[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1026-H1032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2036
JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS PURSUANT TO HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 93 TO 
                  RECEIVE A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

  The recess having expired, the House was called to order by the 
Speaker at 8 o'clock and 36 minutes p.m.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms, Ms. Kathleen Joyce, announced 
the Vice President and Members of the U.S. Senate, who entered the Hall 
of the House of Representatives, the Vice President taking the chair at 
the right of the Speaker, and the Members of the Senate the seats 
reserved for them.
  The SPEAKER. The joint session will come to order.
  The Chair appoints as members of the committee on the part of the 
House to escort the President of the United States into the Chamber:
  The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise);
  The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer);
  The gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik);
  The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson);
  The gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer);
  The gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore);
  The gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain);
  The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole);
  The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler);
  The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers);
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries);
  The gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Aguilar);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Lieu);
  The gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene);
  The gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse);
  The gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood);
  The gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar);
  The gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan); and
  The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).
  The VICE PRESIDENT. The President of the Senate, at the direction of 
that body, appoints the following Senators as members of the committee 
on the part of the Senate to escort the President of the United States 
into the House Chamber:
  The Senator from New York (Mr. Schumer);
  The Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin);
  The Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray);
  The Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow);
  The Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar);
  The Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner);
  The Senator from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin);
  The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell);
  The Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune);
  The Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso);
  The Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito); and
  The Senator from Iowa (Ms. Ernst).
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms announced the Dean of the 
Diplomatic Corps, His Excellency Hersey Kyota, the Ambassador of the 
Republic of Palau.
  The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps entered the Hall of the House of 
Representatives and took the seat reserved for him.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms announced the Chief Justice of 
the United States and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court.
  The Chief Justice of the United States and the Associate Justices of 
the Supreme Court entered the Hall of the House of Representatives and 
took the seats reserved for them in front of the Speaker's rostrum.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms announced the Cabinet of the 
President of the United States.
  The members of the Cabinet of the President of the United States 
entered the Hall of the House of Representatives and took the seats 
reserved for them in front of the Speaker's rostrum.
  At 9 o'clock and 16 minutes p.m., the Sergeant at Arms, the Honorable 
William P. McFarland, announced the President of the United States.
  The President of the United States, escorted by the committee of 
Senators and Representatives, entered the Hall of the House of 
Representatives and stood at the Clerk's desk.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  The PRESIDENT. Good evening. Good evening.
  If I were smart, I would go home now.
  Mr. Speaker, Madam Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow 
Americans, in January 1941, Franklin Roosevelt came to this Chamber to 
speak to the Nation, and he said: ``I address you . . . at a moment 
unprecedented in the history of the Union.''
  Hitler was on the march. War was raging in Europe. President 
Roosevelt's purpose was to wake up Congress and alert the American 
people that this was no ordinary time. Freedom and democracy were under 
assault in the world.
  Tonight, I come to this same Chamber to address the Nation. Now, it 
is we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union, 
and, yes, my purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the 
American people that this is no ordinary moment, either.

  Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and 
democracy been under assault at home as they are today. What makes our 
moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack both at home 
and overseas at the very same time.
  Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and 
sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room 
thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not. But 
Ukraine can stop Putin.
  Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the 
weapons that it needs to defend itself. That is all. That is all 
Ukraine is asking. They are not asking for American soldiers. In fact, 
there are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine, and I am determined 
to keep it that way. But, now, assistance to Ukraine is being blocked 
by those who want to walk away from our world leadership.
  It wasn't long ago when a Republican President named Ronald Reagan 
thundered: ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.''
  Now, my predecessor, a former Republican President, tells Putin: Do 
whatever the hell you want.
  That is a quote. The former President actually said that, bowing down 
to a Russian leader.
  I think it is outrageous, it is dangerous, and it is unacceptable.
  America is a founding member of NATO, the military alliance of 
democratic nations created after World War II to prevent war and keep 
the peace, and today, we have made NATO stronger than ever. We welcomed 
Finland to the alliance last year, and, just this morning, Sweden 
officially joined, and their Minister is here tonight.
  Stand up.
  Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.
  And they know how to fight.
  Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to NATO, the strongest military alliance 
the world has ever seen.
  I say this to Congress: We have to stand up to Putin. Send me a 
bipartisan national security bill. History is literally watching. 
History is watching.
  If the United States walks away, it will put Ukraine at risk. Europe 
is at risk. The free world will be at risk, emboldening others to do 
what they wish to do us harm.
  My message to President Putin, whom I have known for a long time, is 
simple. We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow 
down. In a literal sense, history is watching.
  History is watching, just like history watched 3 years ago on January 
6th.
  Insurrectionists stormed this very Capitol and placed a dagger to the 
throat of American democracy.

