president joe biden speech

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Biden’s Speech to Congress: Full Transcript

President Biden unveiled a major proposal to invest in education and families, describing it as “a blue-collar blueprint to build America.”

President Biden delivered an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Because of the pandemic, Mr. Biden spoke to a socially distanced audience of less than 200 lawmakers and officials, a small fraction of the packed audience that typically attends such an address.

The following is a transcript of his remarks.

PRESIDENT BIDEN : Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s good to be back. As Mitch and Chuck will understand, it’s good to be almost home, down the hall. Anyway, thank you all.

Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President. No president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words. And it’s about time. The first lady, I’m her husband. 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. A 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. A hundred days since I took the oath of office, 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. Turning peril into possibility, crisis into opportunity, setbacks to 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 a takeoff, in my view. We’re working again, dreaming again, discovering again and leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world that there’s no quit in America. None.

One hundred days ago, America’s house was on fire. We had to act. 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.

We’re already seeing the results. After I promised we would 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, thanks to all the help of all of you. We’re marshaling with your help, everyone’s help, we’re marshaling every federal resource. We’ve gotten vaccinations to 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 vaccination. They’re available. You’re eligible now.

When I was sworn in on Jan. 20, less than 1 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. The mass vaccination center in Glendale, Ariz., I asked the nurse, I said, “What’s it like?” She looked at me, she said, “It’s like every shot is giving a dose of hope” was her 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 seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces, for those who are able to go back to school because the teachers and the school bus drivers and the cafeteria workers have been vaccinated. Grandparents, hugging their children and grandchildren, instead of pressing hands against the window to say goodbye. It 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, because of you, the American people, our progress these past 100 days against one of the worst pandemics in history has been one of the greatest logistical achievements, logistical achievements this country has ever seen. What else have we done in those first 100 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 all know it when you go home. For many people, it’s making all the difference in the world.

A single mom in Texas who wrote me, she said she couldn’t work. She said the relief check put food on the table and saved her and her son from eviction from their 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 people just barely able to 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 would 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 is 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 that reopen and keep their employees on the job. During these hundred 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, in improving health care 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.

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 — more jobs in the first 100 days than any president on record. The International Monetary Fund — the International Monetary Fund is now estimating our economy will grow at a rate of more than 6 percent this year. That will 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 just build back, we have to build back better. We have to compete more strenuously than we have. Throughout our history, if you think about it, public investment in infrastructure has literally transformed America, our attitudes as well as our opportunities. The transcontinental railroad, 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 a position to make. Time and again, they propel us into the future. That’s why I propose the American Jobs Plan, a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself. This is the largest jobs plan since World War II.

It creates jobs to upgrade our transportation infrastructure. Jobs modernizing our roads, bridges, highways. Jobs building ports and airports, rail corridors, transit lines. It’s clean water. And today, up to 10 million homes in America and more than 400,000 schools and child care centers have pipes with lead in them, including drinking water, a clear and present danger to our children’s health. The American Jobs Plan creates jobs replacing 100 percent of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines so every American can drink clean water.

In the process it 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.

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 lay thousands of miles of transmission lines needed to build a resilient and fully clean grid. We can do that.

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 work force during this pandemic. Two 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; 800,000 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. 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, I.B.E.W. members, installing 500,000 charging stations along our highways 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.

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. None. No reason. So folks, there’s no reason why Americans — American workers can’t lead the world in the production of electric vehicles and batteries. There is no reason. We have the capacity. They’re 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. 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.

And I might note parenthetically, 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. 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 associate’s degree. The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America. That’s what it is.

And I recognize 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. 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.

And by the way, while you’re thinking about sending things to my desk, let’s raise the minimum wage to $15. 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 been too long, look behind me.

And finally, the American Jobs Plan will be the biggest increase in nondefense 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 in national security issues know, the defense department has an agency called DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The people who set up before I came here — and that’s 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’s led to everything from the discovery of the internet to GPS and so much more. It’s enhanced our security.

The National Institutes of Health, the N.I.H, I believe, should create a similar advanced research projects agency for health. 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 N.I.H. You’ll excuse the point of personal privilege. I’ll never forget you standing, Mitch, and saying, name 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 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.

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 meet regularly in the Oval Office with Democrats and Republicans to discuss the jobs plan. And I applaud a 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 go to into the deep discussions.

I would like to meet with those who have ideas that are different, that they think are better. I welcome those ideas. 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. 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 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, because 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 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. 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 20th century.

But the world’s caught up, or catching up. They’re not waiting. I would say parenthetically, if we were sitting down and put 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. It shows that adding two years of universal, high-quality preschool for every 3-year-old and 4-year-old, no matter what background they come from, puts them in the position of being able to compete all the way through 12 years and increases exponentially their prospect of graduating and going on beyond graduation.

Research shows, when a young child goes to school — not day care — 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. 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 cybersecurity, just as capable of 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 — if I heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. “Joe, any country that out-educates us is going to outcompete us.” She’ll be deeply involved in leading this effort. Thank you, Jill.

Second thing we need, American Families Plan will provide access to quality, affordable child care. It will guarantee — what I’m proposing in legislation, it will guarantee that low- to middle-income families will pay no more than 7 percent of their income for high-quality care for children up to the age of 5. 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 medical leave, paid medical leave. We’re one of the few industrial countries in the world — no one should have to choose between a job and a paycheck or taking care of themselves or their loved ones, or their parent or spouse or child.

And fourth, the American Family Plan puts directly into the pockets of millions of Americans. In March, we expanded a tax credit for every child in a family, up to $3,000 per child if they’re under 6 years of age — excuse me, under, over 6 years of age — and $3,600 for children over 6 years of age. With two parents, two kids, that’s $7,200 in their pockets they’re getting to help taking care of your family.

And that will help more than 65 million children and help cut child care poverty in half. We can afford it. We did that in the last piece of legislation we passed. Let’s extend that child care tax credit at least through the end of 2025. The American Rescue Plan lowered health care premiums for nine million Americans who buy their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. I know that’s really popular on this side of the aisle. But let’s make that provision permanent so their premiums don’t go back up.

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 pre-existing conditions, protecting women’s health. The pandemic has demonstrated how badly, how badly it’s needed. Let’s lower deductibles for working families in the Affordable Care Act and let’s lower prescription drug costs.

We know how to do this. 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 body, in Congress. Let’s give Medicare the power to save hundreds of billions of dollars by negotiating lower drug prescription prices.

By the way, it won’t just — it won’t just help people on Medicare. It will lower prescription drug costs for everyone. And the money we save, which is billions of dollars, can go to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicare coverage benefits without costing taxpayers an additional penny. It’s within our power to do it. Let’s do it now. We talked about it long enough, Democrats and Republicans. Let’s get it done this year.

This is all about a simple premise: Health care should be a right, not a privilege, in America. So how do we pay for my jobs and family plan? I made it clear, we can do it without increasing the deficit. Let’s start with what I will not do. I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000. But it’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to just begin to pay their fair share. Just their fair share.

Sometimes I have arguments with my friends in the Democratic Party. I think you should be able to become a billionaire or 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 in excess of $40 billion in profit. A lot of companies also evade taxes through tax havens in Switzerland and Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. And they benefit from tax loopholes and deductions for offshoring 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. 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 to make more than $1 million a year and pay a lower tax rate on their capital gains than Americans who receive a paycheck. We’re only going to affect three-tenths of 1 percent of all Americans by that action. Three-tenths of 1 percent. The I.R.S. 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 left, right and center.

I’m not looking to punish anybody. But I will not add a tax burden, additional tax burden on the middle class of this country. They’re already paying enough. I believe what I propose is fair, 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. And here some would say they don’t want to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent, or corporate America. Ask them, whose taxes do you want to raise? Instead, whose 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. Instead of using the tax saving to raise wages and invest in research and development, it poured billions of dollars into the pockets of C.E.O.s. In fact the pay gap between C.E.O.s and their workers is now among the largest in history. According to one study, C.E.O.s make 320 times what the average worker in a 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. It’s time to grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out.

You know, there’s a broad consensus of economists left, right and center, and they agree what I’m proposing will 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. My conversations with world leaders — and I’ve spoken to 38, 40 of them now — I’ve made it known, I’ve made it known, that America is back.

You know what they say? The comment I hear most of all from them? 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 alone. We’re going to do it by leading with our allies. 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. And in consequence, influenced the world. Every American will have access before that occurs, every American will 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 matter. I kept my commitment to convene a climate summit right here in America with all the major economies of the world: China, Russia, India, European Union. I said I would do it in my first hundred days.

I want to be very blunt about it. I had — my intent was to make sure that the world could see that 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’ve 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 who 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 that 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’re not looking for conflict.

