The State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening was a key moment for President Joe Biden. It comes as he prepares to launch a re-election campaign and faces Republican control of one chamber of Congress for the first time in his presidency.
Here are a few valuable points from his night in the spotlight.
'No Reason We Can't Work Together'
The president began his remarks by congratulating Republican Kevin McCarthy on his election as House speaker.
"Mr. Speaker, I don't want to ruin your reputation but I look forward to working together," Biden said as he launched into his speech.
He admitted that during the first years of his presidency, "we disagreed plenty." However, he asked his political adversaries for cooperation.
The president spoke about his first two years in office, which were marked by bipartisan achievements. He mentioned, among other issues, cooperation on infrastructure spending, high-tech investment in microchip production, military aid to Ukraine, federal safeguards for gay marriage, and electoral reform.
"We're often told that Democrats and Republicans can't work together," he said. "But over these past two years, we proved the cynics and the naysayers wrong."
"To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can't work together in this Congress as well," he said.
Making a Point
The president has passed significant, historic legislation that could have profound implications for the U.S. economy. According to polls, however, a vast majority of people do not support them.
During his presidential address, Biden presented a variety of fresh and recycled recommendations, many of which have little chance of becoming legislation due to the Republican majority in Congress.
He pointed to the parents of Tyre Nichols and a hero from the Monterey Park mass shooting to emphasize the necessity for police reform and new gun-control laws.
"All of us in the chamber, we need to rise to this moment," he said. "We can't turn away."
In actuality, neither effort has a great possibility of success. If Congress were to pass new legislation, there is a greater probability that it will target "junk fees" such as bank surcharges, resort fees, and airline seating charges.
A Bit of Foreign Policy
While the Chinese surveillance balloon was a major news topic over the weekend in the United States, the president scarcely mentioned it in the last portion of his speech.
The president then discussed the challenges posed by China and the actions taken by his administration to boost the U.S. economy and modernize the military. This was not, however, a direct challenge to China.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which dominated Biden's last State of the Union address, was barely mentioned. The president greeted the ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, who was seated in the gallery, and announced the nation's allies' support.
But he did not take advantage of the chance to ask for more help to the war-torn nation, aid that will be more difficult to obtain now that the House is controlled by suspicious Republicans.