[[Page H1027]]

  Many of you were here on that darkest of days.
  We all saw with our own eyes the insurrectionists were not patriots.
  They had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power and to overturn 
the will of the people.
  January 6th and the lies about the 2020 election, and the plots to 
steal the election, posed the gravest threat to U.S. democracy since 
the Civil War.
  But they failed. America stood strong and democracy prevailed.
  We must be honest, the threat to democracy must be defended.
  My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about 
January 6th.
  I will not do that.
  This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies.
  Here is the simple truth: You can't love your country only when you 
win.
  As I have done ever since being elected to office, I ask all of you, 
without regard to party, to join together and defend democracy.
  Remember your oath of office to defend against all threats foreign 
and domestic.
  Respect free and fair elections. Restore trust in our institutions. 
And make clear, political violence has absolutely no place, no place in 
America. Zero place.
  Again, it is not hyperbole to suggest history is watching. We are 
watching. Your children and grandchildren will read about this day and 
what we do.
  History is watching another assault on freedom. Joining us tonight is 
Latorya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama. Fourteen 
months ago, she and her husband welcomed a baby girl thanks to the 
miracle of IVF.
  She scheduled treatments to have that second child, but the Alabama 
Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the State, unleashed by a 
Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. She was told her dream 
would have to wait.
  What her family has gone through should never have happened. Unless 
Congress acts, it could happen again.
  Tonight, let's stand up for families like hers. To my friends across 
the aisle, don't keep us waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to 
IVF. Guarantee it nationwide.
  Like most Americans, I believe Roe v. Wade got it right. I thank Vice 
President Harris for being an incredible leader, defending reproductive 
freedom and so much more.
  My predecessor came to office determined to see Roe v. Wade 
overturned. He is the reason it was overturned, and he brags about it.
  Look at the chaos that has resulted.
  Joining us tonight is Kate Cox, a wife and mother from Dallas. When 
she became pregnant again, the fetus had a fatal condition. Her doctors 
told Kate that her own life and her ability to have children in the 
future were at risk if she didn't act.
  Because Texas law banned her ability to act, Kate and her husband had 
to leave the State to get what she needed.
  What her family has gone through should never have happened as well, 
but it is happening to so many others.
  There are State laws banning the freedom to choose, criminalizing 
doctors, and forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their States 
to get the treatment they need.
  Many of you in this Chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass 
a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedoms will you 
take away?
  In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority 
wrote the following--and with all due respect, Justices--``Women are 
not without electoral or political power.'' You are about to realize 
just how much you were wrong about that.
  Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue 
about the power of women, but they found out when reproductive freedom 
was on the ballot. We won in 2022, 2023, and we will win again in 2024.

  If you, the American people, send me a Congress that supports the 
right to choose, I promise you I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of 
the land again.
  America cannot go back. I am here tonight to show the way forward 
because I know how far we have come.
  Four years ago next week, before I came to office, the country was 
hit by the worst pandemic and the worst economic crisis in a century.
  Remember the fear; record job losses. Remember the spikes in crime 
and the murder rate; a raging virus that took more than 1 million 
American lives of loved ones and millions left behind; a mental health 
crisis of isolation and loneliness.
  A President, my predecessor, failed the most basic Presidential duty 
that he owes to American people, the duty to care.
  I think that is unforgivable. I came to office determined to get us 
through one of the toughest periods in the Nation's history. We have. 
It doesn't make news, but in thousands of cities and towns, the 
American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told.
  So let's tell the story here and now. America's comeback is building 
a future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle 
out and the bottom up, not the top down, investing in all America, in 
all Americans to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one 
behind.
  The pandemic no longer controls our lives. The vaccine that saved us 
from COVID are now being used to beat cancer. Turning setback into 
comeback. That is what America does.
  That is what America does. I inherited an economy that was on the 
brink. Now our economy is literally the envy of the world: 15 million 
new jobs in just 3 years, a record; unemployment at 50-year lows; a 
record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses and each one 
is a literal act of hope.
  With historic job growth and small business growth for Black and 
Hispanics and Asian Americans; 800,000 new manufacturing jobs in 
America and counting.
  Where is it written we can't be the manufacturing capital of the 
world? We are. We will.
  More people have health insurance today than ever before. The racial 
wealth gap is as small as it has been in 20 years. Wages keep going up, 
and inflation keeps coming down. Inflation has dropped from 9 percent 
to 3 percent, the lowest in the world, and trending lower. The landing 
is and will be soft.
  And now, instead of importing foreign products and exporting American 
jobs, we are exporting American products and creating American jobs--
right here in America, where they belong.
  It takes time, but the American people are beginning to feel it. 
Consumer studies show consumer confidence is soaring. Buy American has 
been the law of the land since the 1930s. Past administrations, 
including my predecessor, including some Democrats as well in the past, 
failed to buy American. Not anymore.
  On my watch, Federal projects that you fund, like helping build 
American roads, bridges, and highways, will be made with American 
products and built by American workers, creating good-paying American 
jobs.
  Thanks to our Chips and Science Act, the United States is investing 
more in research and development than ever before. During the pandemic, 
a shortage of semiconductor chips drove up the price of everything from 
cell phones to automobiles. And by the way, we invented those chips 
right here in America.
  Well, instead of having to import them, private companies are now 
investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in 
America, creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of those jobs paying 
$100,000 a year and don't require a college degree.
  In fact, my policies have attracted $650 billion in private-sector 
investments in clean energy and advanced manufacturing, creating tens 
of thousands of jobs here in America.
  Thanks to our bipartisan infrastructure law, 46,000 new projects have 
been announced all across your communities.
  By the way, I notice some of you who strongly voted against it are 
there cheering on that money coming in. I like it. I am with you. I am 
with you. If any of you don't want that money in your district, just 
let me know.
  We are modernizing our roads and bridges, ports and airports, and 
public transit systems; removing poisonous lead pipes so every child 
can drink clean water without risk of brain damage; providing 
affordable, high-speed internet for every American, no matter where you 
live, urban, suburban, and

