, the American people, our progress these past hundred days against one of the worst pandemics in history has been one of the greatest logistical achievements - - logistical achievements this country`s ever seen.
What else have we done in those first hundred days? We kept our commitment, Democrats and Republicans, of sending $1,400 rescue checks to 85 percent of American households. We`ve already sent more than $160 million checks out the door. It`s making a difference. You don`t know when you go home (ph).
For many people it`s making all the difference in the world. The single mom in Texas who wrote me, she said she couldn`t work and she said the relief check put food on the table and saved her and her son from eviction from her apartment. A grandmother in Virginia who told me she immediately took her granddaughter to the eye doctor, something she said she put off for months because she didn`t have the money.
One of the defining images at least from my perspective in this crisis has been, cars lined up. Cars lined up for miles and not -- not people just barely ever start those cars, nice cars, lined up for miles, waiting for a box of food to be put in their trunk.
I don`t know about you but I didn`t ever think I`d see that in America. And all of this is through no fault of their own, no fault of their own these people are in this position. That`s why the rescue plan is delivering food and nutrition assistance to millions of Americans facing hunger and hunger`s down sharply already.
We`re also providing rental assistance. You all know this but the American people, I want to make sure they understand. Keeping people from being evicted from their homes, providing loans to small businesses to reopen and keep their employees on the job.
During these 100 days, an additional 800,000 Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act when I established a special sign-up period to do that, 800,000 in that period. We`re making one of the largest one-time ever investments, ever and improving healthcare for Veterans. Critical investments to address the opioid crisis and maybe most importantly, thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we`re on track to cut child poverty in America in half this year.
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And in the process, while this is all going on, the economy created more than 1,300,000 new jobs in 100 days. More jobs in the first --
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-- more jobs in the first 100 days than any president on record. International monetary fund --
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-- the international monetary fund is now estimated in our economy will grow at a rate of more than six percent this year. That would be the fastest pace of economic growth in this country in nearly four decades. America`s moving, moving forward.
But we can`t stop now. We`re in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st century. We`re at a great inflection point in history. We have to do more than just "Build Back Better", than build back -- we have to "Build Back Better". We have to compete more strenuously than we have.
Throughout our history, think about it, public investment in infrastructure has literally transformed America. Our attitudes as well as our opportunities. The Transcontinental Railroad, the interstate highways, united two oceans and brought a totally new age of progress to the United States of America.
Universal public schools and college aid opened wide the doors of opportunity. Scientific breakthroughs took us to the moon. Now we`re on Mars, discovering vaccines, gave us the Internet and so much more.
These are investments we made together as one country and investments that only the government was in the position to make. Time and again, they propel us into the future.
That`s why I proposed the American Jobs Plan, a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself. This is the largest jobs plan since World War II, creates jobs, to upgrade our transportation infrastructure. Jobs, modernizing our roads, bridges, highways. Jobs building ports and airports, rail carters, transit lines.
It`s clean water. And today, up to 10 million homes in America and more than 400,000 schools and childcare centers have pipes with lead in them including drinking water. A clear and present danger to our children`s health. American Jobs Plan creates jobs replacing 100 percent of the nation`s lead pipes and service line so every American can drink clean water.
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And the process will create thousands and thousands of good-paying jobs.
It creates jobs connecting every American with high-speed Internet, including 35 percent of the rural America that still doesn`t have it. This is going to help our kids and our businesses succeed in the 21st century economy.
And I`m asking the vice president to lead this effort, if she would, because I know it will get done.
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It creates jobs, building a modern power grid.
Our grids are vulnerable to storms, hacks, catastrophic failures, with tragic results, as we saw in Texas and elsewhere during the winter storms.
The American Jobs Plan will create jobs that will lay thousands of miles of transmission lines needed to build a resilient and fully clean grid. We can do that.
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Look, the American Jobs Plan will help millions of people get back to their jobs and back to their careers.
Two million women have dropped out of the workforce during this pandemic -- 2 million -- and too often, because they couldn`t get the care they needed to care for their child or care for an elderly parent who needs help.