But I made absolutely clear that we’ll defend America’s interests across the board. America will stand up to unfair trade practices that undercut workers and American industries like subsidies from state to state-owned operations and enterprises and the theft of American technology and intellectual property. I also told President Xi that we’ll maintain a strong relationship in the Indo-Pacific, just as we do for NATO and Europe. Not to start a conflict, but to prevent one.

I told him what I said to many world leaders, that America will not back away from our commitments, our commitments to human rights and our fundamental freedom and our alliances. 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 is who we are. And we cannot walk away from that principle and in fact say we are dealing with the American idea. With regards to Russia, I know it concerns some of you. I made it clear to Putin that we are not going to seek — excuse me — escalation but their actions will have consequences if they turned out to be true. And they turned out to be true. So I responded directly and proportionally to Russia’s interference to our elections and the cyberattacks on our government and our business.

They did both of these things, and I told them we would respond, and we have. We’ll also cooperate when it is our mutual interest. We did it when we extended the New Start Treaty on nuclear arms and we are working on climate change. But he understands, we will respond. On Iran and North Korea, nuclear programs present serious threats to American security and the security of the world. We’re going to be working closely with 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 — we have, without hyperbole, the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. I am the first president in 40 years who knows what it means to have a son serving in a war zone. Today we have service members serving in the same war zone as their parents did. We have service members in Afghanistan who were not yet born on 9/11. The war in Afghanistan, as we remember the debates here, were never meant to be multigenerational 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. And if you’ve been to 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 in Afghanistan. And after 20 years of value — valor and sacrifice, it is time to bring those troops home.

Look, even as we do, we’ll maintain over the horizon the capacity to suppress future threats to the homeland. Make no mistake, in 20 years, terrorists — terrorism has been metastasized. The threat evolved way beyond Afghanistan. Those in the intelligence committees, the foreign relations committee, 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 agents have determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland today: White supremacy is terrorism. We are 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 to Gianna Floyd, George Floyd’s young daughter.

She’s a little tyke, so I was kneeling down to talk to her, so I can look at 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 as a Congress. We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of Black Americans. Now is our opportunity to make some real progress.

The vast majority, men and women wearing the uniform and a badge, serve our communities and they serve them honorably. I know them, I know they want — 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 systematic 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 productive discussions with 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. The country supports this reform and Congress should act. We have the 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 systematic racism that plagues America and American lives in other ways. A chance to deliver real equity: good jobs, good schools, affordable housing, clean air, clean water, the ability 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 94-1 to pass Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act to protect Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. You acted decisively. You can see on television the viciousness of the hate crimes we’ve have seen over 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 glad, anxiously sign.

I also hope that Congress will get to my desk the Equality Act, to protect L.G.B.T.Q. Americans. To 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 reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which has been law for 27 years. 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. The court order said this is an abuser, you can’t own a gun. It’s to close that loophole that exists. You know it is 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.

Now I need not tell anyone this, but gun violence is becoming 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. And in the weekend between those two events, 250 other Americans were shot dead in the streets of America. 250 shot dead. I know how hard it is to make progress in this issue. In the ’90s we passed universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that hold 100 rounds that can be fired off in seconds. We beat the N.R.A. Mass shootings and gun violence declined, check out the report, over 10 years.

But in the early 2000s, the law expired. We have seen daily bloodshed since then. I’m not saying that if the law had continued, we wouldn’t have seen bloodshed. More than two weeks ago in the Rose Garden, surrounded by some of the bravest people I know, the survivors and families who lost loved ones to gun violence, I laid out several of the Department of Justice actions that being taken to impact this epidemic. One of them is banning so-called ghost guns.

These are homemade guns built from a kit including directions how to finish the firearm. The parts have no serial numbers. So they show up at crime scenes and they can’t be traced. The buyers of those ghost kits are not required to pass any background checks. Anyone, from a criminal or terrorist, could buy this kit and within 30 minutes have a weapon that’s lethal. But no more. And I will do everything in my power to protect the American people from this epidemic of gun violence, but it’s time for Congress to act as well.

Look. I don’t want to be become confrontational. We need more Senate Republicans to join the overall majority of Senate Democrat colleagues and close the loopholes required in background check purchases of guns. We need a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And don’t tell me it can’t be done. We did it before and it worked. Talk to most responsible hunters and gun owners. They’ll tell you there’s no possible justification for having 100 rounds in a weapon. You think they’re wearing Kevlar vests?

These kinds of reasonable reforms have overwhelming support from the American people, including many gun owners. The country supports reform, and Congress should act. This shouldn’t be a red or blue issue. And no amendment to the Constitution is absolute. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater. From the very beginning, there were certain guns, weapons that could not be owned by Americans. Certain people could not own those weapons, ever. We’re not changing the Constitution. We’re being reasonable. I think this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, I think it’s a Republican issue.

And here’s what else we can do. Immigration has always been essential to America. Let’s end our exhausting war over immigration. For more than 30 years, politicians have talked about immigration reform and we’ve done nothing about it. It’s time to fix it. On Day 1 of my presidency, I kept my commitment and sent a comprehensive immigration bill to the United States Congress.

If you believe we need a secure border, pass it, because it has a lot of money for high-tech border security. If you believe in a pathway to citizenship, pass it. There’s over 11 million undocumented folks, the vast majority here overstayed visas. Pass it. We can actually — if you actually want to solve the problem, I have sent a bill to you, take a close look at it.

We also have to get at the root of the problem of why people are fleeing particularly to our southern border from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador. The violence. The corruption. The gangs. The political instability. Hunger. Hurricanes. Earthquakes. Natural disasters.

When I was president, my president — when I was vice president, the president asked me to focus on providing help needed to address the root causes of migration. And it helped keep people in their own countries instead of being forced to leave. And the plan was working, but the last administration decided it was not worth it. I’m restoring the program and asked Vice President Harris to lead our diplomatic effort to take care of this. I have absolute confidence she will get the job done.

Now look, if you don’t like my plan, let’s at least pass what we all agree on. Congress needs to pass legislation this year to finally secure protection for Dreamers, the young people who have only known America as their home. And, permanent protection for immigrants who are here on temporary protective status who came from countries beset by man-made and natural-made violence and disaster. As well as a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers who put food on our tables.

Look, immigrants have done so much for America during this pandemic and throughout our history. The country supports immigration reform. We should act. Let’s argue over it. Let’s debate over it. But let’s act.

And if we are to truly restore the soul of America, we need to protect the sacred right to vote. Most people — more people voted in the last presidential election than any time in American history, in the middle of the worst pandemic ever. That should be celebrated. Instead, it’s being attacked. Congress should pass H.R. 1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and send them to my desk right away. The country supports it. And Congress should act now.

Look, in conclusion, as we gather here tonight, the images of a violent mob assaulting this Capitol — desecrating our democracy — remain vivid in all our minds. Lives were put at risk, many of your lives. Lives were lost. Extraordinary courage was summoned. The insurrection was an existential crisis, a test of whether our democracy could survive. And it did.

But the struggle is far from over. The question of whether our democracy will long endure is both ancient and urgent, as old as our republic, still vital today? Can our democracy deliver on its promise that all of us — created equal in the image of God — have a chance to lead lives of dignity, respect and possibility? Can our democracy deliver on the most pressing needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate and fears that have pulled us apart?

America’s adversaries, the autocrats of the world, are betting we can’t. And I promise you, they’re betting we can’t. They believe we are too full of anger and division and rage. They look at the images of the mob that assaulted this Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. But they are wrong. You know it, I know it. But we have to prove them wrong. We have to prove democracy still works, that our government still works, and we can deliver for our people.

In our first 100 days together, we have acted to restore the people’s faith in our democracy to deliver. We’re vaccinating the nation, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. We’re delivering real results, people, they can see it, feel in their own lives. Opening doors of opportunity. Guaranteeing some more fairness and justice. That’s the essence of America. That’s democracy in action.

Our Constitution opens to the words, as trite as it sounds, “We the people.” It’s time we remembered that “We the people” are the government. You and I. Not some force in a distant capital. Not some powerful force that we have no control over. It’s us. It’s “We the people.”

In another era when our democracy was tested, Franklin Roosevelt reminded us, in America, we do our part. We all do our part. That’s all I’m asking. That we do our part, all of us. If we do that, we’ll meet the central challenge of the age by proving that democracy is durable and strong. Autocrats will not win the future. We will. America will. And the future belongs to America.