[[Page H1028]]

rural communities in red States and blue States; record investments in 
Tribal communities.
  Because of my investments in family farms, led by my Secretary of 
Agriculture, who knows more about this than anybody I know, those farms 
are better able to stay in the family, so their children and 
grandchildren won't have to leave home to make a living. It is 
transformative.
  A great comeback story is Belvidere, Illinois, home to an auto plant 
for nearly 60 years. Before I came to office, the plant was on its way 
to shutting down. Thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods. 
Hope was fading.
  Then, I was elected to office, and we raised Belvidere repeatedly 
with the auto company, knowing unions would make all the difference. 
The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get these jobs 
back, and together, we succeeded.
  Instead of an auto factory shutting down, an auto factory is 
reopening, and a new state-of-the-art battery factory is being built to 
power those cars. To the folks in Belvidere, I say: Instead of your 
town being left behind, your community is moving forward again because 
instead of watching auto jobs in the future go overseas, 4,000 union 
jobs with higher wages are building the future in Belvidere, right here 
in America.
  Here tonight is UAW president Shawn Fain, a great friend and great 
labor leader.
  Shawn, where are you? Shawn, stand up.
  And Dawn Simms, a third-generation UAW worker at Belvidere--Shawn, I 
was proud to be the first President to stand on the picket line.
  Today, Dawn has a good job in her hometown, providing stability for 
her family and pride and dignity as well, showing once again Wall 
Street didn't build America. They are not bad guys. They didn't build 
it, though. The middle class built the country, and unions built the 
middle class.
  I say to the American people, when America gets knocked down, we get 
back up. We keep going. That is America. That is you, the American 
people. It is because of you America is coming back. It is because of 
you our future is brighter. It is because of you that tonight we can 
proudly say the state of our Union is strong and getting stronger.
  Tonight, I want to talk about the future of possibilities that we can 
build together, a future where the days of trickle-down economics are 
over and the wealthy and biggest corporations no longer get all the tax 
breaks.

  By the way, I understand corporations. I come from a State that has 
more corporations invested than every one of your States in the United 
States combined, and I represented them for 36 years. I am not 
anticorporation, but I grew up in a home where trickle-down economics 
didn't put much on my dad's kitchen table.
  That is why I am determined to turn things around, so the middle 
class does well. When they do well, the poor have a way up, and the 
wealthy still do very well. We all do well.
  There is more to do to make sure you are feeling the benefits of all 
we are doing.
  Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere in the world. 
It is wrong, and I am ending it. With a law that I proposed and 
signed--not one of you Republican buddies voted for it--we finally beat 
Big Pharma. Instead of paying $400 a month or thereabouts for insulin, 
seniors with diabetes--and it only costs $10 to make--they only have to 
pay $35 a month now. And they will still make a healthy profit.
  And what to do next? I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month 
for every American who needs it--everyone.
  For years, people have talked about it, but finally, we got it done 
and gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices on prescription 
drugs, just like the VA is able to do for veterans.
  That is not just saving seniors money. It is saving taxpayers money.
  We cut the Federal deficit by $160 billion because Medicare will no 
longer have to pay those exorbitant prices to Big Pharma.
  This year, Medicare is negotiating lower prices for some of the 
costliest drugs on the market that treat everything from heart disease 
to arthritis.
  It is now time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate 
lower prices for 500 different drugs over the next decade.
  They are making a lot of money, guys, and they will still be 
extremely profitable.
  That will not only save lives, it will save taxpayers another $200 
billion.
  Starting next year, the same law caps total prescription drug costs 
for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 a year, even for expensive cancer 
drugs that cost $10,000, $12,000, $15,000. Now, I want to cap 
prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year for everyone.
  Folks, I am going to get in trouble for saying it, but if you want to 
get in Air Force One with me and fly to Toronto, Berlin, Moscow--I 
mean--excuse me--well, even Moscow, probably--and bring your 
prescription with you, I promise you, I will get it for you for 40 
percent the cost you are paying now--same company, same drug, same 
place.
  Folks, the Affordable Care Act, the old ObamaCare, is still a very 
big deal. Over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health 
insurance because of preexisting conditions, but my predecessor and 
many in this Chamber want to take those prescription drugs away by 
repealing the Affordable Care Act. I am not going to let that happen.
  We stopped you 50 times before, and we will stop you again. In fact, 
I am not only protecting it, I am expanding it.
  We enacted tax credits of $800 per person per year to reduce 
healthcare costs for millions of working families. That tax credit 
expires next year. I want to make that savings permanent.
  To state the obvious, women are more than half our population, but 
research on women's health has always been underfunded. That is why we 
are launching the first-ever White House Initiative on Women's Health 
Research, led by Jill, doing an incredible job as First Lady.
  So, pass my plan for $12 billion to transform women's health research 
and benefit millions of lives all across America.
  I know the cost of housing is so important to you. If inflation keeps 
coming down, mortgage rates will come down as well, and the Fed 
acknowledges that, but I am not waiting.
  I want to provide an annual tax credit that will give Americans $400 
a month for the next 2 years as mortgage rates come down to put toward 
their mortgages when they buy their first home or trade up for a little 
more space--just for 2 years.
  My administration is also eliminating title insurance on federally 
backed mortgages. When you refinance your home, you can save $1,000 or 
more as a consequence.
  For millions of renters, we are cracking down on big landlords who 
break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents.
  We have cut red tape so more builders can get Federal financing, 
which is already helping build a record 1.7 million new housing units 
nationwide.
  Now, pass my plan to build and renovate 2 million affordable homes 
and bring those rents down.
  To remain the strongest economy in the world, we need to have the 
best education system in the world. I, like I suspect all of you, want 
to give a child--every child--a good start by providing access to 
preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.
  I think I pointed out last year that children coming from broken 
homes where there are no books, they are not read to, not spoken to 
very often, and start school, kindergarten, or first grade having heard 
a million fewer words spoken.
  Studies show that children who go to preschool are nearly 50 percent 
more likely to finish school and go on to earn a 2- or 4-year degree, 
no matter what their background is.
  I met, a year and a half ago, with the leaders of the Business 
Roundtable. They were mad. They were angry. Well, they were discussing 
why I wanted to spend money on education. I pointed out to them, as 
Vice President, I met with over--I think it was 182 of those folks. 
Don't hold me to the exact number. And I asked them what they need most 
as CEOs, and you have had the same experience on both sides of the 
aisle. They say a better educated workforce, right? So, I looked at 
them, and I say: I come from Delaware. DuPont used to be the eighth 
largest corporation in the world. And every new enterprise they bought, 
they educated the

[[Page H1029]]

workforce to that enterprise, but none of you do that anymore. Why are 
you angry with me for providing you the opportunity for the best 
educated workforce in the world?
  They all looked at me and said: I think you are right.
  I want to expand high-quality tutoring and summer learning to see 
that every child learns to read by third grade.
  I am also connecting local businesses and high schools so students 
get hands-on experience and a path to good-paying jobs, whether or not 
they go to college.
  I want to make sure that college is more affordable. Let's continue 
increasing the Pell grants to working and middle-class families and 
increase record investments in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, 
including Hispanic institutions.

  When I was told I couldn't universally just change the way in which 
you dealt with student loans, I fixed two student loan programs that 
already existed to reduce the burden of student debt for nearly 4 
million Americans, including nurses, firefighters, and others in public 
service like Keenan Jones, a public school educator from Minnesota who 
is here with us tonight.
  Keenan, where are you? Keenan, thank you.
  He has educated hundreds of students so they can go to college. Now, 
he is able to help, after debt forgiveness, to get his own daughter to 
college.
  Folks, look, such relief is good for the economy because folks are 
now able to buy a home, start a business, start a family.
  While we are at it, I want to give public school teachers a raise.
  By the way, the first couple years, we cut the deficit.
  Now, let me speak to the question of fundamental fairness for all 
Americans. I have been delivering real results in fiscally responsible 
ways. We have already cut the Federal deficit over a trillion dollars. 
I signed a bipartisan deal to cut another trillion dollars in the next 
decade.
  It is my goal to cut the Federal deficit another $3 trillion by 
making big corporations and the very wealthy finally begin to pay their 
fair share.
  Look, I am a capitalist. If you want to make or can make millions and 
millions of bucks, that is great. Just pay your fair share in taxes.
  A fair tax code is how we invest in things that make this country 
great: healthcare, education, defense, and so much more, but here is 
the deal. The last administration enacted a $2 trillion tax cut that 
overwhelmingly benefited the top 1 percent, the very wealthy, the 
biggest corporations, and exploded the Federal deficit.
  They added more to the national debt than in any other Presidential 
term in American history. Check the numbers.
  For folks at home, does anybody really think the tax code is fair? Do 
you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 
trillion in tax breaks?
  I sure don't. I am going to keep fighting like hell to make it fair. 
Under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional 
penny in taxes. Nobody. Not one penny. And they haven't yet.
  In fact, the child tax credit I passed during the pandemic cut taxes 
for millions of working families and cut child poverty in half. Restore 
that child tax credit. No child should go hungry in this country.
  The way to make the tax code fair is to make big corporations and the 
very wealthy begin to pay their fair share.
  Remember in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 
billion and paid zero in Federal income taxes--zero.
  Not anymore.
  Thanks to the law I wrote and signed, big companies have to pay a 
minimum of 15 percent. But that is still less than working people pay 
in Federal taxes. It is time to raise the corporate minimum tax to at 
least 21 percent so every big corporation finally begins to pay their 
fair share.
  I also want to end tax breaks for Big Pharma, Big Oil, private jets, 
and massive executive pay when it is only supposed to be a million 
dollars that can be deducted. They can pay them 20 million if they want 
but deduct a million.
  End it now.
  You know, there are 1,000 billionaires in America. Do you know what 
the average Federal tax is for those billionaires? No? They are making 
great sacrifices--8.2 percent. That is far less than the vast majority 
of Americans pay.
  No billionaire should pay a lower Federal tax rate than a teacher, a 
sanitation worker, or a nurse.
  I propose the minimum tax for billionaires of 25 percent--just 25 
percent. Do you know what that would raise? That would raise $500 
billion over the next 10 years.
  And imagine what that could do for America. Imagine a future with 
affordable childcare so millions of families can get the care they need 
to go to work to help grow the economy.
  Imagine a future with paid leave because no one should have to choose 
between working and taking care of their sick family member.
  Imagine a future with home care and elder care and people living with 
disabilities so they can stay in their homes and family caregivers can 
finally get the pay they deserve.
  Tonight, let's all agree once again to stand up for seniors.
  Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle want to put Social 
Security on the chopping block. If anyone here tries to cut Social 
Security and Medicare or raise the retirement age, I will stop you.
  The working people who built this country pay more into Social 
Security than millionaires and billionaires do. It is not fair.
  We have two ways to go. Republicans can cut Social Security and give 
more tax breaks to the wealthy--that is the proposal.
  Oh, no? You guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut? I kind of 
thought that is what your plan was. Well, that is good to hear. You are 
not going to cut another $2 trillion for the super wealthy? That is 
good to hear.
  I will protect and strengthen Social Security and make the wealthy 
pay their fair share.
  Look, too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits, 
charging more and more for less and less. That is why we are cracking 
down on corporations engaging in price gouging and deceptive pricing 
from food to healthcare to housing.
  In fact, the snack companies think you won't notice if they change 
the size of the bag and put a hell of a lot fewer--same size bag, put 
fewer chips in it. No, I am not joking. It is called shrinkflation. 
Pass Bobby Casey's bill and stop this. I really mean it.
  You probably all saw that commercial on Snickers bars, and you get 
charged the same amount, and you got about--I don't know--10 percent 
fewer Snickers in it.
  Look, I am also getting rid of junk fees, those hidden fees at the 
end of your bills that are there without your knowledge. My 
administration announced we are cutting credit card late fees from $32 
to $8.
  The banks and credit card companies are allowed to charge what it 
costs them to instigate the collection, and that is a hell of a lot 
more like $8 than 30-something dollars. They don't like it. The credit 
card companies don't like it, but I am saving American families $20 
billion a year with all the junk fees I am eliminating.

  Folks at home, that is why the banks are so mad. It is $20 billion in 
profit.
  I am not stopping there. My administration has proposed rules to make 
cable, travel, utilities, and online ticket sellers tell you the total 
price up front so there are no surprises.
  It matters. It matters. And so does this.
  In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan 
group of Senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest 
set of border security reforms we have ever seen.
  Oh, you don't think so? Oh, you don't like that bill, huh, that 
conservatives got together and said it was a good bill? I will be 
darned. That is amazing.
  That bipartisan bill would hire 1,500 more security agents and 
officers, 100 more immigration judges to help tackle the backlog of 2 
million cases, 4,300 more asylum officers and new policies so they can 
resolve cases in 6 months instead of 6 years now.
  What do you get? 100 more high-tech drug detection machines to 
significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles 
smuggling fentanyl into America that is killing thousands of children.

[[Page H1030]]

  This bill would save lives and bring order to the border. It would 
also give me and any new President new emergency authority to 
temporarily shut down the border when the number of migrants at the 
border is overwhelming.
  The Border Patrol union has endorsed this bill. The Federal Chamber 
of Commerce--yeah, yeah, you are saying no. Look at the facts. I know 
you know how to read.
  I believe that given the opportunity a majority of the House and 
Senate would endorse the bill, as well--the majority right now. But, 
unfortunately, politics has derailed this bill so far.
  I am told my predecessor called Members of Congress and the Senate to 
demand they block the bill. He feels it would be a political win for me 
and a political loss for him.
  It is not about him. It is not about me.
  It would be a winner.
  Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal--
that is right--but how many thousands of people are being killed by 
legals? To her parents I say, my heart goes out to you, having lost 
children myself. I understand.
  But, look, if we change the dynamic at the border--people pay these 
smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the border because they know if 
they get by--if they get by and let into the country it is 6 to 8 years 
before they have a hearing, and it is worth taking the chance for 
$8,000. But if it is only 6 weeks, the idea is it is highly unlikely 
that people will pay that money and come all that way knowing that they 
will be able to be kicked out quickly.
  Folks, I would respectfully suggest to my Republican friends, you owe 
it to the American people. Get this bill done. We need to act now.
  If my predecessor is watching, instead of playing politics and 
pressuring Members of Congress to block the bill, join me in telling 
Congress to pass it.
  We can do it together.
  Here is what I will not do: I will not demonize immigrants by saying 
they poison the blood of our country. I will not separate families. I 
will not ban people because of their faith.
  Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office, I introduced a 
comprehensive bill to fix our immigration system. Take a look at it. It 
has all these and more: Secure the border, provide a pathway to 
citizenship for Dreamers, and so much more.
  Unlike my predecessor, I know who we are as Americans. We are the 
only Nation in the world with a heart and soul that draws from old and 
new; home to Native Americans whose ancestors have been here for 
thousands of years; home to people from every place on Earth.
  Some came freely; some came in chains; some came when famine struck, 
like my ancestral family from Ireland; some to flee persecution; some 
to chase dreams that are impossible anywhere but here in America. That 
is America. We all come from somewhere, but we are all Americans.
  Folks, we have a simple choice. We can fight about fixing the border 
or we can fix it. I am ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now.
  A transformational moment in history happened 59 years ago today in 
Selma, Alabama. Hundreds of foot soldiers for justice marched across 
the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after the grand dragon of the Ku Klux 
Klan, to claim their fundamental right to vote. They were beaten. They 
were bloodied and left for dead. Our late friend and former colleague 
John Lewis was on that march. We miss him.
  Joining us tonight are other marchers, both on the gallery and on the 
floor, including Bettie Mae Fikes, known as the Voice of Selma. The 
daughter of gospel singers and preachers, she sang songs of prayer and 
protest on that Bloody Sunday to help shake the Nation's conscience. 
Five months later, the Voting Rights Act passed and was signed into 
law.
  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
  Fifty-nine years later, there are forces taking us back in time: 
Voter suppression, election subversion, unlimited dark money, extreme 
gerrymandering.
  John Lewis was a great friend to many of us here, but if you truly 
want to honor him and all the heroes that marched with him, then it is 
time to do more than talk. Pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John 
Lewis Voting Rights Act.
  Stop the denying another core value of America: our diversity across 
American life.
  Banning books, it is wrong. Instead of erasing history, let's make 
history.
  I want to protect fundamental rights. Pass the Equality Act. My 
message to transgender Americans: I have your back.
  Pass the PRO Act for workers' rights. Raise the Federal minimum wage, 
because every worker has a right to a decent living, more than 7 bucks 
an hour.
  We are also making history by confronting the climate crisis, not 
denying it. I don't think any of you think there is no longer a climate 
crisis. At least I hope you don't.
  I am taking the most significant action ever on climate in the 
history of the world. I am cutting our carbon emissions in half by 
2030; creating tens of thousands of clean energy jobs, like the IBEW 
workers building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging 
stations; conserving 30 percent of America's lands and waters by 2030; 
and taking action on environmental justice for fenceline communities 
smothered by the legacy of pollution.
  And patterned after the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, I launched the 
Climate Corps to put 20,000 young people to work at the forefront of 
our clean energy future. I will triple that number in a decade.
  To state the obvious, all Americans deserve the freedom to be safe, 
and America is safer today than when I took office.
  The year before I took office, murder rates went up 30 percent. 
Thirty percent they went up, the biggest increase in history. That was 
then.
  Now, through my American Rescue Plan, which every Republican voted 
against, I might add, we made the largest investment in public safety 
ever.
  Last year, the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history, and 
violent crime fell to one of its lowest levels in more than 50 years.
  But we have more to do. Help cities invest in more community police 
officers, more mental health workers, and more community violence 
intervention. Give communities the tools to crack down on gun crime, 
retail crime, and carjacking.

  Keep building public trust, as I have been doing by taking executive 
action on police reform and calling for it to be the law of the land, 
directing my Cabinet to review the Federal classification of marijuana 
and expunging thousands of convictions for mere possession, because no 
one should be jailed for simply using or have it on their record.
  To take on crimes of domestic violence, I am ramping up the Federal 
enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act that I proudly wrote when 
I was a Senator, so we can finally end the scourge against women in 
America.
  There are other kinds of violence I want to stop. With us tonight is 
Jasmine, whose 9-year-old sister Jackie was murdered with 21 classmates 
and teachers in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
  Very soon after that happened, Jill and I went to Uvalde for a couple 
days. We spent hours and hours with each of the families. We heard 
their message so everyone in this room, in this Chamber, could hear the 
same message, the constant refrain. I was there for hours meeting with 
every family. They said: Do something. Do something.
  Well, I did do something by establishing the first-ever Office of Gun 
Violence Prevention in the White House with the Vice President leading 
the charge.
  Thank you for doing that.
  Meanwhile, my predecessor told the NRA he is proud he did nothing on 
guns when he was President.
  After another school shooting in Iowa recently, when asked what to do 
about it, he said just ``get over it.'' There is his quote, just ``get 
over it.''
  I say: Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it.
  I am proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun 
safety law in nearly 30 years because of this Congress. We now must 
beat the NRA again.
  I am demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
  Pass universal background checks.
  I taught the Second Amendment for 12 years, and none of this violates 
the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners.

[[Page H1031]]

  As we manage challenges at home, we are also managing crises abroad, 
including the Middle East. I know the last 5 months have been gut-
wrenching for so many people, for the Israeli people, the Palestinian 
people, and so many here in America.
  This crisis began on October 7 with a massacre by the terrorist group 
called Hamas, as you all know. 1,200 innocent people, women and girls, 
men and boys, slaughtered, many after enduring sexual violence. It was 
the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and 250 
hostages taken.
  Here in this Chamber tonight are families whose loved ones are still 
being held by Hamas. I pledge to all the families that we will not rest 
until we bring every one of your loved ones home.
  We will also work around the clock to bring home Evan and Paul, 
Americans being unjustly detained by the Russians and others around the 
world.
  Israel has a right to go after Hamas. Hamas could end this conflict 
by releasing hostages. Laying down arms could end it, releasing the 
hostages, laying down arms, and surrendering those responsible for 
October 7.
  Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the 
civilian population like cowards--under hospitals, daycare centers, and 
all the like. Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to 
protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
  This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all 
previous wars in Gaza combined. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been 
killed, most of whom are not Hamas. Thousands and thousands are 
innocent women and children--girls and boys also orphaned.
  Nearly 2 million more Palestinians are under bombardment or 
displacement--homes destroyed, neighbors in rubble, cities in ruin. 
Families are without food, water, medicine. It is heartbreaking.
  I have been working nonstop to establish an immediate cease-fire that 
would last for 6 weeks to get all the prisoners released, all the 
hostages released, to get the hostages home and ease the intolerable 
and humanitarian crisis and build toward something more enduring.
  The United States is leading international efforts to get more 
humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Tonight, I am directing the U.S. 
military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in 
the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments 
carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.
  No U.S. boots will be on the ground.
  A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of 
humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day, and Israel must do 
its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure humanitarian 
workers aren't caught in the crossfire. They are announcing they are 
going to have a crossing in northern Gaza.
  To the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance 
cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting 
and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.
  As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is 
a two-state solution over time.
  I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel my entire career. No one 
has a stronger record with Israel than I do. I challenge any of you 
here. I am the only American President to visit Israel in wartime.
  There is no other path that guarantees Israel's security and 
democracy. There is no other path that guarantees that Palestinians can 
live with peace and dignity. And there is no other path that guarantees 
peace between Israel and all of its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, 
with whom I am talking.
  Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the 
threat posed by Iran. That is why I built a coalition of more than a 
dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of 
navigation in the Red Sea.
  I have ordered strikes to degrade the Houthi capabilities and defend 
U.S. forces in the region.
  As Commander in Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures 
to protect our people and our military personnel.

