Joe Biden in 2022 State of the Union address
On Abortion:
Roe v. Wade is under attack as never before
Advancing liberty and justice also requires protecting the rights of women. The constitutional right affirmed in Roe v. Wade--standing precedent for half a century--is under attack as never before.
If we want to go forward--not backward--we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman's right to choose. And let's continue to advance maternal health care in America.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Budget & Economy:
Grow America from the bottom up and the middle out
In fact--our economy created over 6.5 million new jobs just last year, more jobs created in one year than ever before in the history of America. Our economy grew at a rate of 5.7% last year, the strongest growth in nearly 40 years, the first step in
bringing fundamental change to an economy that hasn't worked for the working people of this nation for too long.For the past 40 years we were told that if we gave tax breaks to those at the very top, the benefits would trickle down to everyone else.
But that trickle-down theory led to weaker economic growth, lower wages, bigger deficits, and the widest gap between those at the top and everyone else in nearly a century.
Vice President Harris and I ran for office with a new economic vision for
America. Invest in America. Educate Americans. Grow the workforce. Build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Because we know that when the middle class grows, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy do very well.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Budget & Economy:
Only president to cut the deficit by $1 trillion in one year
By the end of this year, the deficit will be down to less than half what it was before I took office.
The only president ever to cut the deficit by more than one trillion dollars in a single year.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Corporations:
Capitalism without competition is exploitation
Lowering your costs also means demanding more competition. I'm a capitalist, but capitalism without competition isn't capitalism. It's exploitation--and it drives up prices. When corporations don't have to compete, their profits go up, your prices go
up, and small businesses and family farmers and ranchers go under.T onight, I'm announcing a crackdown on these companies overcharging American businesses and consumers.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Crime:
DOJ to name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud
The previous Administration not only ballooned the deficit with tax cuts for the very wealthy and corporations, it undermined the watchdogs whose job was to keep pandemic relief funds from being wasted. But in my administration, the watchdogs
have been welcomed back. We're going after the criminals who stole billions in relief money meant for small businesses and millions of Americans. And tonight, I'm announcing that the Justice Department will name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Crime:
We don't have to choose between safety and equal justice
Let's not abandon our streets. Or choose between safety and equal justice. Let's come together to protect our communities, restore trust, and hold law enforcement accountable. That's why the Justice Department required body cameras, banned chokeholds,
and restricted no-knock warrants for its officers. We should all agree: The answer is not to Defund the police. The answer is to FUND the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Drugs:
Beat the opioid epidemic; I believe in recovery
Beat the opioid epidemic. There is so much we can do. Increase funding for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery. Get rid of outdated rules that stop doctors from prescribing treatments.
And stop the flow of illicit drugs by working with state and local law enforcement to go after traffickers. If you're suffering from addiction, know you are not alone. I believe in recovery, and I celebrate the 23 million Americans in recovery.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Families & Children:
Cut the cost of childcare in half
Cut the cost of child care. Many families pay up to $14,000 a year for child care per child.Middle-class and working families shouldn't have to pay more than 7% of their income for care of young children.
My plan will cut the cost in half for most families and help parents, including millions of women, who left the workforce during the pandemic because they couldn't afford child care, to be able to get back to work.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Free Trade:
Make it in America, instead of foreign supply chains
We have a choice. One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation. Lower your costs, not your wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation
in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let's make it in America.
Economists call it "increasing the productive capacity of our economy." I call it building a better America.
And here's the plan:- First--cut the cost of prescription drugs.
- Second - cut energy costs for families
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Third--cut the cost of child care.
- So that's my plan. It will grow the economy and lower costs for families.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Health Care:
I've ordered more anti-virus pills than anyone in history
Here are four common sense steps as we move forward safely [to move past the coronavirus pandemic]:- First, stay protected with vaccines and treatments. We're also ready with anti-viral treatments. If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your
chances of ending up in the hospital by 90%. We've ordered more of these pills than anyone in the world. And Pfizer is working overtime to get us 1 million pills this month and more than double that next month. And we're launching the "Test to Treat"
initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they're positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost.