As I stand here tonight before you in a new and vital hour of life in democracy of our nation, and I can say with absolute confidence: I have never been more confident or optimistic about America. Not because I am president. Because of what’s happening with the American people. We’ve stared into the abyss of insurrection and autocracy, pandemic and pain, and “We the people” did not flinch.

At the very moment our adversaries were certain we would pull apart and fail, we came together. We united, with light and hope, we summoned a new strength, new resolve to position us to win the competition of the 21st century. On our way forward to a union, more perfect, more prosperous and more just, as one people, one nation and one America.

Folks — as I’ve told every world leader I’ve met with over the years — it’s never, ever, ever been a good bet to bet against America and it still isn’t. We are the United States of America. There is not a single thing — nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. We can do whatever we set our mind to if we do it together. So let’s begin to get together.

God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. Thank you for your patience.

Full transcript: President Joe Biden delivers speech to joint session of Congress

The president spoke to a limited crowd due to the pandemic.

President Joe Biden delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, just one day prior to 100 days in office.

The setting was very different from a typical address, though. Due to the pandemic, tickets were limited and social distancing rules were in place.

But the message from Biden was one of progress and a return to normalcy from more than a year under limitations.

The transcript of Biden's speech was as follows:

It's good to be back. As Mitch [McConnell] and Chuck [Schumer] will understand, it is good to be almost home, down the hall.

Anyway, thank you all. Madam speaker, madam vice president. No president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words, and it's about time.

The first lady. I'm her husband. 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, a 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 a nation, revitalizing our democracy and winning the future for America.

I stand here tonight one day shy of the 100th day of my administration. One 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.

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 a take-off, in my view. We're working again, dreaming again, discovering again, and leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world that there is no quit in America, none. 100 days ago, America's House was on fire. We had to act. And thanks to the extraordinary leadership of Speaker [Nancy] 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.

MORE: In 1st, two women will sit behind a president for a speech to Congress

We're already seeing the results. 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 100 days. Thanks to all the help of all of you. We're marshaling, with your help, everyone's help, we're marshaling every federal resource.

We have gotten vaccines to 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% 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. [applause]

Go get vaccinated, America. Go and get the vaccination. They're available. You're eligible now. When I was sworn in on Jan. 20, less than 1% of the seniors in America were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. One hundred days later, 70% of seniors in America over 65 are protected, fully protected. Senior deaths from COVID-19 are down 80% since January, down 80% 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." That was her 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 -- 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 seeing 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 good-bye. It means everything. Those things mean everything. You know, they're still -- you all know it, you know it better than any group of Americans. There is still more work to do to beat this virus. We can't let our guard down.

But tonight, I can say because of you -- the American people -- our progress these past 100 days against one of the worst pandemics in history has been one of the greatest logistical achievements -- logistical achievements this country has ever seen. What else have we done those first 100 days?

We kept our commitment, Democrats and Republicans, of sending $1,400 rescue checks to 85% of American households. We've already sent more than 160 million checks out the door. It's making a difference. You all know it, when you go home. For many people, it's making all the difference in the world.

A single mom in Texas who wrote me, she said she couldn't work. But she said the relief check put food on the table and saved her and her son from eviction from their 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 this crisis has been cars lined up -- cars lined up for miles.

MORE: Biden’s First 100 Days Show How Partisan Things Have Become: FiveThirtyEight

And not -- not people who 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?

That's why the rescue plan is delivering food and nutrition assistance to millions of Americans facing hunger -- and hunger is 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, in improving health care for veterans. Critical investments to address the opioid crisis. And maybe most importantly, thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we're on track to put child poverty in America in half this year.

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 than the first 100 days than any president on record.

The International Monetary Fund is now estimating our economy will grow at a rate of more than 6% this year. That will be the fastest pace of economic growth in this country in nearly four decades.

America is 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 -- to build back -- we have to build back better, we have to compete more strenuously than we have.

Throughout our history, if you 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 a position to make. Time and again, they propel us into the future. That's why I propose the American Jobs Plan, a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself. This is the largest jobs plan since World War II. It creates jobs to upgrade our transportation infrastructure, jobs modernizing our roads, bridges, highways.

Jobs building ports and airports, rail corridors, transit lines. It's clean water. And today, up to 10 million homes in America and more than 400,000 schools and child care centers have pipes with lead in them, including drinking water -- a clear and present danger to our children's health. The American Jobs Plan creates jobs replacing 100% of the nation's lead pipes and service lines so every American can drink clean water.

In the process, we'll create thousands and thousands of good paying jobs. It creates jobs connecting every American with high-speed internet, including 35% 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.

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.

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 their 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 failed to use the most important word when it comes to meeting the climate crisis: jobs, jobs, jobs.

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, IBEW members installing 500,000 charges stations along our highways so we can own the electric car market. Farmers planting cover crops so they can reduce the carbon dioxide in the air and get paid for doing it.

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, none. No reason. So, folks, there is no reason why American workers can't lead the world in the production of electric vehicles and batteries. I mean, there is no reason. We have this capacity. 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 -- as my dad would then say -- "with a little breathing room." And all the investments in the American Job Plan will be guided by one principle: Buy American. Buy American. And I might note parenthetically, 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 is supposed to be, and it will be in this administration.

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 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 a -- it is an eight-year program. These are good-paying jobs that can't be outsourced. Nearly 90% of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan do not require a college degree. Seventy-five percent don't require an associate's degree.

The American Jobs Plan is a blue collar blueprint to build America. That's what it is. 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.

So that's why I'm calling on Congress to pass Protect the Right to Organize Act, the PRO Act and send it to my desk so we can support the right to unionize.

And by the way, while you’re thinking about sending things to my desk, let's raise the minimum wage to $15. 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 you.

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 in 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% of our gross domestic product in America, 2% of our gross domestic product in research and development. Today, Mr. Secretary, that's less than 1%. China and other countries are closing in fast. We have to develop and dominate the products and technologies of the future, the 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. The people who set up before I came here, and that's been a long time ago, to develop break-throughs that enhance our national security. That's their only job.

And it’s a semi-separate agency. It’s under the Defense Department. It's led to everything from the discovery of the internet to GPS and so much more. It's enhanced our security. The National Institutes of Health, the NIH, I believe, should create a similar advanced research project agency for health.

And 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 I was vice president, almost $9 million going to NIH.

And if you excuse the point of personal privilege, I’ll never forget you standing, Mitch, and saying, name 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 think of no more worthy investment.

I know of nothing that is more bipartisan, so let's end cancer as we know it. It is within our power. It's within our power to do it.

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 a 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 like to meet with those who have ideas that are different, that they think are better. I welcome those ideas. 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.

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. As Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken can tell you, I spent a lot of time with [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping], traveled over 17,000 miles with him, spent over 24 hours in private discussions with him. When he called to congratulate me, we had a two-hour discussion.

He's deadly earnest about 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 because 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 20th century. But the world has caught up or catching up. They're not waiting.

I would say parenthetically, if we were sitting down, we put a bipartisan committee together said, okay, 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 the American Families Plan guarantees four additional years of public education for every person in America -- starting as early as we can.

We add two years of universal high-quality preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old, no matter what background they come from, puts them in a position to be able to compete all the way through 12 years and increases exponentially their prospect of graduating and going on beyond graduation.

Research shows when a young child goes to school, not day care, 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.

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 of 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 -- if I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times: “Joe, any country that out educates us is going to outcompete us.” She will be deeply involved in leading this effort. Thank you, Jill. Second thing we need, American Families Plan will provide access to quality, affordable child care.

What I'm proposing in the legislation -- we guarantee that low and middle income families will pay no more than 7% of their income for high quality care for children up to the age of 5. 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.

No one should have to choose between a job and a paycheck or taking care of themselves and their loved ones or parent or spouse or child. And, fourth, the American Family Plan puts directly into the pockets of millions of Americans. In March, we expanded the tax credit for every child in a family, up to $3,000 per child if they're over 6 years of age.

And $3,600 for children over 6 years of age. With two parents, two kids, that's $7,200 in the pockets that are going to help take care of your family. And that will help more than 65 million children and help cut child care poverty in half.

And we can afford it. So we did that in the -- in the last piece of legislation we passed. But let's extend that child care tax credit at least through the end of 2025. The American Rescue Plan lowered health care premiums for 9 million Americans who buy their coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

I know that’s really popular on this side of the aisle. [laughter] But, let's make that provision permanent so their premiums don't go back up.

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 -- in the Affordable Care Act. And let's lower prescription drug costs.

We know how to do this. 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 body, in Congress. Let's give Medicare the power to save hundreds of billions of dollars by negotiating lower drug prescription prices.

