Speaking to Congress, Biden celebrates vaccination in the US and promises trillion dollar assistance plans
For the first time, two women appeared behind the president in his speech to Congress - Vice President Kamala Harris (left) and Mayor Nancy Pelosi, with Joe Biden at the head
In the traditional speech to Congress made by the American presidents every year, Democrat Joe Biden promised last Wednesday (28/4) the most extensive reform in the social assistance programs of the United States government since the 1960s.
Speaking on the eve of his 100th day in office, Biden promised a set of measures worth a total of $ 4 trillion, including expanding free education, from early childhood education to higher education, as well as financial assistance to poor children.
"No one should have to choose between a job and a salary or take care of themselves or loved ones - a relative, a spouse, a child," he said in the speech.
The president spoke for just over an hour, beginning to speak at 9 pm local time (10 pm in Brasilia) at the Capitol, the seat of the legislature in the American capital, Washington DC. The place was the target of an invasion at the beginning of the year that I leave dead and wounded .
"Can our democracy respond to the most urgent needs of our people? Do we know that our democracy can overcome lies, hatred and fear that have divided us? America's opponents, the world's autocrats, are betting not," he said.
"They believe that we are very full of hatred, ruptures and anger. They look at the images of the group that invaded this Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy."
"They are wrong. And we have to prove that they are wrong. We have to prove that democracy still works."
For Wednesday's event, Capitol security was reinforced with fences and hundreds of National Guard agents.
After January invasion, Capitol had increased security for Biden's speech this Wednesday (4/28)
Plans for jobs and families
With good approval ratings at the beginning of his term, the Democrat wanted to garner support from the public, as well as from parliamentarians, for projects like the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan.
The White House says that both proposals, if passed by Congress, would be "fully funded" by tax increases on the nation's wealthiest people and corporations.
The American Families Plan, with an estimated budget of US $ 1.8 trillion, aims to give children aged 3 to 4 years free access to preschool, paid family leave (such as maternity and paternity), in addition to the expansion of free community colleges.
An income transfer program for children, created in the pandemic, would also be extended until 2025, with monthly payments of US $ 300 for each of them living in poor families. The Democrats' idea is to make this a permanent government program.
The White House indicated that the package would be made possible by an almost two-fold increase in the income tax rate on capital gains above $ 1 million, reaching 39.6%; and also by raising the rate for families with an income above US $ 400,000.
Rumors of Biden's plan to raise capital gains taxes caused the stock market to crash last week.
"It is time for America's corporations and the top 1% of wealthier Americans to pay a fair amount," Biden defended congressmen. "You see, I am not here to punish anyone. But I am not going to increase the tax burden for the middle class in this country. They are already paying enough. What I am proposing is fair."
The American Jobs Plan has US $ 2.3 trillion foreseen for an infrastructure package - and with expected generation of jobs - in public transport works, railways, airports, sanitation, high-speed broadband internet, roads and bridges, hospitals and nurseries.
Biden said in the speech that the project is "America's investment in itself" and "the biggest job plan since World War II".
The project also aims to direct the United States towards the production of clean energy and electric cars, which today represent only 2% of the American fleet.
The financing would come from the increase in the corporate tax rate, from 21% to 28%, and other taxes on multinational companies, according to the White House.
Raising an old banner of progressives - who even distrust Biden's commitment to the agenda, since he is considered moderate -, the president also defended the establishment of a national minimum wage of US $ 15 per hour. Today, it is $ 7.25 an hour, a figure that has not changed in the past decade.
Pandemic
Vaccination against covid-19 in Florida; Biden's promise to immunize Americans with 100 million doses has been fulfilled
Biden celebrated overcoming his promise to give 100 million doses of vaccine against covid-19 in his first 100 days in office - today, the number has already surpassed 220 million doses. About 96 million citizens have already completed the vaccination, receiving all the necessary doses.
But the United States also continues to have the most tragic records of the pandemic, leading in deaths (more than 575,000) and cases of the disease in the world (more than 32 million).
The president also extolled his pandemic economic rescue program, the American Rescue Plan - his first major victory in Congress, enabling a $ 1.9 trillion package of measures. Biden said the plan created jobs and economic recovery early in his term.
"We need to do more than just rebuild. We need to rebuild better," he said, repeating a mantra from his election campaign in 2020, in which he defeated former Republican President Donald Trump.
The ceremony
In addition to economic measures and containment of the pandemic, Biden also suggested an immigration reform, called for greater arms control and an end to the American presence in Afghanistan.
For the first time in the history of the presidential tradition, two women appeared positioned behind the head of the White House - Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
It is also a tradition that the president's speech is followed by the speech of a politician from the opposing party. That year, Republican Senator Tim Scott, a potential candidate for the White House in 2024 and black, was cast in this role, making him one of the leading references in his party on racial issues.
However, differently from the last few years, when around 1,600 people followed the session in Congress, in this second year of the coronavirus pandemic, there were about 200 guests, as a measure to prevent contagion.
At the ceremony, everyone present was wearing a mask, except for Biden when speaking.
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