Eight hundred thousand families are on the Medicare waiting list right now to get home care for their aging parent or loved one with disability.
If you think it`s not important, check out in your own district, Democrat or Republican -- Democrat or Republican voters. Their great concern, almost as much as the children, is taking care of an elderly loved one who can`t be left alone.
Medicaid contemplated it, but this plan is going to help those families and create jobs for our caregivers with better wages and better benefits, continuing a cycle of growth.
For too long, we`ve failed to use the most important word when it comes to meeting the climate crisis, jobs -- jobs -- jobs.
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For me, when I think climate change, I think jobs. The American Jobs Plan will put engineers and construction workers to work building more energy- efficient buildings and homes, electrical workers, IBAW members, installing 500,000 charging stations along our highways, so we can own--
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-- so we can own the electric car market. Farmers -- farmers planting cover crops so they can reduce the carbon dioxide in the air and get paid for doing it.
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Look, think about it. There is simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can`t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing -- no reason.
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None -- no reason.
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So, folks, there`s no reason why American -- American workers can`t lead the world in the production of electric vehicles and batteries. There is no reason. We have the capacity.
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We have the brightest, best-trained people in the world.
The American Jobs Plan is going to create millions of good-paying jobs, jobs Americans can raise a family on -- and, as my dad would then say, with a little breathing room.
And all the investments in the American Jobs Plan will be guided by one principle, buy American. Buy American.
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And I might note parenthetically--
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-- that does not -- that does not violate any trade agreement. It`s been the law since the `30s, buy American.
American tax dollars are going to be used to buy American products, made in America, to create American jobs. That`s the way it`s supposed to be, and it will be in this administration.
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And I made it clear to all my Cabinet people their ability to give exemptions has been strenuously limited. It will be American products.
Now, I know some of you at home are wondering whether these jobs are for you. So many of you, so many of the folks I grew up with feel left behind, forgotten, in an economy that`s so rapidly changing, it`s frightening. I want to speak directly to you, because if you think about it, that`s what people are most worried about. Can I fit in?
Independent experts estimate the American Jobs Plan will add millions of jobs and trillions of dollars to economic growth in the years to come. It is an eight-year program. These are good-paying jobs that can`t be outsourced.
Nearly 90 percent of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan do not require a college degree. Seventy-five percent don`t require an Associates Degree. The American Jobs Plan is a blue collar blueprint to build America. That`s what it is.
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And it recognizes something I`ve always said in this chamber and the other, good guys and women on Wall Street, but Wall Street didn`t build this country. The middle class built the country. And unions built the middle class.
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So that`s why I`m calling on Congress to pass the Protect the Right to Organize Act, the PRO Act, and send it to my desk so we can support the right to unionize.
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And by the way, while you`re thinking about sending things to my desk, let`s raise the minimum wage to $15.
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No one, no one working 40 hours a week, no one working 40 hours a week should live below the poverty line.
We need to ensure greater equity and opportunity for women. And while we`re doing this, let`s get the Paycheck Fairness Act to my desk as well. Equal pay. It`s been much too long. And if you wonder whether it`s too long, look behind me.
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And, finally, the American Jobs Plan will be the biggest increase in non- defense research and development on record. We`ll see more technological change. And some of you know more about this than I do. We`ll see more technological change this the next 10 years than we saw in the last 50. That`s how rapidly artificial intelligence, and so much more, is changing.
And we`re falling behind the competition with the rest of the world. Decades ago, we used to invest 2 percent of our gross domestic product, in America, 2 percent of our gross domestic product in research and development.
Today, Mr. Secretary, that`s less than 1 percent. China and other countries are closing in fast. We have to develop and dominate the products and technologies of the future. Advanced batteries, biotechnology, computer chips, clean energy.
The secretary of defense can tell you, and those of you who work on national security issues, know, the Defense Department has an agency called DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.
And the people who set up before I came here, and that has been a long time ago, to develop breakthroughs that enhance our national security. That`s their only job. And it`s a semi separate agency. It`s under the Defense Department. It has led to everything from the discovery of the internet to GPS and so much more. It has enhanced our security.