And by the way, it won’t just -- it won’t just help people on Medicare. It’ll lower prescription drug costs for everyone. And the money we save, which is billions of dollars, can go to strengthening the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicare benefits without costing taxpayers an additional penny. It is within our power to do it. Let's do it now.

We’ve talked about it long enough, Democrats and Republicans. Let's get it done this year. This is all about a simple premise: Health care should be a right, not a privilege in America.

So, how do we pay for my jobs and family plan? I made it clear, we can do without increasing the deficit. Let's start with what I will not do. I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000. But it is time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to just begin to pay their fair share. Just their fair share.

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. A recent study shows that 55 of the nation's biggest corporations paid zero federal tax last year. Those 55 corporations made in 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 offshoring 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.

We're going to reward work, not just wealth. We take the top tax bracket for the wealthiest 1% 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%.

That's where it was when George W. was president. We're going to get rid of the loopholes allowing Americans to make more than a million dollars a year and pay a lower tax rate on their capital gains on Americans who receive a paycheck. We're only going to affect three-tenths of 1% of all Americans by that action. Three-tenths of 1%.

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 that are left, right, and center. I'm not looking to punish anybody. But I will not add a tax burden, additional tax burden to the middle class in this country. They're already paying enough.

I believe what I propose is fair. Fiscally responsible. And it raises revenue to pay for the plans I propose and it 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% or corporate America, ask them, whose taxes do you want to raise? Instead, whose are we going to cut?

Look, the big tax cut of 2017, you 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.

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 in the -- below 100. The pandemic has only made things worse. 20 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 that 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.

You know, there is 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 have often said, our greatest strength is the power of our example, not just the example of our power.

My conversations with world leaders, and I’ve spoken to over 38 -- 40 of them now. I have made it known. I have made it known that America is back. And you know what they say? The comment that I hear most of all from them? So they say, “We see America is 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 alone.

We're going to do it by leading with our allies. 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 experiencing -- what we're experiencing now with pandemics.

There’s no wall high enough to keep any virus away. As our own vaccine supply grows to meet our needs -- and we are meeting them -- we will become an arsenal of vaccines for other countries -- just as America was the arsenal of democracy in World War II.

The climate crisis is not our fight alone, either. It’s a global fight. The United States accounts, as all of you know, for less than 15% of carbon emissions. The rest of the world accounts for 85%.

That’s why I kept my commitment to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on my first day in office.

And I kept my commitment to convene a climate summit right here in America, with all of the major economies of the world -- from China and Russia to India and the European Union. And I said I would do it in my first 100 days. And I want to be very blunt about it.

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 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 the 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. My discussions -- in my discussions with President Xi, I told him, we welcome the competition. We're not looking for conflict.

But I made absolutely clear that we will defend America's interest 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 American 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.

I told him what I said to many world leaders, that America will not back away from our commitments, our commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to 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 -- 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're dealing with the American idea.”

With regard to Russia, I know it concerns some of you, but I made very clear to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that we're not going to seek escalation, but their actions will have consequence if they turn out to be true. And they turned out to be true, so I responded directly and proportionately to Russia's interference on our elections, and the cyberattacks on our government and our business.

They did both of these things, and I told them we would respond and we have. But we can also cooperate when it’s in our mutual interest. We did it when we extended the New START Treaty on nuclear arms, and we're 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 with our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence. And American leadership means ending the forever war in Afghanistan.

We have, without hyperbole, the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. I’m the first president in 40 years who knows what it means to have a son serving in a war zone. Today, we have service members serving in the same war zone as their parents did. We have service members in Afghanistan who were 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 went to 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-Qaida and Afghanistan. And after 20 years of value, valor, and sacrifice, it’s time to bring those troops home.

Even as we do, we’ll maintain over the horizon capacity to suppress future threats to the homeland. And 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 community, defense communities, you know well. We have to remain vigilant against the threats to the United States wherever they come from. Al-Qaida and ISIS are in Yemen, Syria, Somalia, other places in Africa, in the Middle East and beyond.

And we won't ignore what our intelligence agency has determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today: white supremacy's 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's a little tyke, so I was kneeling down to talk to her so I could 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 as a Congress. We have 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 and a badge serve our communities and they serve them honorably.

I know them. 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 to 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 discussion with 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.

The country supports this reform, and Congress should act -- should act. We have a giant opportunity to bend the ark of the moral universe towards 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.

A 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 94-1 to pass COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to protect Asian-American and Pacific Islanders. You acted decisively.

You can see on television the viciousness of the hate crimes we have seen over 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.

To all transgender Americans watching at home, especially the 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. Twenty-seven years ago, I wrote it.

It will close -- the act that has to be authorized now, it will close the boyfriend loophole to keep guns out of the hands of abusers. The 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. And I need -- 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.

And in the week in between those two events, 250 other Americans were shot dead in the streets of America. 250. Shot dead. I know how hard it is to make progress on this issue. In the 90s, we passed universal background checks, a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines that hold a hundred rounds that can be fired off in seconds. We beat the NRA. Mass shootings and gun violence declined.

Check out the report over ten years. But in the early 2000s, the law expired. We've seen daily bloodshed since. I'm not saying if the law continued we wouldn't see bloodshed. More than two weeks ago in the Rose Garden, surrounded by some of the bravest people I know, the survivors and families who lost loved ones to gun violence, I laid out several of the Department of Justice actions that are being to taken to impact in this epidemic.

One of them is banning so-called ghost guns. These are homemade guns built from a kit that includes directions on how to finish the firearm. The parts have no serial numbers. So they show up at crime scenes and they can't be traced. The buyers of these ghost gun kits aren't required to pass any background check.

Anyone, from a criminal or terrorist, could buy this kit and within 30 minutes have a weapon that's lethal, but no more. And I'll do everything in my power to protect the American people from this epidemic of gun violence, but it is time for Congress to act as well.

I don't want to become confrontational but we need more Senate Republicans to join the overwhelming majority of Democratic colleagues, and close the loopholes required in background checks purchases of guns. We need a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. And don't tell me it can't be done. We did it before, and it worked.

Talk to most responsible gun owners and hunters, they'll tell you there is no possible justification for having a hundred rounds in a weapon. What do you think, deer are wearing kevlar vests? [laughter] They'll tell you that there are too many people today who are able to buy a gun but shouldn't be able to buy a gun.

These kinds of reasonable reforms have overwhelming support from the American people, including many gun owners. The country supports reform and this -- and Congress should act. This shouldn't be a red or blue issue, and no Amendment to the Constitution is absolute. You can't yell “fire” in a crowded theater. From the very beginning there were certain guns, weapons that could not be owned by Americans.

Certain people could not own those weapons ever. We're not changing the Constitution. We're being reasonable. I think this is not a Democrat or Republican issue. I think it's an American issue. And here's what else we can do. Immigration has always been essential to America. Let's end our exhausting war over immigration.

For more than 30 years, politicians have talked about immigration reform, and we've done nothing about it. It's time to fix it. On day one of my presidency, I kept my commitment to send a comprehensive immigration bill to the United States Congress. If you believe we need to secure the border, pass it, because it has a lot of money for high tech border security. If you believe in a pathway to citizenship, pass it. There’s over 11 million undocumented folks, the vast majority are here overstaying visas, pass it.

We can actually -- if you actually want to solve the problem, I've sent a bill to take a close look at it. We also have to get at the root problem of why people are fleeing ,particularly to our southern border of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The violence, the corruption, the gangs, the political instability, hunger, hurricanes, earthquakes, natural disasters. When I was president, my president -- when I was vice president, the president asked me to focus on providing help needed to address the root causes of migration.

And it helped keep people in their own countries instead of being forced to leave. The plan was working, but the last administration decided it was not worth it. I'm restoring the program, and I asked Vice President [Kamala] Harris to lead our diplomatic effort to take care of this. I have absolute confidence she'll get the job done.

Now look, if you don't like my plan, let's at least pass what we all agree on. Congress needs to pass legislation this year to finally secure protection for Dreamers. The young people who have only known America as their home. And permanent protection for immigrants who are here on temporary protective status who came from countries beset by man-made and natural made violence and disaster.

As well as a pathway to citizenship for foregn workers who put food on our tables. Look, immigrants have done so much for America during this pandemic and throughout our history. The country supports immigration reform. We should act. Let's argue over it. Let's debate it, but let's act. And if we truly restore -- want to restore the soul of America, we need to protect the sacred right to vote.

More people voted in the last Presidential election than any time in American history, in the middle of the worst pandemic ever. It should be celebrated. Instead, it's being attacked. Congress should pass HR-1, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and send it to my desk right away.

