Joe Biden first entered Congress as a senator about half a century ago. This time, however, he entered Congress to address the 48th President of the United States. In his speech on Wednesday, Biden spoke about democracy, racism and the tax system in the United States. Here are five key points from Wednesday night's speech: ‘Madame Vice President, Madame Speaker’ Biden began his speech by addressing Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. For the first time in U.S. history, two women sat in the back while giving a presidential address to Congress. Biden greeted, "Madame Vice President, Madame Speaker. " He began by saying,"No president has ever said these words from this platform before - no president has said these words, it's a matter of time!" 'Truth instead of lies' At the beginning of the speech, Biden took his predecessor Donald Trump by one hand. "I have inherited a nation in times of crisis," he said. Biden described the United States as a "burning house." "One hundred days from now, I can tell the nation that America has begun to move forward again," he said. "America is waking up again," Biden said. Hope is preferred to fear, truth to falsehood, light to darkness. America is now ready to fly in a hundred days of rescue and renewal. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again. ‘Uproot systemic racism’ Racist tensions have been rising in the United States since George Floyd was assassinated in Minneapolis in 2020. Referring to Floyd's death at the hands of a police officer, Biden said, "We've all seen the knees of justice on the necks of black Americans." "We cannot disagree that the most serious terrorist threat that our intelligence agencies now see inside the country is white supremacist terrorism," he said. However, he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat law enforcement officials.
The rich must 'pay their fair share' A large part of Biden's speech was in favor of his huge budget plan to streamline US infrastructure and social projects. The plan is based on raising taxes on the rich. "This is justice," he said. "It's time to dump her and move on," said David Cook, chief of The Christian Science Monitor's Washington bureau. Just give them their fair share. Lots of companies avoid paying taxes through tax havens in Switzerland, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands. They take advantage of tax evasion and tax exemptions. This creates jobs abroad and transfers profits abroad. That's not right. " Biden also said that the government will crack down on millionaires and billionaires who evade taxes. "Look, I don't want to punish anyone - but I don't want to impose a tax burden on the middle class in this country," he said. "What I have proposed is fair," Biden said. 'We have to prove democracy is still working' Biden ended his speech by recalling the January 8 attack on the US Capital by Trump supporters. He urged lawmakers to prove that democracy is capable of overcoming these obstacles. "The riots are the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war," he said. Biden said, "Can our democracy meet the most basic needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hatred and fear that have divided us? Opponents of the United States - the dictators of the world - are betting that this is not possible. He added, ‘They believe that we are full of intense anger, division and anger. They look at the pictures of the Capitol attack as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. ‘They are wrong. We need to prove that they are wrong. We have to prove that democracy is still working, "said Biden. Source: BBC