The National Institute of Health, the NIH, I believe, should create a similar advanced research projects agency for health.
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And that would -- here`s what it would do. It would have a singular purpose, to develop breakthroughs to prevent, detect, and treat diseases like Alzheimer`s, diabetes, and cancer. I`ll still never forget when we passed the cancer proposal in the last year as vice president, almost $9 million going to NIH.
Excuse the point of personal privilege -- I`ll never forget you standing, Mitch, and saying, naming it after my deceased son. It meant a lot.
But so many of us have deceased sons, daughters, and relatives who died of cancer. I can`t think of no more worthy investment. I know of nothing that is more bipartisan.
So let`s end cancer as we know it. It`s within our power -- it`s within our power to do it.
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Investments in jobs and infrastructure like the ones we`re talking about have often had bipartisan support in the past.
Vice President Harris and I met regularly in the Oval Office with Democrats and Republicans to discuss the Jobs Plan.
And I applaud the group of Republican senators who just put forward their own proposal.
So let`s get to work. I wanted to lay out before the Congress my plan, before we got into the deep discussions.
I`d like to meet with those who have ideas that are different, they think are better. I welcome those idea.
But the rest of the world is not waiting for us. I just want to be clear. From my perspective, doing nothing is not an option.
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Look, we can`t be so busy competing with one another that we forget the competition that we have with the rest of the world to win the 21st century.
Secretary Blinken can tell you, I spent a lot of time with President Xi, traveled over 17,000 miles with him, spent over 24 hours in private discussions with him. When he called to congratulate, we had a two-hour discussion. He`s deadly earnest on becoming the most significant, consequential nation in the world.
He and others, autocrats, think that democracy can`t compete in the 21st century with autocracies. It takes too long to get consensus.
To win that competition for the future, in my view, we also need to make a once in a generation investment in our families and our children. That`s why I`ve introduced the American Families Plan tonight, which addresses four of the biggest challenges facing American families and in turn, America.
First is access to good education. When this nation made 12 years of public education universal in the last century, it made us the best educated, best prepared nation in the world. It`s, I believe, the overwhelming reason that propelled us to where we got in the 21st -- in the 20th century.
But the world`s caught up or catching up. They`re not waiting.
I would say, parenthetically, if we were sitting down, we`ve set a bipartisan committee together and said, OK, we`re going to decide what we do in terms of government providing for free education, I wonder whether we`d think, as we did in the 20th century, that 12 years is enough in the 21st century. I doubt it.
Twelve years is no longer enough today to compete with the rest of the world in the 21st century. That`s why my American Families Plan guarantees four additional years of public education for every person in America, starting as early as we can.
The great universities in this country have conducted studies over the last 10 years, and shows that adding two years of universal high-quality preschool for every three-year-old and four-year-old, no matter what background they come from, puts them in the position to be able to compete all the way through 12 years. It increases exponentially their prospect of graduating and going on beyond graduation.
Research shows when a young child goes to school, not daycare, they`re far more likely to graduate from high school and go to college, or something after high school. When you add two years of free community college on top of that, you begin to change the dynamic. We can do that.
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And we`ll increase Pell grants and invest in historical black colleges and universities, tribal colleges, minority-serving institutions. The reason is they don`t have the endowments.
But their students are just as capable of learning about cyber security, just as capable about learning about metallurgy, all the things that are going on that provide those jobs of the future.
Jill is a community college professor who teaches today as First Lady. She`s long said --
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She`s long -- if I`ve heard it once I`ve heard it a thousand times, Joe, any country that out-educates us is going to out-compete us. She`ll be deeply involved on leading this effort. Thank you, Jill.
Second thing we need. American Families Plan will provide access to quality, affordable childcare. We guarantee --
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We`re now (ph) proposing a legislation, we guarantee that low and middle income families will pay no more than 7 percent of their income for high quality care for children up to the age of five. The most hard-pressed working families won`t have to spend a dime.
Third, the American Families Plan will finally provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave and medical leave -- family medical leave.