The country supports it, and Congress should act now. [applause, cont.] Look, in conclusion, as we gather here tonight, the images of a violent mob assaulting this Capitol, desecrating our democracy remain vivid in all our minds. Lives were put at risk, many of your lives. Lives were lost.

Extraordinary courage was summoned. The insurrection was an existential crisis, a test of whether our democracy could survive, and it did. But the struggle is far from over. The question of whether our democracy will long endure is both ancient and urgent, as old as our Republic, still vital today.

Can our democracy deliver on its promise that all of us created equal in the image of god have a chance to lead lives of dignity, respect, and possibility? Can our democracy deliver to the most pressing needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate, and fears that have pulled us apart? America's adversaries, the autocrats of the world, are betting we can't. And I promise you they're betting we can't.

They believe we’re too full of anger and division and rage. They look at the images of the mob that assaulted the Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. But they're wrong. You know it. I know it. But we have to prove them wrong. We have to prove democracy still works, that our government still works, and we can deliver for our people.

MORE: Congress prepares for 'strange' and 'extraordinary' presidential address

In our first 100 days together, we've acted to restore people's faith in democracy to deliver. We're vaccinating the nation, we're creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, we're delivering real results to people. They can see it, feel it in their own lives, opening doors of opportunity, guaranteeing some more fairness and justice. That’s the essence of America. That's democracy in action. Our Constitution opens with the words, as trite as it sounds, “we the people.”

Well, it's time to remember that we, the people, are the government. You and I. Not some force in a distant capital. Not some powerful force that we have no control over. It's us! It's we the people. In another era when our democracy was tested, Franklin Roosevelt reminded us, in America, we do our part, we all do our part. That's all I'm asking. That we do our part, all of us. If we do that, we will meet the center challenge of the age by proving that democracy is durable and strong.

Autocrats will not win the future, we will. America will. And the future belongs to America. As I stand here tonight before you in a new and vital hour of life and democracy of our nation, and I can say with absolute confidence, I have never been more confident or optimistic about America, not because I'm President. Because of what's happening with the American people.

We've stared into the abyss of insurrection and autocracy, pandemic and pain. And We, the people, did not flinch. At the very moment our adversaries were certain we'd pull apart and fail, we came together. We united. With light and hope, we summoned a new strength, new resolve to position us to win the competition of the 21st century.

On our way to a union more perfect, more prosperous, and more just as one people, one nation, and one America. Folks, as I told every world leader I ever met with over the years, it's never ever, ever been a good bet to bet against America and it still isn't.

We're the United States of America.

There is not a single thing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. We can do whatever we set our minds to if we do it together. So let's begin to get together. God bless you all, and may god protect our troops. Thank you for your patience.

Related Topics

• President Biden

Top Stories

What witnesses said about Trump's handling of classified info while president

• Apr 24, 4:58 PM

Secret Service prepares for if Trump is jailed for contempt in hush money case

• Apr 23, 4:16 PM

Airlines required to refund passengers for canceled, delayed flights

• Apr 24, 11:06 AM

Plastic bags from Walmart US recycling tracked to facilities in Southeast Asia

• Apr 23, 9:48 PM

As Trump battles for immunity, question resurfaces about assassinating rivals

• Apr 24, 4:04 PM

ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

Help inform the discussion

Presidential Speeches

January 20, 2021: inaugural address, about this speech.

January 20, 2021

Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. In his Inaugural Address, he stressed the need for the country to come together in unity. Speaking to those who voted for him and to those who did not, Biden made the strong case that together the country could move forward to contain the coronavirus pandemic and improve the economy. His address was in stark contrast to President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address four years earlier. 

• Download Full Video
• Download Audio

Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.

This is America’s day.

This is democracy’s day.

A day of history and hope.

Of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.

The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We have learned again that democracy is precious.

Democracy is fragile.

And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

So now, on this hallowed ground where just days ago violence sought to shake this Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.

We look ahead in our uniquely American way – restless, bold, optimistic – and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be.

I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here.

I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

You know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength of our nation.

As does President Carter, who I spoke to last night but who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

I have just taken the sacred oath each of these patriots took — an oath first sworn by George Washington.

But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.

On “We the People” who seek a more perfect Union.

This is a great nation and we are a good people.

Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far. But we still have far to go.

We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility.

Much to repair.

Much to restore.

Much to heal.

Much to build.

And much to gain.

Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now.

A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country.

It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II.

Millions of jobs have been lost.

Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.

A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

A cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear.

And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words.

It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:

In another January in Washington, on New Year’s Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

When he put pen to paper, the President said, “If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.”

My whole soul is in it.

Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:

Bringing America together.

Uniting our people.

And uniting our nation.

I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the common foes we face:

Anger, resentment, hatred.

Extremism, lawlessness, violence.

Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.

With unity we can do great things. Important things.

We can right wrongs.

We can put people to work in good jobs.

We can teach our children in safe schools.

We can overcome this deadly virus.

We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all.

We can deliver racial justice.

We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy.

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real.

But I also know they are not new.

Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart.

The battle is perennial.

Victory is never assured.

Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our “better angels” have always prevailed.

In each of these moments, enough of us came together to carry all of us forward.

And, we can do so now.

History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.

We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.

We can treat each other with dignity and respect.

We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.

For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.

No progress, only exhausting outrage.

No nation, only a state of chaos.

This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.

And, we must meet this moment as the United States of America.

If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.

We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together.

And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh.

Let us listen to one another.

Hear one another. See one another.

Show respect to one another.

Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.

Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.

And, we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this.

America has to be better than this.

And, I believe America is better than this.

Just look around.

Here we stand, in the shadow of a Capitol dome that was completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself hung in the balance.

Yet we endured and we prevailed.

Here we stand looking out to the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream.

Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protestors tried to block brave women from marching for the right to vote.

Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office – Vice President Kamala Harris.

Don’t tell me things can’t change.

Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.

And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground.

That did not happen.

It will never happen.

Not tomorrow.

To all those who supported our campaign I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us.

To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart.

And if you still disagree, so be it.

That’s democracy. That’s America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength.

Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion.

And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans.

I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

Many centuries ago, Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love.

What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans?

I think I know.

Opportunity.

And, yes, the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson.

There is truth and there are lies.

Lies told for power and for profit.

And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.

I understand that many Americans view the future with some fear and trepidation.

I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next.

But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like you do, or worship the way you do, or don’t get their news from the same sources you do.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.

We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.

If we show a little tolerance and humility.

If we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes just for a moment. Because here is the thing about life: There is no accounting for what fate will deal you.

There are some days when we need a hand.

There are other days when we’re called on to lend one.

That is how we must be with one another.

And, if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we will need each other.

We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.

We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus.

We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.

I promise you this: as the Bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.

We will get through this, together

The world is watching today.

So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it.

We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.

Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s.

We will lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.

We will be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.

We have been through so much in this nation.

And, in my first act as President, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those we lost this past year to the pandemic.

To those 400,000 fellow Americans – mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

We will honor them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be.

Let us say a silent prayer for those who lost their lives, for those they left behind, and for our country.

This is a time of testing.

We face an attack on democracy and on truth.

A raging virus.

Growing inequity.

The sting of systemic racism.

A climate in crisis.

America’s role in the world.

Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways.

But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with the gravest of responsibilities.

Now we must step up.

It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.

And, this is certain.

We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.

Will we rise to the occasion?

Will we master this rare and difficult hour?

Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world for our children?

I believe we must and I believe we will.

And when we do, we will write the next chapter in the American story.

It’s a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me.

It’s called “American Anthem” and there is one verse stands out for me:

“The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day What shall be our legacy? What will our children say?… Let me know in my heart When my days are through America America I gave my best to you.”

Let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our nation.

If we do this then when our days are through our children and our children’s children will say of us they gave their best.

They did their duty.

They healed a broken land. My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath.

Before God and all of you I give you my word.

I will always level with you.

I will defend the Constitution.

I will defend our democracy.

I will defend America.

I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities.

Not of personal interest, but of the public good.

And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear.

Of unity, not division.

Of light, not darkness.

An American story of decency and dignity.

Of love and of healing.

Of greatness and of goodness.

May this be the story that guides us.

The story that inspires us.

The story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history.

We met the moment.

That democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived.

That our America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world.

That is what we owe our forebearers, one another, and generations to follow.

So, with purpose and resolve we turn to the tasks of our time.

Sustained by faith.

Driven by conviction.

And, devoted to one another and to this country we love with all our hearts.

May God bless America and may God protect our troops.

Thank you, America.

More Joe Biden speeches

Joe Biden’s inauguration speech transcript, annotated

President Biden pleaded for national unity in his inaugural address Wednesday after he was sworn in as the 46th president. Below is a full transcript of his remarks, with analysis from The Fix team.

Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris. Speaker Pelosi, Leaders Schumer, McConnell, Vice President Pence, my distinguished guests and my fellow Americans, this is America’s day.

This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope of renewal and resolve through a crucible for the ages. America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge. Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people, has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed 1 .

1 Throughout the speech, Biden intersperses the idea that democracy and our system of government have triumphed over threats, while acknowledging that victory isn't final. — Aaron Blake

From now, on this hallowed ground, where just a few days ago, violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power, as we have for more than two centuries.

As we look ahead in our uniquely American way: restless, bold, optimistic, and set our sights on the nation we can be and we must be.

I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence 2 here today. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. And I know, I know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength, the strength of our nation. As does President Carter, who I spoke with last night, who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

2 Mike Pence, who succeeded Biden as vice president, attended the inauguration, as did former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. President Trump did not attend, in a major break from the traditional ceremony of transfer of power. — Eugene Scott

I’ve just taken the sacred oath each of those patriots have taken. The oath, first sworn by George Washington. But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us, on we the people who seek a more perfect union.

This is a great nation. We are good people. And over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we've come so far. But we still have far to go. We'll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities, much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain.

Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now. A once-in-a-century virus that silently stalks the country. It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II. Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed. A cry for racial justice, some 400 years in the making, moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

The cry for survival comes from the planet itself, 3 a cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

3 The Biden administration has pledged to make climate change a priority in his administration, starting with undoing many of Trump’s environmental decisions via executive order and rejoining the Paris climate accord in his first days in office. — E.S.

To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: Unity. Unity.

In another January, on New Year’s Day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. When he put pen to paper, the president said, and I quote: “If my name ever goes down into history, it’ll be for this act. And my whole soul is in it.”

My whole soul was in it today. On this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the foes we face: anger, resentment, hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward, reward work, and rebuild the middle class and make health care secure for all. We can deliver racial justice and we can make America once again the leading force for good in the world.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real, but I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we're all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial and victory is never assured.

Through civil war, the Great Depression, world war, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice and setbacks, our better angels have always prevailed. In each of these moments, enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward. And we can do that now. History, faith and reason show the way, the way of unity. We can see each other not as adversaries, but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace — only bitterness and fury. No progress — only exhausting outrage. No nation — only a state of chaos.

This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge. And unity is the path forward. And we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you we will not fail. We have never, ever, ever, ever failed in America when we’ve acted together. 4

4 This was Biden's most pronounced appeal to unity. It will be difficult to make it happen, though — not just because of the faction of the Republican Party that remains loyal to Trump, but because of the historically close balance of power in the House and Senate. The Senate is 50-50, and the House is the closest it's been in about two decades. Any legislation will have to run through the political middle, but there are always political incentives to preventing a president from accomplishing things — notably, to argue they failed so your party's nominee might replace them. — A.B.

And so today at this time in this place, let’s start afresh, all of us. Let’s begin to listen to one another again. Hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another. Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. And I believe America is so much better than this. Just look around. Here we stand in the shadow of the Capitol dome, as was mentioned earlier, completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself was literally hanging in the balance. Yet we endured, we prevailed.

Here we stand looking out on the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream. Here we stand, where 108 years ago, at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. And today we marked the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office: Vice President Kamala Harris. Don’t tell me things can’t change. 5

5 Biden pledged during his primary campaign to make history with his running mate pick, saying he’d only consider women. He followed through on that by selecting a lawmaker from one of the demographic groups who supported him the most — Black women — and the fastest growing minority group in the United States — Asian Americans. — E.S.

Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace. And here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people 6 , to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground.

6 Biden won the popular vote by 7 million votes, as well as winning the electoral college. The election results were affirmed repeatedly in courts as not having been marred by any widespread fraud. But the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 claimed otherwise, and former president Donald Trump never fully acknowledged this was the case. — E.S.

It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.

To all those who supported our campaign, I’m humbled by the faith you’ve placed in us. To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. If you still disagree, so be it. That’s democracy. That’s America. The right to dissent, peaceably, the guardrails of our republic, is perhaps this nation’s greatest strength.

Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion. And I pledge this to you: I will be a president for all Americans. 7 All Americans. And I promise you I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

7 Biden’s pledge to reach across the aisle on policy and to earn the support of those who did not back him, rather than primarily viewing them as political enemies, was a mainstay of his candidacy, and it was a major theme of his address. — E.S.

Many centuries ago, St. Augustine, a saint in my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love. Defined by the common objects of their love. What are the common objects we as Americans love, that define us as Americans? I think we know. Opportunity, security, liberty, dignity, respect, honor and, yes, the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies, lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders, leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation, to defend the truth and defeat the lies. 8

8 This is one of the prominent features of Biden's speech: While calling for unity, an acknowledgment that some of his opponents aren't on the level and that their influence must be dealt with. Biden didn't use his speech to call out individuals who purveyed the theory that his win wasn't legitimate, but he seems to recognize that, without addressing the proliferation of falsehoods, his agenda will be difficult to enact. For a man who emphasizes conciliation, it was certainly a notable choice. — A.B.

Look — I understand that many of my fellow Americans view the future with fear and trepidation. I understand they worry about their jobs. I understand, like my dad, they lay in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering: Can I keep my health care? Can I pay my mortgage? Thinking about their families, about what comes next. I promise you, I get it.

But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like you or worship the way you do, or don’t get their news from the same sources you do. We must end this uncivil war 9 that pits red against blue, rural vs. urban, conservative vs. liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts. If we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes, as my mom would say, just for a moment, stand in their shoes. Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand. That’s how it has to be. That’s what we do for one another. And if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future. And we can still disagree.

9 One of the most memorable lines of the speech — and one that conjures images of the ugliest chapter in American history, which has to have been part of the calculation. It's Obama-esque, but also a realistic description of the nature of our politics. — A.B.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we’re going to need each other. We need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter. We’re entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus. We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation. One nation 10 .

10 The events of the past two months have in many ways papered over the size of the challenge ahead for Biden's administration, especially with regard to the coronavirus pandemic. Calls to "set aside politics" are boilerplate, but Biden acknowledges how much uglier it's likely to get as we refocus on fighting the virus, rather than a threat to our democracy. — A.B.

And I promise you this, as the Bible says: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” We will get through this together. Together.

Look, folks. All my colleagues I served with in the House and the Senate up there, we all understand the world is watching, watching all of us today. So here’s my message to those beyond our borders: 11 America has been tested and we’ve come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. And we’ll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.

11 Biden signals that the standoffish posture toward allies from the Trump administration is a thing of the past, as the United States' reputation has reached a new low, and that America can be trusted again to abide by its agreements. Biden is set to rejoin the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization, which Trump pulled out of. A big question is how he handles the Iran deal that Trump left. — A.B.

We’ll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security. Look — you all know we’ve been through so much in this nation. And my first act as president, I’d like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those who we lost this past year to the pandemic. Those 400,000 fellow Americans. Moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors and co-workers. We will honor them by becoming the people and the nation we know we can and should be. So I ask you, let’s say a silent prayer for those who’ve lost their lives, those left behind, and for our country. 12

12 An acknowledgement of the biggest task that lies ahead. — A.B.

Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and on truth, a raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis, America’s role in the world. Any one of these will be enough to challenge us in profound ways. But the fact is, we face them all at once, presenting this nation with one of the gravest responsibilities we’ve had. Now we’re going to be tested. Are we going to step up? All of us? It’s time for boldness, for there is so much to do. And this is certain, I promise you: We will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era.

Will we rise to the occasion is the question. Will we master this rare and difficult hour? Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world to our children? I believe we must. I’m sure you do as well. I believe we will. And when we do, we’ll write the next great chapter in the history of the United States of America. The American story. A story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me. It’s called “American Anthem.” There’s one verse that stands out, at least for me, and it goes like this:

The work and prayers of a century have brought us to this day.

What shall be our legacy? What will our children say?

Let me know in my heart when my days are through.

America, America, I gave my best to you.

Let's add. Let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our great nation. If we do this, then when our days are through, our children and our children's children will say of us: They gave their best, they did their duty, they healed a broken land.

My fellow Americans, I close the day where I began, with a sacred oath before God and all of you. I give you my word, I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I’ll defend our democracy. I’ll defend America and I will give all, all of you. Keep everything I do in your service, thinking not of power, but of possibilities, not of personal interest, but the public good. And together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness. May this be the story that guides us. The story that inspires us and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history. We met the moment. Democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch, but thrived. That America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world. That is what we owe our forebears, one another and generations to follow.

