Watch 2015 State Of The Union
Christel Malden
Small wonder why more than 7 in 10 Americans (73 percent) support federal policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, as Biden has promised, and nearly two-thirds (62 percent) want Congress to do more to confront the climate crisis.
Thursday is a chance for Biden to rally the nation around the climate progress of the past three years and show the way to build on those gains going forward. Here are five things to watch for in the speech.
Taken together and done right, the climate and clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, combined with strong and effective standards for cleaning up tailpipe and power plant pollution, can speed the shift away from the fossil fuels that are driving the climate crisis and toward clean energy.
Biden should also make the case for his decision in January to hit pause on the review of new terminals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) far into the future. The fossil fuel industry and its congressional allies have spread disinformation about this pause.
It will have no impact, either, on U.S. LNG exports to Europe, which buys nearly 70 percent of U.S. LNG. In the months after Russia invaded Ukraine, U.S. LNG exports to Europe more than doubled, making the United States the largest supplier of LNG to Europe and a key to European efforts to sever ties with Russian gas.
The 27 member states of the European Union have pledged to stop buying Russian gas by then. Global demand for gas, for that matter, will be well on its way toward peaking, say private analysts and the International Energy Agency, before beginning a steady decline, as countries pursue their climate goals.
\"In this moment of great challenge for our country, it is my solemn duty to extend this invitation for you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024, so that you may fulfill your obligation under the U.S. Constitution to report on the state of our union,\" Johnson's invitation said.
Presidents often use the State of the Union speech to unveil new policy proposals. In 2022, Biden used the speech to announce his \"unity agenda for the nation,\" which included expanded health care benefits for veterans.
\"Our administration's action to ban hidden junk fees will save Americans more than $20 billion a year,\" Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. \"The president will make clear in his State of the Union that he will continue fighting to lower costs for families.\"
Biden will be taking his State of the Union message straight from Capitol Hill to the campaign trail, traveling to Pennsylvania and Georgia this weekend with two campaign remarks currently on his schedule.
The White House and members of Congress typically invite guests with specific backgrounds and stories that are important to them both personally and politically -- people they want to thank, to honor or even to highlight a particular issue.
This year we're told guests include women who have fled their home states to receive abortion care; a doctor who provided abortion care for a 10-year old; the first American person born via in vitro fertilization; Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's parents; families of the hostages being held in Gaza; a Palestinian doctor and grad student who lost 35 family members in the current Gaza/Israel conflict; an advocate for radiation victims; health care advocate and rapper Fat Joe, to name a few.
\"She is a champion for strong families, a secure border, national defense and a vibrant economy with stable prices and opportunities for all. The American people will tune in as the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate turns the page on the oldest President in history,\" Johnson said in a statement.
Britt is from Alabama -- the state at the center of a battle over IVF. In the wake of an Alabama Supreme Court decision calling frozen embryos \"children\" and calling IVF access into question, Sen. Britt called for protecting \"continued access to IVF services.\"
Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought -- and several thousand gave their lives.
It was wrong. It was irresponsible. And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hardworking Americans holding the bag. In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs. And we lost another 4 million before our policies were in full effect.
So we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back. But we have to seize it. Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed. (Applause.)
Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. (Applause.) From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here in America. (Applause.)
So my message is simple. It is time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I will sign them right away. (Applause.)
And I want to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people like Jackie have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help that they need. It is time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system that puts people to work. (Applause.)
These reforms will help people get jobs that are open today. But to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.
At a time when other countries are doubling down on education, tight budgets have forced states to lay off thousands of teachers. We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance. Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives. Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies -- just to make a difference.
When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. (Applause.)
Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves millions of middle-class families thousands of dollars, and give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years. (Applause.)
During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. After World War II, we connected our states with a system of highways. Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today.
Now, a return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help protect our people and our economy. But it should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future.
Now, I recognize that people watching tonight have differing views about taxes and debt, energy and health care. But no matter what party they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right about now: Nothing will get done in Washington this year, or next year, or maybe even the year after that, because Washington is broken.
Finally, none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town. We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common-sense ideas.
On the other hand, even my Republican friends who complain the most about government spending have supported federally financed roads, and clean energy projects, and federal offices for the folks back home.
The campaign said attendees at the parties will have opportunities to volunteer for the reelection campaign and participate in more traditional organizing efforts like phone banks and door-knocking to reach out to potential voters, or relational organizing where people mobilize their personal networks of friends and family to get involved.
Biden and Trump both racked up wins across the board in most of the states voting in Super Tuesday primary elections. The Biden campaign has its first post-SOTU event scheduled Friday in Philadelphia, with details still to be announced.
Bucknell Democrats are holding a SOTU watch party, and Montour Democrats, a county where Trump won in 2020 59.81% to 38.59%, is holding a virtual watch party. The New Americans & Ethnic Coordinating Caucus is also holding a watch party on Thursday.
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