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Apr 28, 2021 10:50 PM EDT
President Joe Biden used his first address before a joint session of Congress to make the case that his administration has made progress during the first 100 days he’s been in office, confronting the public health and economic maelstrom caused by coronavirus pandemic.
Read Biden’s full remarks below:
Madame Speaker. Madame Vice President. No president has ever said those words from this podium, and it’s about time.
The First Lady. The Second Gentleman. Mr. Chief Justice. Members of the United States Congress and the Cabinet – and distinguished guests.
My fellow Americans.
While the setting tonight is familiar, this gathering is very different – a reminder of the extraordinary times we are in.
John Podesta, founder of the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
In his first 100 days in office, President Biden has set our country on a path to build back better and he’s making big progress already, with more ahead.
On January 20, America was a nation in crisis. Collectively, we were reeling from the January 6 white supremacist, insurrectionist attack on our Capitol. Nearly 200,000 Americans per day were being diagnosed with COVID-19, while 400,000 of our parents, siblings, neighbors, and friends had already perished from the disease in less than a year’s time. Despite promising to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020, the previous White House vaccinated less than 3 million. Our standing in the world on pressing issues such as the climate fight and our relationship with our allies had been left severely diminished.
9:06 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Good to be back. And Mitch and Chuck will understand it’s good to be almost home, down the hall. Anyway, thank you all.
Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President (applause) no President has ever said those words from this podium. No President has ever said those words, and it’s about time. (Applause.)
First Lady (applause) 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.
In his remarks to a joint session of Congress, Biden boasted that the 2020 election had seen the highest turnout in modern history despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. But instead of being celebrated, he said, the right to vote “is being attacked.”
“If we truly want to restore the soul of America, we need to protect the sacred right to vote,” Biden said. “More people voted in the last presidential election than any time in American history in the middle of the worst pandemic ever.”
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He called on Congress to quickly pass H.R. 1, a wide-reaching elections reform bill already approved by the House, and the John Lewis