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Here are some of the key comments from President Joe Biden and noteworthy moments that occurred during his 2023 State of the Union address, the second of his presidency, which also acted as a soft launch for his 2024 presidential bid.
Biden pointed out the recent better-than-expected jobs reports of 517,000 nonfarm payrolls, while the unemployment fell to 3.4%, the lowest mark since May 1969, CNBC reported. Biden also boasted about the approximately 12 million jobs that were created throughout his administration.
“Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last several years,” Biden said. “This is my view and of a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America.”
Biden went on to state the administration’s goal of bringing manufacturing back to America and a focus on federally funded infrastructure projects using American-made materials, Politico reported.
Biden insisted that Congress must codify Roe v. Wade while insisting the White House is doing all in its power to protect abortion access in the meantime after the Supreme Court struck down the precedent.
Biden renewed his call for stronger action on gun control and curbing access to assault weapons in the wake of continuing mass shootings.
“Ban assault weapons now,” Biden said. “Ban them now, once and for all.”
Biden drew laughs when he said, “We are going to need oil at least for another decade…and beyond that.”
Biden called out oil companies for recent record profits and failure to invest in a “clean energy future.” Biden cited oil companies using their profits to buy back shares, stating he wants to quadruple the tax on stock buybacks, oil price.com reported.
The chamber erupted in chaos with outcries that drowned Biden out, including shouts of “liar” when he claimed: “Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
With Republicans livid, Biden quickly backtracked, “I’m not saying it’s a majority of you. I don’t even think it’s even a significant – but it’s being proposed by individuals. I’m politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed by some of you.”
Calm was finally restored when Biden said: “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare, off the books now, right?”
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a filing that abortion might still be federally protected despite the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, suggesting the 13th amendment could still potentially cement abortion rights, The Hill reported.
“Here, the ‘issue’ before the Court in Dobbs was not whether any provision of the Constitution provided a right to abortion,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote. “Rather, the question before the Court in Dobbs was whether the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution provided such a right.”
During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden warned China that he will protect America against any threats to its sovereignty while also singling out President Xi Jinping, stating that Washington wants “competition, not conflict,” CNN reported.
“Make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,” Biden said. “And we did.”
On Tuesday, the Biden administration told the Supreme Court that it intends to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire in May and that Title 42 will also come to an end, CNN reported.
“Absent other relevant developments, the end of the public health emergency will (among other consequences) terminate the Title 42 orders and moot this case,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a filing submitted to the Supreme Court. “The government has also recently announced its intent to adopt new Title 8 policies to address the situation at the border once the Title 42 orders end.”