So, with purpose and resolve, we turn to those tasks of our time. Sustained by faith, driven by conviction, devoted to one another and the country we love with all our hearts. May God bless America and may God protect our troops. Thank you, America.

President Joe Biden: The First 100 Days

Biden issuing pandemic plan that aims to expand access to testing and vaccines, reopen schools

Biden administration to pause deportations, curtail arrests

On his first day, Biden signs executive orders to reverse Trump’s policies

The Biden White House: A look inside Biden’s Oval Office

The inauguration

Joseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States | Read his speech

America’s first Youth Poet Laureate: Amanda Gorman reads poem ‘The Hill We Climb’ at inauguration

World reaction: The world is watching as Biden assumes office, Trump era ends

The administration

The Biden Cabinet: Who has been selected and who is in the running

Biden appointees: Who is filling key roles

The Biden Agenda

Read more about his plans on: Immigration | Foreign policy | Health care | Climate change | Social and Criminal Justice | Economic policy | Tech policy

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Biden’s planned Morehouse College commencement speech spurs alumni protest

President, scheduled to speak at the historically Black campus before the start of the Israel-Gaza war, will give speech on 19 May

• Student campus protests – live updates

Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key spotlight at one of the nation’s pre-eminent historically Black campuses but potentially exposing him to uncomfortable protests as he seeks re-election against Donald Trump.

The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Biden would speak on 19 May at the alma mater of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, and then address the graduating class at the United States Military Academy at West Point on 25 May.

The Morehouse announcement has drawn some backlash among the school’s faculty and supporters who are critical of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. That could put the White House and Biden’s re-election campaign in a difficult position as the president works to shore up the racially diverse coalition that propelled him to the Oval Office.

By Tuesday afternoon, some Morehouse alumni were circulating an online letter that condemns the administration’s invitation to Biden and seeking signatures to pressure Morehouse’s president, David Thomas, to rescind it.

The letter, obtained by the Associated Press, claimed Biden’s approach to Israel effectively supports genocide in Gaza and runs counter to the pacifism that King expressed with his opposition to the Vietnam war.

“In inviting President Biden to campus, the college affirms a cruel standard that complicity in genocide merits no sanction from the institution that produced one of the towering advocates for nonviolence of the twentieth century,” the letter states, emphasizing King’s stance that “war is a hell that diminishes” humanity as a whole. “If the college cannot affirm this noble tradition of justice by rescinding its invitation to President Biden, then the college should reconsider its attachment to Dr King.”

Late last week, before the school and the White House formally announced commencement plans, Morehouse provost Kendrick Brown, Thomas’s top lieutenant, sent an email to all faculty acknowledging concerns about “rumors” and affirming that the school issued the invitation to Biden last September. That would have been before Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, spurring the sustained counteroffensive that the Morehouse alumni letter called an act of genocide against Palestinians. Brown’s email did not reference anything about the Middle East conflict.

Brown invited faculty to an online forum, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, to discuss the matter. But, he added: “Please know going into this conversation that the College does not plan to rescind its accepted invitation to President Biden.”

Morehouse officials have not responded to an Associated Press inquiry.

Asked about the concerns from some faculty members, the White House deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates, said Biden was eager to speak at the school and added: “Commencements are about the graduates, their families and their loved ones, about celebrating the accomplishments of the graduates.

“I’m not going to weigh in on processes happening at Morehouse, but he looks forward to going there and celebrating with the graduates,” he added.

Earlier Tuesday, Thomas released a statement to BET.com that, like the provost’s faculty letter, highlighted the September timing of the invitation to Biden.

Thomas said Morehouse officials “eagerly anticipate” the president’s visit, which he called “a reminder of our institution’s enduring legacy and impact, as well as our continued commitment to excellence, progress and positive change.”

The Rev Stephen Green, pastor of the St Luke AME church in Harlem and an author of the alumni letter, said in an interview that his group had reached out to several Morehouse trustees and hoped to speak with Thomas. Green, who graduated in 2014, called the effort part of a “common thread of protest and activism in the Morehouse tradition” of social and political engagement.

“We hope this would send a strong message that we are serious about the values we were taught,” Green said, adding that he wants to see Biden forcefully advocate for a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Beyond any dissatisfaction over Israel, polling suggests Biden may have work to do with Black Americans generally. More than half of Black adults approve of how he is handling his job as president, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in March, but that is down significantly from when he took office and 94% approved of his performance.

Biden has increasingly encountered protests this year from progressives who assert that he is too supportive of Israel. The issue has proven vexing for the president. He has long joined the US foreign policy establishment in embracing Israel as an indispensable Middle East ally. Yet he also has criticized the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , for mounting civilian deaths in Gaza and told him that future US aid depends on Israel taking steps to protect civilians.

• Universities
• Palestinian territories
• Higher education

Most viewed

Biden signs Ukraine aid, TikTok ban package after Republican battle

• Medium Text

Sign up here.

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Stephen Coates and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

Thomson Reuters

Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration. His and the WHCA's work was recognized with Deutsche Welle's "Freedom of Speech Award." Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the WHCA's “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure" award and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists' "Breaking News" award. Jeff began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright scholar.

World Chevron

A Palestinian businessman displaced by the war in Gaza is bringing a taste of home for fellow refugees with a Shawarma restaurant he has opened in Cairo.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will lead a minority government in Scotland after its coalition with the Green Party collapsed on Thursday, Sky News reported.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

President Biden signs law to ban TikTok nationwide unless it is sold

Bobby Allyn

President Biden has signed a law that gives ByteDance up to a year to fully divest from TikTok, or face a nationwide ban. Kiichiro Sato/AP hide caption

President Biden has signed a law that gives ByteDance up to a year to fully divest from TikTok, or face a nationwide ban.

President Biden on Wednesday signed a law that would ban Chinese-owned TikTok unless it is sold within a year.

It is the most serious threat yet to the video-streaming app's future in the U.S., intensifying America's tech war with China.

Still, the law is not expected to cause any immediate disruption to TikTok, as a forthcoming legal challenge, and various hurdles to selling the app, will most likely cause months of delay.

The measure was tucked into a bill providing foreign aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The law stipulates that ByteDance must sell its stake in TikTok in 12 months under the threat of being shut down.

U.S. bans noncompete agreements for nearly all jobs

The move is the culmination of Washington turning the screws on TikTok for years.

Chinese tech giant ByteDance, in 2017, purchased the popular karaoke app Musical.ly and relaunched the service as TikTok. Since then, the app has been under the microscope of national security officials in Washington fearing possible influence by the Chinese government.

Despite concerns in Washington, TikTok has soared. It has become the trendsetter in the world of short-form video and is used by 170 million Americans, which is about half of the country. It is where one-third of young people get their news, according to Pew Research Center.

Trump to score additional $1.2 billion windfall thanks to his Truth Social app

Yet lawmakers and the Biden administration argue that as long as TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, it is beholden to the dictates of China's authoritarian regime

"Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok, or any other individual company," said Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, in remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon.

"Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel."

In a video posted to the platform soon after Biden signed the bill, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said he is confident TikTok would win in court, adding that users should not expect issues with the app in the meantime.

"Rest assured, we aren't going anywhere," Chew said. "The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again."

Google worker says the company is 'silencing our voices' after dozens are fired

Tiktok plans to take biden administration to court over the law.

If not sold within a year, the law would make it illegal for web-hosting services to support TikTok, and it would force Google and Apple to remove TikTok from app stores — rendering the app unusable with time.

It marks the first time the U.S. has passed a law that could trigger the ban of a social media platform, something that has been condemned by civil liberties groups and Constitutional scholars.

TikTok has vowed to take the Biden administration to court, claiming the law would suppress the free speech of millions of Americans.

The sentiment was echoed by Kate Ruane, who runs the Center for Democracy & Technology's Free Expression Project, who said the law is unconstitutional and a blow to free expression in the U.S.

"Congress shouldn't be in the business of banning platforms," Ruane said. "They should be working to enact comprehensive privacy legislation that protects our private data no matter where we choose to engage online."

Selling TikTok won't be so easy

Any company, or set of investors, angling to purchase TikTok would have to receive the blessing of the Chinese government, and officials in Beijing have strongly resisted a forced sell.

In particular, ByteDance owns the engine of TikTok, its hyper-personalized algorithm that pulls people in and keeps them highly engaged with their feed.

Chinese officials have placed content-recommendation algorithms on what is known as an export-control list, meaning the government has additional say over how the technology is ever sold.

Law took TikTok by surprise

By almost any measure, the law passed rapidly, and it caught many inside TikTok off guard, especially because the company had just breathed a sigh of relief.

Last month, the House passed a bill to compel TikTok to find a buyer, or face a nationwide ban, but the effort stalled in the Senate.

