In his first message to Congress, Joe Biden laid out an ambitious progressive agenda

WASHINGTON.- The President of the United States, Joe Biden, marked the first 100 days of his government with a speech to Congress in which he sought to inject optimism into a country that has begun to abandon the ordeal of the coronavirus pandemic and has rolled out an ambitious progressive agenda rooted in the the largest public investment plan since World War II.

“Today, after just 100 days, I can tell the country: America is on the move again. Turn danger into possibility. Opportunity crisis. Back in force, ”Biden said as he opened his first message to members of Congress, senators and his government officials gathered on Capitol Hill.

“The United States is on the move. Go forward. And we can’t stop now. We are competing with China and other countries to win the 21st century. We are at a turning point in history. We need to do more than rebuild. We need to rebuild better, ”he said later.

Biden’s speech has followed a tradition in recent years for US Presidents to address Congress at the start of a new administration, replacing the traditional “State of the Union” speech.

Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address next year. This time, he used the space to mark the first 100 days of his presidency and present his vision for the country. The session left an image for history: for the first time, two women appeared behind President, Vice President Kamala Harris, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The president also took the opportunity to officially present his third plan since arriving at the White House, dubbed “Plan for American Families”. which provides for an investment of US $ 1.8 trillion to increase spending on education, health and expand support for families with children, especially middle-class families. If Biden succeeds in pushing forward all the plans he has put on the table, he will end up deploying a public investment of almost $ 6 trillion, the equivalent of nearly a third of gross domestic product (GDP), a public lever never seen since at least the Second World War.

The new plan includes investments in children’s education and health, tax credits for low- and middle-income families, plans to allocate $ 200 billion to free and universal preschool education for children of three and four years, and over $ 100 billion. dollars for community college education, regardless of income, for two years.

It was a speech like no other in the lower house of the Capitol. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were barely 200 guests instead of the usual 1,600. The judges of the Supreme Court of Justice were represented by the president of the court, John Roberts, and only one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff addressed Congress.

Biden left several definitions on his economic policy plans, which aims to revitalize the role of the state with a multi-million dollar public investment. Promoting his infrastructure and employment initiatives, Biden enlisted the support of Republicans saying it will help the country compete with China’s rise to power. “There is no reason why wind turbine blades cannot be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing,” he said. And he also took the opportunity to send a direct message to Americans who “feel abandoned and forgotten” by economic changes, a message that seemed to be addressed to some of the voters of Donald Trump.

“There are good men and women on Wall Street, but Wall Street did not build this country. The middle class built the country. And the unions have built the middle class, ”he said, then added: “The economics of the spill never worked. It is time to grow the economy from the bottom up and from the middle out ”.

Biden’s plans and definitions have sparked a spur among Republicans, who reject his initiatives because of the Herculean deployment of public spending they involve, and accuse him of dividing the country, contrary to the promise of unity. that he brought to the White House.

“We need policies and progress that bring us together. But three months later, the actions of the president and his party separate us more and more, ”said Republican Senator Tim Scott, in charge of the opposition response.

Mike Pompeo, who was Donald Trump’s secretary of state, said Biden presented “a radical and socialist agenda for the next four years.”

Biden repeated a lukewarm call for unity, telling Republicans he was open to ideas, but at the same time warning that the rest of the world is not waiting. “Doing nothing is not an option,” he said. The president called on Congress to act by passing laws to curb the epidemic of armed violence through better gun control, implement immigration reform, raise the minimum wage to $ 15, improve health coverage, fight racism and guarantee the right to vote.

After the violent insurrection of January 6, which ended up tarnishing the presidential transition, Biden closed his message with a call to defend democracy.

“Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hatred and fears that have separated us? America’s adversaries, the world’s autocrats, bet no. They think we are too full of anger, division and rage. They look at the footage of the crowds that stormed this Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. You are wrong. And we have to show them that they are wrong, ”the president said. “We have to show that democracy still works. May our government still function and be able to meet the people, ”he concluded.