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CNN Live Event/Special
President Joe Biden's First Address To Joint Session Of Congress; President Biden On The American Jobs Plan; Biden: Health Care Should Be A Right, Not A Privilege In America. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired April 28, 2021 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But the degree to which there is really a chasm now, even more so, between him and those Members who are out there.
We've been talking so much about how he's not really talking to them tonight. And that's going to be true in a lot of different ways. The schmoozing is going to be gone, by and large.
This is a speech to the American public, for the American public, about a moment in American history that Joe Biden thinks is one of those pivot points, in American history, about big change, big progress.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Half century in the making, President, first elected in 1972.
Those are - these are the escorts of President Biden.
He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, ran for president twice before he ultimately became victorious.
Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, House leaders, they are fist-bumping. Once again, they were told not to. But politicians do what politicians do. And as has been noted, I think by you, Dana, they are excited to see each other.
There's the House Republican Leader, Kevin McCarthy, and Liz Cheney, who has been feuding with him, because he has been telling lies about the election.
And the continued pageantry, of the night, still going on, even though, they are masked, even though their numbers are limited. I think usually that room sits about 1,600. Tonight, it's only going to see 200. It is certainly a cautious approach, given that most of them, if not all of them, have been vaccinated.
But we are going to soon hear the introduction of the President of the United States.
So, let's - let's take a moment and just listen and hear some of the senior leaders of the U.S. Senate, walking in, the Senate president pro tempore, and there's Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Bernie Sanders, and others.
People are happy to see each other. There's not a lot of interaction on Capitol Hill, these days, given - given COVID.
Amy Klobuchar. There's the House - I'm sorry, the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Minority Leader that are role switched, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Majority Leader, and there is Mitch McConnell, the Republican Minority Leader.
PHILLIP: It kind of has the feel of a like a football game entrance, people are fist-bumping each other on their way in.
It is actually interesting to see this much levity in this chamber. I mean, we've been talking about January 6th, the scene of the crime. But it - it is a little nice to see folks smiling at each other, happy to see each other. This has been a tense Congress. They--
TAPPER: Their eyes are smiling.
PHILLIP: Their eyes are smiling. This has been a very tense Congress. They have not always liked each other. They don't always even want to be around each other right now. And that's been a really unusual feature of the last few months.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, you're exactly right. But, you know, and there are a lot fewer Republicans who will be in the room.
But I was texting with one, who said, this is about the Office of the Presidency, and respect for the Office of the Presidency, and the President himself, and the fact that this is the first time he's coming.
And you don't hear that, at least in public, as much as you used to, because it's so divisive here. And it was - it was nice to see that, and nice to hear that.
And it's not as if we're not going to see partisanship show its face as the President starts to speak. But that's an important thing, to remember that this is about more than the people in the room.
TAPPER: A lot of people, who are tuning in, though probably the last time they looked at that room was when it was being invaded by the insurrectionists on January 6th.
And that is something that President Biden, we're told is not going to shy away from that he will mention it, and call it the worst attack on democracy, in the United States, since the Civil War.
I know others might quibble. There have been terrorist attacks on the Capitol before. But those were not done in the name of overturning the results of a presidential election. So, there are still, even though there was a lot of comedy, and joy there, there are still some tensions.
But let's listen in as the 46th President of the United States is introduced to the Chamber.
(BIDEN BEING INTRODUCED TO JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS)
(GAVEL BANGS)
WILLIAM WALKER, HOUSE SERGEANT AT ARMS: Madam Speaker, the President of the United States.
(BIDEN ENTERING HOUSE CHAMBER)
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[21:05:00]
TAPPER: A trip down an aisle, almost 80 years in the making.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TAPPER: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972. His third attempt running for president was victorious. And he exceeded many expectations.
And now, he's going to try to exceed some more, with his incredibly ambitious, some would say, aggressive policy proposals, that will be about $6 trillion in spending, to reshape the American economy, and social safety nets, and infrastructure investments in this country.