The legislation gave TikTok a six-month window to find a buyer, which some Senators said was too little time.

A new push, this time attaching the divest-or-be-banned provision to foreign aid, fasted-tracked the proposal. It mirrors last month's attempt, but it extends the sell-by deadline, now giving TikTok nine months to find a buyer, with the option of a three-month extension if a potential acquisition is in play.

Sen. Markey: 'American companies are doing the same thing'

Lawmakers from both parties have argued that TikTok poses a national security risk to Americans, since the Chinese government could use the app to spy on Americans, or influence what U.S. users see on their TikTok feeds, something that has gained new urgency in an election year.

But some have pushed back, including Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts. He said on the Senate floor on Tuesday that there is "no credible evidence" that TikTok presents a real national security threat just because its parent company is based in China.

National intelligence laws in China would require ByteDance to hand over data on Americans if authorities there sought it, but TikTok says it has never received such a request.

Markey said concerns about digital security, the mental health of young people and data privacy should be addressed with comprehensive legislation encompassing the entire tech industry, not just TikTok.

"TikTok poses a serious risk to the privacy and mental health of our young people," Markey said. "But that problem isn't unique to TikTok and certainly doesn't justify a TikTok ban," he said. "American companies are doing the same thing, too."

Biden to speak at Morehouse College commencement, sparking faculty concerns

WASHINGTON — Morehouse College is set to announce that President Joe Biden will deliver its commencement address on May 19, but some faculty members have raised concerns about the decision, according to two people familiar with the matter and an email to faculty members reviewed by NBC News.

“This week, I received an inquiry from concerned faculty about rumors they were hearing about President Biden’s selection as the 2024 Commencement speaker,” Kendrick Brown, Morehouse College’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, wrote in the email to faculty members Friday.

Brown said he would convene a virtual meeting Thursday “to extend an opportunity for faculty with different perspectives on the selection of our Commencement speaker to ask questions and make comments.” He said students would also engage with college President David Thomas.

Brown did not respond to a request for further comment, and a spokesperson for Morehouse declined to offer more details.

A Morehouse faculty member told NBC News administrators are believed to be concerned that faculty members will join students in protest of Biden during the ceremony.

The pushback against leadership’s decision comes amid increasing protests on college campuses over Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The protests since the war began in October have already forced Biden, and other top administration officials, to dramatically scale back appearances at college campuses.

Commencement season is typically a time when presidents reach young audiences, and it offers them opportunities to deliver keynote addresses highlighting their accomplishments and the future. In an election year, commencement speeches can carry particular significance.

But Biden’s addresses this year are poised to be fraught, largely because of growing protests over his refusal to call for a permanent, immediate cease-fire in Gaza without conditions. Biden is struggling with younger voters, and recent polling also indicates many Black voters are not enthusiastic about supporting his candidacy.

Speaking at a historically Black college would provide an “opportunity” for Biden, according to the person familiar with the controversy.

The White House declined to comment.

Brown wrote in his email that Morehouse first extended its invitation to Biden in September and that the college would announce him as its speaker early this week.

And, he wrote, “the College does not plan to rescind its accepted invitation to President Biden.” The meeting Thursday “is a forum for discussion and to respond to questions about the invitation that was extended and accepted,” he wrote.

Morehouse, like other colleges, has faced students speaking out about the war in Gaza. In February, the Maroon Tiger — Morehouse’s student publication — reported that a student pulled an Israeli flag down from the chapel and was detained by campus police.

“Students are not in favor of the way in which the United States has handled this situation, and are surely not in favor of the trauma and the pain and the genocide that the Palestinian people are going through — but also that innocent civilians and Israel are going through as well,” Calvin Bell, a Morehouse College student said in February, after the flag incident.

A source familiar with the commencement planning told NBC News: “It’s not been a secret nationwide, if not globally, that there are a lot of concerns ... about how the war has been handled and how America and the presidency has been in the war. We’ve heard conversations like that. There’s also plenty of people who are excited to have a sitting president as their commencement speaker.”

Carol E. Lee is the Washington managing editor.

Nnamdi Egwuonwu is a 2024 NBC News campaign embed.

Aaron Gilchrist is a White House correspondent for NBC News.

Breaking News

Biden reads out ‘pause’ instruction during speech to union members in gaffe reminiscent of ron burgundy.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden or President Ron Burgundy?

In a case of life imitating art, the commander-in-chief blurted out the stage note “pause” Wednesday while addressing union members in the nation’s capital.

“Four more years. Pause,” said Biden, 81, a la Will Ferrell’s buffoonish newsman character in the classic 2004 comedy “Anchorman.”

Members of North America’s Building Trades Unions stepped in and dutifully chanted “four more years” in response to the president’s botched cue.

It was not immediately clear whether the instruction was included in Biden’s teleprompter or in his prepared remarks.

The gaffe was one of a series of bizarre moments that peppered the speech, including Biden saying his predecessor, Donald Trump, had given him a pair of boots as a present.

“The guy has never worked a day in the working man’s boots,” Biden said of his likely 2024 opponent before adding: “By the way, he gave me a pair of boots as a gift, by the way.”

“I know how to put them on,” the president added. “I still sometimes cut the yard. But the Secret Service doesn’t let me do it anymore.”

It was unclear whether Biden was trying to tell a joke or was relating the latest in a series of dubious anecdotes.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the Trump campaign.

Biden attacked the 45th president repeatedly Wednesday, telling union delegates Trump “looks down on us” and was like “the guys you grew up with that you’d like to get into the corner just give them a straight left”

“I’m not suggesting we hit the president,” the Democrat hastened to add.

Keep up with today's most important news

Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update.

Thanks for signing up!

Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Never miss a story.

Elsewhere in his speech, Biden incorrectly claimed “I cut the national debt so far,” when he meant to use the word “deficit” — a repeated gaffe on his part .

The president also invoked his hometown of Scranton, Pa. during the remarks as he attempted to draw a distinction between blue-collar voters and Trump, who will need the group to win back the White House.

At one point, Biden humorously referenced Trump’s 2020 musing about the possibility that disinfectants could be injected to cure COVID-19.

“Remember when he was trying to deal with COVID he suggested injecting a little bleach in your veins? He missed, it all went to his hair,” Biden said.

The president claimed on two occasions last week that cannibals may have eaten his mother’s brother Ambrose Finnegan in 1944 when his military plane crashed during World War II — offending the leaders of Papua New Guinea just a day before Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi arrived to court the nation.

The White House later acknowledged that military records show the plane crashed into the ocean .

Share this article:

Advertisement

Mobile Menu Overlay

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Statement from President Joe   Biden on   Passover

Tomorrow night, Jews around the world will celebrate Passover, recounting their miraculous Exodus story from hundreds of years of enslavement in Egypt and their journey to freedom. This holiday reminds us of a profound and powerful truth: that even in the face of persecution, if we hold on to faith, we shall endure and overcome.   As Jews mark Passover with storytelling, songs, and rituals, they will also read from the Haggadah how, in every generation, they have been targeted by those who would seek to destroy them. This year, those words carry deeper resonance and pain in the wake of Hamas’ unspeakable evil on October 7th – the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. More than 1,200 people were brutally massacred. Women and girls were subjected to appalling sexual violence. More than 250 innocents were taken hostage, including Americans. We can never forget the horror of Hamas’ despicable atrocities.   Jews around the world are still coping with the trauma of that day and its aftermath. This Passover falls particularly hard on hostage families trying to honor the spirit of the holiday – a story centered on freedom – while their loved ones remain in captivity. Our hearts are with all the victims, survivors, families, and friends whose loved ones have been killed, taken hostage, wounded, displaced, or are in harm’s way.   My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad. My Administration is working around the clock to free the hostages, and we will not rest until we bring them home. We are also working to establish an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza as a part of a deal that releases the hostages and delivers desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. We will continue to work toward a two-state solution that provides equal security, prosperity, and enduring peace for Israelis and Palestinians. And we are leading international efforts to ensure Israel can defend itself against Iran and its proxies, including by directing the U.S. military to help defend Israel against Iran’s unprecedented attacks last weekend.   The ancient story of persecution against Jews in the Haggadah also reminds us that we must speak out against the alarming surge of Antisemitism – in our schools, communities, and online. Silence is complicity. Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country. My Administration will continue to speak out and aggressively implement the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, putting the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community.   This year, let us remember the central Passover theme that even in the darkest of times, the promise of God’s protection will give us strength to find hope, resilience, and redemption. To all those celebrating this Festival of Freedom: Jill and I wish you a Happy Passover, Chag Sameach.

Stay Connected

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden.