By: Maureen Dowd
On October 11, 2023 at 12:43PM President Joe Biden addressed all members of Congress through his State of the Union speech. To say there were mixed reactions would be an understatement. While the democrats were completely enamored by President Joe Biden, the Republicans seemed to be fighting off sleep.
President Joe Biden expressed many issues that he wished to address with this new session of Congress in his speech. The first main issue that President Biden addresses was his stance on the Hamas attack on Israel. He states,”For both Israel, Israelis and Palestieneans and to continue to work together in peace in Israel and Palestine” (Cole Hendrickx). It seems neither Republicans or Democrats got the memo to show their support for their President as the only ways to outwardly agree with this statement were the lobbyists and journalists.
Luckily as President Biden continues his speech he does get support from both sides of the Chamber when he says,”I believe in the power of diplomacy”(Cole Hendrickx). So… Congratulations Joe Biden! Both Republicans and Democrats believe in communicating to enact legislation! What an accomplishment.
President Biden continues his speech with democrats finally having the courage to outwardly support their President. Biden proclaims $9 billion in student debt forgiveness which has democrats agreeing with him which is shown through their continuous applause and Republicans shaking their heads.
One statement from the President that got Democrats up on their feet and clapping was when he stated his stance on protecting women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. “Congress must reinstate the rights the Supreme Court took away last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization … and do everything we can to protect your access to reproductive health care(Cole Hendrickx). Democrats cheered while Republicans simply looked on in silence.
The other two times Democrats got on their feet in the State of the Union address was when President Biden spoke about the importance of addressing climate change and raising the minimum wage everywhere in the nation.
Meanwhile the only other time Republicans seem to have agreed with President Biden was when he addressed protecting veteran’s rights and protecting the second amendment. However when Biden started speaking about background checks and more restrictions, making it more difficult to access a gun, their applause seemed to have died down.
President Biden’s speech ended with him saying,”We are the United States of America and there is nothing, absolutely nothing beyond our capacity when we work together” (Cole Hendrickx).
The day ended with democrats on their feet clapping and shaking the hands of their esteemed President with Republicans looking as if they were anywhere, but here.
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