- “I'm here to wake up Congress and warn the American people that this is not a normal moment,” Biden said.
- He attacked Trump several times, recalling his statements on NATO and Russia and the riots at the Capitol by his supporters. Biden called them the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War
- The US president announced that the US military would establish a temporary port on the Gaza Strip, and humanitarian aid would be sent to it.
“I'm here to wake up Congress and warn the American people that this is not a normal moment,” Biden said. He compared the current moment in history to 1941, when Franklin Roosevelt tried to “wake up” Congress against an unprecedented threat to America.
– Today we are facing an unprecedented moment in history – the US President said. “Freedom and democracy are under attack at home and abroad,” he asserted.
He called on Congress to continue helping Kiev, while insisting the US would not send its troops to fight in Ukraine. – They are not asking for American soldiers, but for military equipment To defend against Russia – he pointed out. “If anyone in this room thinks Putin will stop in Ukraine, I assure you he won't,” he said.
He criticized those blocking aid to Ukraine and those in Congress for saying former President Trump would not help America's allies. That would encourage Russia to “do whatever it takes”.. “This is outrageous, dangerous and unacceptable,” Biden said.
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Biden also delivered a simple message to Putin. – We won't leave. He said we will not bend, drawing applause from the audience.
Biden hit back at Donald Trump, saying “democracy is at risk and must be protected.” He recalled The attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters spurred the former president into action Stories about “stolen elections”.
– My predecessor and some of you want to bury the truth about January 6. I won't do that. This is the time to speak the truth and bury the lies. “Here's the simple truth: You can't just love your country when you're winning,” Biden said. Capital riots, he said, were the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War.
PAP/EPA/Alex Brandon / POOLJoe Biden delivers a speech
The US president also touched on the topic of legal abortion. “If you, the American people, send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I pledge to reinstate Roe v. Wade as the law of the land,” Biden said in a speech. A Supreme Court ruling establishing a national right to abortion was overturned by the court in 2022.
Biden said the ruling that repealed abortion rights had led to confusion and cases like Texas, where officials barred an abortion from a woman diagnosed with a life-threatening fetal disease, forcing her to leave the state.
– This family's departure should never have happened. But this happens to many people, he said.
The South American border issue and illegal immigration were among the main points of the speech.
– We can argue about the boundary or fix it. I am ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now, Biden said, referring to the Senate's blocked immigration reform bill, which he called the “one of the most burdensome in the history” of the country.
He accused former President Trump of “killing” the bill because it would harm him in his campaign.
PAP/EPA/SHAWN THEW/POOLMarjorie Taylor-Green calls on Biden to name murdered woman in MAGA hat and T-shirt
Republican members of Congress called on Biden to mention the name of nursing student Laegan Riley, who was killed by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Marjorie Taylor-Green wore T-shirts with her likeness and the words “Say Her Name”.
– Laken Riley, an innocent woman killed by an outlaw. How many thousands are killed by people who are here legally? – asked the President while offering his condolences to the woman's family. He said it was because of such cases that it was necessary to “change the dynamics at the border” and discourage people from paying smugglers for transit across the border.
“Today, I am ordering the U.S. military to lead an extraordinary mission to establish a temporary bridgehead in the Mediterranean off the coast of Gaza to accommodate large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelter,” Biden announced.
He said Israel's intervention in the Gaza Strip resulted in more innocent deaths than all previous Gaza wars combined.
(Sources: CNN, PAP)