  For years, I have heard many of my Republican and Democratic friends 
say that China is on the rise and America is falling behind. They have 
got it backward. I have been saying it for over 4 years, even when I 
wasn't President: America is rising. We have the best economy in the 
world. Since I have come to office, our GDP is up, and our trade 
deficit with China is down to the lowest point in over a decade.
  We are standing up against China's unfair economic practices. We are 
standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. I have 
revitalized our partnership and alliance in the Pacific: India, 
Australia, Japan, South Korea, Pacific Islands.
  I have made sure that the most advanced American technologies can't 
be used in China, not allowing to trade them there.
  Frankly, for all his tough talk on China, it never occurred to my 
predecessor to do any of that.
  I want competition with China, not conflict, and we are in a stronger 
position to win the competition for the 21st century against China or 
anyone else, for that matter--than at any time as well.
  Here at home, I have signed over 400 bipartisan bills, but there is 
more to do to pass my Unity Agenda.
  Strengthen penalties on fentanyl trafficking--you don't want to do 
that?
  Pass bipartisan privacy legislation to protect our children online; 
harness the promise of AI and protect us from its peril; ban AI voice 
impersonations and more; and keep our one truly sacred obligation, to 
train and equip those we send into harm's way and care for them and 
their families when they come home and when they don't.
  That is why, with the strong support and help of Denis and the VA, I 
signed the PACT Act, one of the most significant laws ever, helping 
millions of veterans exposed to toxins who now are battling more than 
100 different cancers.
  Many of them don't come home, but we owe them and their families 
support.
  We owe it to ourselves to keep supporting our new health research 
agency called ARPA-H and remind us that we can do big things like end 
cancer as we know it--and we will.
  Let me close with this--I know you don't want to hear any more, 
Lindsey, but I have to say a few more things.
  I know it may not look like it, but I have been around a while. When 
you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever. I know 
the American story. Again and again, I have seen the contest between 
competing forces and the battle for the soul of our Nation, between 
those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to 
move America into the future.
  My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future 
based on core values that defined America--honesty, decency, dignity, 
equality, to respect everyone, to give everyone a fair shot, to give 
hate no safe harbor.
  Now, other people my age see it differently--the American story of 
resentment, revenge, and retribution. That is not me.
  I was born amid World War II when America stood for freedom in the 
world. I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, 
among working-class people who built this country.
  I watched in horror as two of my heroes, like many of you did, Dr. 
King and Bobby Kennedy, were assassinated, and their legacies inspired 
me to pursue a career in service.
  I left a law firm and became a public defender because my city of 
Wilmington was the only city in America occupied by the National Guard 
after Dr. King was assassinated because of the riots, and I became a 
county councilman, almost by accident.
  I got elected to the United States Senate, when I had no intention of 
running, at age 29, then Vice President to our first Black President, 
now President to the first woman Vice President.
  In my career, I have been told I was too young. By the way, they 
didn't let me on the Senate elevators for votes sometimes--not a joke. 
And I have been told I am too old.
  Whether young or old, I have always known what endures. Our North 
Star.
  The very idea of America, that we are all created equal and deserve 
to be treated equally throughout our lives, we have never fully lived 
up to that idea, but we have never walked away from it either. And I 
won't walk away from it now.

[[Page H1032]]

  I am optimistic. I really am. I am optimistic, Nancy.
  My fellow Americans, the issue facing our Nation isn't how old we 
are. It is how old are our ideas? Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are 
the oldest of ideas, but you can't lead America with ancient ideas that 
only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need 
a vision for the future and what can and should be done.
  Tonight, you have heard mine. I see a future where we defend 
democracy. You don't diminish it.
  I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other 
freedoms, not take them away.
  I see a future where the middle class finally has a fair shot, and 
the wealthy have to pay their fair share in taxes.
  I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and 
our country from gun violence.
  Above all, I see a future for all Americans. I see a country for all 
Americans. And I will always be President for all Americans because I 
believe in America. I believe in you, the American people.
  You are the reason I have never been more optimistic about our future 
than I am now, so let's build the future together.
  Let's remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and 
there is nothing--nothing beyond our capacity when we act together.
  God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.
  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  At 10 o'clock and 57 minutes p.m., the President of the United 
States, accompanied by the committee of escort, retired from the Hall 
of the House of Representatives.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms escorted the invited guests 
from the Chamber in the following order:
  The members of the President's Cabinet;
  The Chief Justice of the United States and the Associate Justices of 
the Supreme Court;
  The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

                          ____________________