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We`re one of the few industrial countries in the world --
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No one should have to choose between a job and a paycheck or taking care of themselves and their loved ones or a parent or a spouse or a child. And fourth, American Families Plan puts directly into the pockets of millions of Americans -- in March we expanded a tax credit for every child in the family, up to $3000 per child, if you`re under six years of age, excuse me, over six years of age, and $3,600 for children over six years of age.
For two parents, two kids, that`s $7200 in the pockets to getting -- help take care of your family. And that will help more than 65 million children and help cut childcare poverty in half.
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And we can afford it.
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We did that in the last piece of legislation we passed. But let`s extend that childcare tax credit at least through the end of 2025.
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The American Rescue Plan lowered healthcare premiums for 9 million Americans who buy their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. I know that`s really popular this side of the aisle. But let`s make that provision permanent so their premiums don`t go back up.
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In addition to my Families Plan, I`m going to work with Congress to address, this year, other critical priorities for American families.
The Affordable Care Act has been a lifeline for millions of Americans, protecting people with preexisting conditions, protecting women`s health and the pandemic has demonstrated how badly, how badly it`s needed. Let`s lower deductibles for working families on the Affordable Care Act. And let`s lower prescription drug costs.
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We know how to do this.
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The last president had that as an objective, we all know how outrageously expensive drugs are in America. In fact, we pay the highest prescription drug prices of anywhere in the world, right here in America.
Nearly three times for the same drug, nearly three times what other countries pay. We have to change that and we can. Let`s do what we talked about for all the years I was down here in this -- in this body, in Congress. Let`s give Medicare the power to save hundreds of billions out (ph) by negotiating lower drug prescription prices.
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And by the way, it won`t just -- it won`t just help people on Medicare, lower prescription drug costs for everyone. And the money we save, which is billions of dollars can go to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, it can expand Medicare coverage benefits without costing taxpayers an additional penny. It`s within our power to do it. Let`s do it now.
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We`ve talked about it long enough. Democrats and Republicans, let`s get it done this year. This is all about a simple premise, healthcare should be a right, not a privilege, in America.
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So, how do we pay for my jobs and family plan? I made it clear we could do it without increasing the deficits. Let`s start with what I will not do. I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000. It`s -- but it`s time for corporate America and the wealthiest one percent of Americans to just begin to pay their fair share. Just their fair share.
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Sometimes I have arguments with my friends in the Democratic party. I think you should be able to become a billionaire and a millionaire but pay your fair share. Recent studies show that 55 of the nation`s biggest corporations paid zero Federal tax last year. Those 55 corporations made an excess of $40 billion in profit.
A lot of companies also evaded taxes through tax havens in Switzerland and Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, and they benefit from tax loopholes and deductions for off shoring jobs and shifting profits overseas.
It`s not right. We`re going to reform corporate taxes so they pay their fair share and help pay for the public investments their businesses will benefit from as well.
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We`re going to reward work not just wealth. We take the top tax bracket for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, those making over $400,000 or more, back up to where it was when George W. Bush was president when he started, 39.6 percent. That`s where it was when George W. was president.
We`re going to get rid of the loopholes that allow Americans who make more than $1 million a year and pay a lower tax rate on their capital gains than American who receive a paycheck.
We`re only going to effect three-tenths of 1 percent of all Americans by that action, three-tenths of 1 percent. And the IRS is going to crack down on millionaires and billionaires who cheat on their taxes. It`s estimated to be billions of dollars by think tanks of left, right and center.
I`m not looking to punish anybody but I will not add a tax burden -- additional tax burden of the middle tax in this country. They`re already paying enough. I believe what I propose is fair.
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Fiscally responsible and it raises revenue to pay for the plans I propose and will create millions of jobs that will grow the economy and enhance our financial standing in the country. When you hear someone say, they don`t want to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent or corporate America, ask them who`s taxes you want to raise?
Instead, who`s are you going to cut? Look, the big tax cut of 2017. Remember it was supposed to pay for itself, that was how it was sold and generate vast economic growth. Instead, it added $2 trillion to the deficit. It was a huge windfall for corporate America and those at the very top.
BIDEN: Instead of using the tax saving to raise wages and invest in research and development, it poured billions of dollars into the pockets of CEOs.
In fact, the pay gap between CEOs and their workers is now among the largest in history. According to one study, CEOs make 320 times what the average worker in their corporation makes. It used to be below 100.
The pandemic has only made things worse. Twenty million Americans lost their job in the pandemic, working and middle-class Americans.
At the same time, roughly 650 billionaires in America saw their net worth increase by more than $1 trillion -- in the same exact period.
Let me say it again: 650 people increased their wealth by more than $1 trillion during this pandemic. And they`re now worth more than $4 trillion.
My fellow Americans, trickle down -- trickle down economics has never worked. And it`s time to grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out.
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You know, there`s a broad consensus of economists, left, right, and center, and they agree what I`m proposing will help create millions of jobs and generate historic economic growth.
These are among the highest-value investments we can make as a nation. I`ve often said, our greatest strength is the power of our example, not just the example of our power.
In my conversations with world leaders, and I`ve spoken to over 38, 40 of them now, I`ve made it known -- I`ve made it known that America is back. And you know what they say?
The comment I hear most of all from them is they say, "We see America`s back, but for how long? But for how long?"
My fellow Americans, we have to show not just that we`re back but that we`re back to stay and that we aren`t going to go it alone.
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We`re going to do it by leading with our allies.
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No one nation can deal with all the crises of our time, from terrorism to nuclear proliferation, mass migration, cybersecurity, climate change, as well as what we`re experiencing now, pandemics. There`s no wall high enough to keep any virus out.
And our own vaccine supply, as it grows to meet our needs, and we`re meeting them, will become an arsenal for vaccines for other countries, just as America was the arsenal for democracy for the world --
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-- and in consequence, influence the world.
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But every American will have access before that occurs -- every American have access to be fully covered by COVID-19 from the vaccines we have.
Look, the climate crisis is not our fight alone. It`s a global fight. The United States accounts, as all of you know, for less than 15 percent of carbon emissions. The rest of the world accounts for 85 percent. That`s why I kept my commitment to rejoin the Paris Accord, because if we do everything perfectly, it`s not going to only matter.
I kept my commitment to convene a climate summit right here in America of all the major economies of the world, China, Russia, India, European union. And I said I`d do it in my first 100 days.
And I want to be very blunt about it. I had -- my attempt was to make sure that the world could see there was a consensus, that we are at an inflection point in history. The consensus is, if we act to save the planet, we can create millions of jobs and economic growth and opportunity to raise the standard of living of almost everyone around the world.
If you`d watched any of it -- and you were all busy, I`m sure you didn`t have much time -- that`s what virtually every nation said, even the ones that aren`t doing their fair share.
The investments I propose tonight also advance a foreign policy, in my view, that benefits the middle class. That means making sure every nation plays by the same rules in the global economy, including China.
In my discussions with President Xi, I told him we welcome the competition. We are not looking for conflict. But I made absolutely clear that we will defend America`s interests across the board. America will stand up to unfair trade practices that undercut American workers and American industries like subsidies from state to state-owned operations and enterprises, and the theft of America technology and intellectual property.
I also told President Xi that we`ll maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific, just as we do with NATO and Europe, not to start a conflict but to prevent one.
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BIDEN: I told him what I`ve said to many world leaders, that America will not back away from our commitments, our commitments to human rights and our fundamental freedoms and our alliances. And I pointed out to him, no responsible American president could remain silent when basic human rights are being so blatantly violated.
An American president has to represent the essence of what our country stands for. America is an idea, the most unique idea in history. We are created, all of us, equal. It`s who we are. And we cannot walk away from that principle and in fact say we are dealing with the American idea.
With regard to Russia, I know it concerns some of you, but I made it clear to Putin that we are not seek -- excuse me, escalation, but their actions will have consequences if they turn out to be true, and they turned out to be true. So I responded directly proportionally to Russia`s interference in our elections and the cyber attacks on our government and our business. They did both of these things. And I told them we would respond, and we have.
We can cooperate when it`s our mutual interest. We did it when we extended a new START treaty on nuclear arms and we are working to do it on climate change. But he understands, we will respond.