He is giving copies of his speech to the first woman Speaker, and the first woman Vice President.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor to present to you the President of the United States.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Good to be back.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Mitch and Chuck will understand it is good to be almost home, down the hall.
Anyway, thank you all.
Madam Speaker?
Madam Vice President? (AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: No president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words. And it's about time!
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: First lady?
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: I'm her husband.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Second gentleman?
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Chief Justice?
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
100 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
[21:10:00]
100 days ago, America's house was on fire. We had to act. And thanks to the extraordinary leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Schumer, and the overwhelming support of the American people, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, we did act.
Together, we passed the American Rescue Plan, one of the most consequential rescue packages in American history. We're already seeing the results.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We're already seeing the results.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Thanks to all the help of all of you.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Go get vaccinated, America. Go and get the vaccination. They're available.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: You're eligible now.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: When I was sworn in, on January 20th, less than 1 percent of the seniors in America were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
100 days later, 70 percent of seniors in America, over 65, are protected, fully protected. Senior deaths from COVID-19 are down 80 percent since January, down 80 percent because of all of you. And more than half of all the adults in America have gotten at least one shot.
A mass vaccination center in Glendale, Arizona, I asked the nurse, I said, "What's it like?" She looked at me, and she said, "It's like every shot is giving a dose of hope." 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 and 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 kid's 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 there's 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 it, 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. 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.
[21:15:00]
One of the defining images, at least from my perspective, in this this crisis has been cars lined up, cars lined up for miles. 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. 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 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 cut child poverty in America in half this year.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And in the process--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --while this is all going on, the economy created more than 1,300,000 new jobs in 100 days, more jobs in the first--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --more jobs in the first 100 days than any president on record.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: The International Monetary Fund--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: The International--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --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 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, 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.
[21:20:00]
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And the process will create thousands and thousands of good- paying jobs. It creates jobs connecting every American with high-speed internet, including 35 percent of the rural America that still doesn't have it. This is going to help our kids and our businesses succeed in the 21st-Century economy.
And I'm asking the Vice President to lead this effort, if she would, because I know it will get done.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Creates jobs building a modern power grid. Our grids are vulnerable to storms, hacks, catastrophic failures with tight - 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Look, the American Jobs Plan will help millions of people get back to their jobs and back to their careers.
2 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.
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 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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 charging stations along our highways, so we can own--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Look.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: None. No reason.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: So, folks?
(APPLAUSE) BIDEN: There is no reason why American - American workers can't lead the world in the production of electric vehicles and batteries. I mean, there is no reason.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We have this capacity.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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!"
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And I might note parenthetically--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --that does not - that does not violate any trade agreement. It's been the law since the '30s. Buy American!
American tax dollars are going to be used to buy American products made in America to create American jobs. That's the way it's supposed to be, and it will be in this administration.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[21:25:00]
BIDEN: 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 a 8-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. 75 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: So that's why I'm calling on Congress--
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And by the way, while you're thinking about sending things to my desk, let's raise the minimum wage to $15.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: No one--
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: --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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Equal pay. It's been much too long.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And if you wonder whether it's too long, look behind me.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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 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, in 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 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 Institute of Health, the NIH, I believe, should create a similar advanced research project agency for health.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And here's what it would do.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: It would have a singular purpose. To develop breakthroughs, to prevent, detect and treat diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer.
[21:30:00]
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's within our power.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: It's within our power to do it.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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, 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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 Blinken can tell you, I spent a lot of time with President Xi, traveled over 17,000 miles with him, spent a time 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've set a bipartisan committee together, and said, OK, we're going to decide what we do in terms of government providing for free education, I wonder whether we'd think, as we did in the 20th Century, that 12 years is enough in the 21st Century. I doubt it.
12 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.
Great universities in this country have conducted studies, over the last 10 years, and shows that adding two years of universal high- quality preschool, for every 3-year-old 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.
