US President Joe Biden highlighted the war in Ukraine in his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night in Washington. Early in his speech, he announced yet another punishment for Russia for the conflict: a ban on planes from Vladimir Putin’s country to fly over American airspace.
The measure, which adds to other sanctions already announced by the Democrat since the beginning of Moscow’s military action in Eastern Europe, is similar to others defined by the European Union and Canada in recent days.
Biden began his speech by talking about the war. He praised the resistance of the Ukrainian people and the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and called Putin a dictator, saying he is “more isolated than ever”. He highlighted the unified response of Western countries against Russia as an example that the US-Europe alliance remains strong and said that if this reaction had not taken place, there would have been a great risk that Putin’s troops would attack other countries.
“Throughout our history, we’ve learned this lesson: when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep advancing. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising. That’s why NATO was created to ensure peace and stability in Europe after World War II. That matters. American diplomacy matters,” he said.
Announcing that US airspace will be closed to Russian planes, Biden has made further attacks on the Russian president. “Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejects efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO would not respond. And he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We are ready. Putin is more isolated in the world.” than ever.”
He pointed out that Ukrainians, “from students to retirees”, have become soldiers to defend the country. “Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could bend them to his threats. But he miscalculated. He encountered a wall of resistance he never imagined. The Ukrainian people, and their courage inspires the world,” he said.
“Ukrainians are fighting with sheer courage. But the next few days, weeks, months will be hard for them.”
Biden reaffirmed that American forces will not be directly involved in the conflict on Ukrainian territory, but will go to Europe to defend NATO members if Putin advances. “To that end, we mobilize US ground forces, air squadrons and ships to protect NATO countries — including Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The US and our allies will defend every inch of the NATO countries’ territory with full force.” , promised.
The president arrived for the event, on the House floor, alongside Representative Victoria Spartz, a Republican elected by Indiana and of Ukrainian origin. and yellow, colors of the Ukrainian flag — the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, had a brooch with the flags of the US and the Eastern European country.
The measures against Russia generally have bipartisan support in the US Congress. The economic proposals, which formed another important part of the discourse, in turn, generate divisions even among Democrats.
Biden sought to highlight the advances in the recovery of the economy from the shakes generated by the pandemic. At the same time, he sought to pressure parliamentarians to approve items on his agenda that are blocked, such as more social benefits for families, such as lowering the cost of medication and day care.
The Democrat used nationalist tones at various times. “We have a choice. One way to deal with inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation. Lower costs, not wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in America , more infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper. Instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let’s do it in America,” he said.
He defends that the state act to reduce the cost of living for families and spoke of the proposals for the Build Back Better package – which estimated spending of US$ 1.8 trillion but ended up being held back by resistance from two centrist Democratic senators, who feared that the increase in public spending would lead to even higher prices.
The president also referred to the infrastructure package approved last year, which provides for resources to reform roads and improve internet access in the country. “We’re sick of talking about ‘infrastructure weeks’. We’re going to have a decade of infrastructure,” he said, in a jab at former President Donald Trump.
The US faces the biggest rise in inflation since the 1980s, as well as a debate over how to deal with the problem. Despite this peak, other indicators are doing well, such as unemployment (in the range of 4%) and GDP growth (5.7% last year). But the American public has been feeling the troubles more, and Biden’s popularity remains at a low of around 40% — threatening his party’s fragile majority in Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Regarding the pandemic, Biden said that the country is returning to a normal routine, with the end of the mandatory use of masks and the expansion of activities. “It’s time to get back to work and fill our big centers again. Our kids need to be in school.” In a sign that Covid has had less impact on routine, Congress was able to count on a full audience, and the use of masks was optional. In addition to the congressmen, secretaries of state, Supreme Court justices and the military were present.
The president also called on Congress to pass new laws on climate change and clean energy and called for more partnerships between the two parties, listing four themes to do so: fighting the epidemic of opioid addiction, expanding mental health care (especially for children ), help military veterans and increase cancer research.
Biden also called on Congress to pass vote protection measures and spoke about measures to curb gun deaths in the US. The strategy promises to increase the fight against arms trafficking and expand community policing, through which agents are closer to the population. “The way out is not to withdraw funds from the police. The answer is to provide the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”
On immigration, he said that reinforcing border controls and improving rules to facilitate access to documents for foreigners are not exclusive things. “Review our laws so businesses have the workers they need and families don’t wait decades to be reunited.”
The State of the Union speech is a country tradition. Once a year, the president speaks before Congress about the priorities of the term and the progress of the government and the country. This is the first speech of its kind made by Biden. In 2021, he spoke to Congress about a hundred days after taking office, but in such cases the speech is not called a State of the Union speech — because in theory the new leader would still not have had time to fully understand what the state of the union is. state of affairs in government.
“Tonight, in our 245th year as a nation, I come to report on the state of the union. And my report is: The state of the union is strong because you, the American people, are strong. We are stronger today than a year ago. ago. And we will be stronger in a year than today”, he said, already in the final stretch of the speech, which lasted more than an hour and was permeated by ovations from parliamentarians.
One of the founding principles of the US is that the partnership between the states that make up the country is continually improved. In practice, however, the polarization continues. As a sign of this, Congress was given extra protection, such as the installation of a temporary fence around it. There was a risk of protests this week against the government that, until the beginning of the speech, had not materialized.