On Iran and North Korea, nuclear programs that present serious threats to American security and the security of the world, we`re going to be working closely to our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence.
And American leadership meaning ending the forever war in Afghanistan. We have...
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BIDEN: We have, without hyperbole, the greatest fighting force of the history of the world. I`m the first president 40 years who knows what it means to have a son serving in a warzone. Today we have service members serving in the same warzone as their parents did. We have service members in Afghanistan who are not yet born on 9/11. The war in Afghanistan, as we remember the debates here, were never meant to be multi-generational undertakings of nation-building.
We want Afghanistan to get terrorists, the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. And we said we would follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell to do it. If you`ve been in the upper Kunar Valley you`ve kind of seen the gates of hell. And we delivered justice to bin Laden. We degraded the terrorist threat of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. And after 20 years of value, valor, and sacrifice, it`s time to bring those troops home.
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BIDEN: Look, even as we do, we`ll maintain over-the-horizon capacity to suppress future threats to the homeland. Make no mistake, in 20 years terrorism has metastasized. The threat has evolved way beyond Afghanistan. Those of you in the intelligence committees, the foreign relation committees, defense committees, you know well we have to remain vigilant against the threats to the United States wherever they come from. Al Qaeda and ISIS are in Yemen, Syria, Somalia, other places in Africa and the Middle East and beyond.
And we won`t ignore what our intelligence agencies determine to be the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland today, white supremacy is terrorism. We`re not going to ignore that either.
My fellow Americans, look, we have to come together to heal the soul of this nation. It was nearly a year ago before her father`s funeral when I spoke with Gianna Floyd, George Floyd`s young daughter. She was a little tyke, so I was kneeling down to talk to her, so I could see -- look her in the eye.
She looked at me, she said, "My daddy changed the world." Well, after the conviction of George Floyd`s murderer, we can see how right she was if -- if we have the courage to act in Congress.
We`ve all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of black Americans. Now is our opportunity to make some real progress. The vast majority of men and women wearing the uniform in a badge serve our communities and they serve them honorably. I know them.
I know they want --
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-- I know they want to help meet this moment, as well.
My fellow Americans, we have to come together to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve, to root out systemic racism in our criminal justice system, and enact police reform in George Floyd`s name that passed the House already.
I know Republicans have their own ideas and are engaged in a very productive discussions with the Democrats in the Senate. We need to work together to find a consensus. But let`s get it done next month by the first anniversary of George Floyd`s death.
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The country supports this reform and Congress should act -- should act.
We have a giant opportunity to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice, real justice. And with the plans outlined tonight, we have a real chance to root out systemic racism that plagues America and American lives in other ways. The chance to deliver real equity, good jobs, good schools, affordable housing, clean air, clean water. Being able to generate wealth and pass it down to generations because you have an access to purchase a house. Real opportunities in the lives of more Americans, black, white, Latino, Asian-Americans, Native Americans.
Look, I also want to thank the United States Senate for voting 94-to-1 to pass COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to protect Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.
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They acted decisively.
You can see on television the viciousness of the hate crimes we`ve seen over the past year -- the past year and for too long. I urge the House to do the same and send that legislation to my desk which I will gladly, anxiously sign.
I also hope Congress will get to my desk the Equality Act to protect LGBTQ Americans.
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All transgender Americans watching at home, especially young people, who are so brave, I want you to know your president has your back.
Another thing, let`s authorize the Violence Against Women Act which has been law for 27 years.
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Twenty-seven years ago, I wrote it. It will close -- the act that has to be authorized now will close the boyfriend loophole to keep guns out of the hands of abusers. A court order said this is an abuser, you can`t own a gun. It`s to close that loophole that existed.
You know, it`s estimated that 50 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month in America, 50 a month. Let`s pass it and save some lives.
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And I need to -- I need not tell anyone this, but gun violence has become an epidemic in America. The flag at the White House was still flying at half-mast for the eight victims of the mass shooting in Georgia, when 10 more lives were taken in a mass shooting in Colorado.