[21:35:00] 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We can do that.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And we'll increase Pell Grants and invest in historical Black college 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--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: She's long--
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times. "Joe, any country that out-educates us is going to out-compete us." She 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We guarantee.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: What I'm proposing in the legislation, we guarantee that low- and middle-income families will pay no more than 7 percent of their income for high-quality care for children up to the age of 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We're one of the few industrial countries in the world.
(APPLAUSE) BIDEN: 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 under 6 years of age, excuse me, 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And we can afford it.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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, this side of the aisle.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: But, let's make that provision permanent, so their premiums don't go back up.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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. And the pandemic has demonstrated how badly, how badly it's needed.
Let's lower deductibles for working families on the Affordable Care - in the Affordable Care Act. And let's lower prescription drug costs.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We know how to do this.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: The last president had that as an objective.
[21:40:00]
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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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 coverage benefits, without costing taxpayers an additional penny. It's within our power to do it. Let's do it now.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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 percent of Americans to just begin to pay their fair share.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Just their fair share.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: 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.
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BIDEN: 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, allow 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 percent of all Americans by that action, three-tenths of 1 percent.
And the IRS is going to crack down on millionaires and billionaires, who cheat on their taxes. It's estimated to be billions of dollars by think tanks 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.
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BIDEN: 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 percent, or Corporate America, ask them, "Whose taxes do you want to raise? Instead, whose are you going to cut?"
[21:45:00]
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, 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 it again. 650 people increased their wealth by more than $1 trillion during this pandemic. And they're now worth more than $4 trillion.
My fellow Americans, trickle down - trickle-down economics has never worked, and it's time to grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out.
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BIDEN: 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 values 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.
In 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.
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BIDEN: We're going to do it by leading with our allies.
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BIDEN: No one nation can deal with all the crises of our time, from terrorism to nuclear proliferation, mass migration, cyber-security, climate change as well as experience - what we're experiencing now with 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 are meeting them, we will become an arsenal for vaccines for other countries, just as America was the arsenal of democracy for the world--
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BIDEN: --in a consequence influence the world.
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BIDEN: Every American will have access before that occur - every American have access to be fully covered, by COVID-19, from the vaccines we have.
Look, the climate crisis, it is not our fight alone. It's a global fight. The United States accounts, as all of you know, less than 15 percent of carbon emissions. The rest of the world accounts for 85 percent.
That's why I kept my commitment to rejoin the Paris Accord, because if we do everything perfectly, it's not going to only matter.
I kept my commitment to convene a climate summit, right here in America, with all of the major economies of the world, China, Russia, India, European Union. And I said I'd do it in my first 100 days.
I want to be very blunt about it. I had - my attempt was to make sure that the world could see there was a consensus that we are at an inflection point in history.
The consensus is if we act to save the planet, we can create millions of jobs and economic growth and opportunity to raise the standard of living of almost everyone around the world.
If you had 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.
[21:50:00]
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 for the NATO and Europe. Not to start a conflict, but to prevent one.
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BIDEN: I told him what I've said to many world leaders, that America will not back away from our commitments, our 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 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 what concerns some of you, but I made very clear to Putin that we're not going to seek escalation - excuse me, 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 cyber-attacks 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 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.
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BIDEN: We have--
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BIDEN: 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 have kind of seen the Gates of Hell.
And we delivered justice to Bin Laden. We degraded the terrorist threat of al-Qaida in Afghanistan. And after 20 years of value, valor, and sacrifice, it's time to bring those troops home.
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BIDEN: Look.
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BIDEN: 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 Relations 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.
[21:55:00]
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--
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BIDEN: --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 very 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.
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BIDEN: 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.
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BIDEN: You acted decisively.
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BIDEN: You can see on television the viciousness of the hate crimes we've 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.
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BIDEN: 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.
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BIDEN: 27 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 existed.
It's estimated that 50 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month in America, 50 a month. Let's pass it, and save some lives.
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BIDEN: And I need to - I need not tell anyone this, but gun violence has become an epidemic in America.
The flag at the White House was still flying at half-mast for the eight victims of the mass shooting in Georgia, when 10 more lives were taken in a mass shooting in Colorado.