- Second--we must prepare for new variants.
- Third--we can end the shutdown of schools and businesses. We have the tools we
need.
- Fourth, we will continue vaccinating the world. We've sent 475 Million vaccine doses to 112 countries, more than any other nation. And we won't stop.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Health Care:
Cut cost of prescription drugs, cap insulin at $35 a month
Cut the cost of prescription drugs. Just look at insulin. One in ten Americans has diabetes. In Virginia, I met a 13-year-old boy named Joshua Davis. He and his Dad both have Type 1 diabetes, which means they need insulin every day.
Insulin costs about $10 a vial to make.But drug companies charge families like Joshua and his Dad up to 30 times more. For Joshua, and for the 200,000 other young people with
Type 1 diabetes, let's cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month so everyone can afford it.
As Wall Street firms take over more nursing homes, quality in those homes has gone down and costs have gone up.
That ends on my watch. Medicare is going to set higher standards for nursing homes and make sure your loved ones get the care they deserve and expect.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Health Care:
ARPA-H: end cancer as we know it
Let's end cancer as we know it. Our goal is to cut the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years, turn more cancers from death sentences into treatable diseases. To get there, I call on Congress to fund ARPA-H, the
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. It's based on DARPA--the Defense Department project that led to the Internet, GPS, and so much more. ARPA-H will have a singular purpose--to drive breakthroughs in cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and more.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Homeland Security:
More benefits to veterans for toxic exposures
Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan faced many dangers. One was stationed at bases and breathing in toxic smoke from "burn pits" that incinerated wastes of war--medical and hazard material, jet fuel, and more. We're expanding eligibility
to veterans suffering from nine respiratory cancers. I'm also calling on Congress: pass a law to make sure veterans devastated by toxic exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they deserve.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Jobs:
Old Rust Belt now revitalizing American manufacturing
There's something happening in America. Just look around and you'll see an amazing story. The rebirth of the pride that comes from stamping products "Made In America." The revitalization of American manufacturing.
Companies are choosing to build new factories here, when just a few years ago, they would have built them overseas. As Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown says, "It's time to bury the label "Rust Belt."
We can end the shutdown of schools and businesses. We have the tools we need. It's time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again. People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office.
We're doing that here in the federal government. The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person. Our schools are open. Let's keep it that way. Our kids need to be in school.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Principles & Values:
Unity Agenda: Four big things we can do together
Tonight I'm offering a Unity Agenda for the Nation. Four big things we can do together.- First, beat the opioid epidemic.
- Second, let's take on mental health.
- Third, support our veterans.
- And fourth, let's end cancer as we know it.
A unity agenda for the nation. We can do this. My fellow Americans--tonight , we have gathered in a sacred space--the citadel of our democracy. In this Capitol, generation after generation, Americans have debated great questions amid great strife, and
have done great things. We have fought for freedom, expanded liberty, defeated totalitarianism and terror. And built the strongest, freest, and most prosperous nation the world has ever known. Now is the hour.
Our moment of responsibility. Our test of resolve and conscience, of history itself. It is in this moment that our character is formed. Our purpose is found. Our future is forged.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Principles & Values:
Democracies rising to the moment in battle with autocracy
When the history of this era is written Putin's war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger. We see the unity among leaders of nations and a more unified Europe a more unified West.
In the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Principles & Values:
Can't change past divisions, we can change moving forward
Let's use this moment to reset. Let's stop looking at COVID-19 as a partisan dividing line and see it for what it is: A God-awful disease. Let's stop seeing each other as enemies, and start seeing each other for who we really are:
Fellow Americans. We can't change how divided we've been. But we can change how we move forward--on COVID-19 and other issues we must face together.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Technology:
Infrastructure decade: we used to have the best in the world
America used to have the best roads, bridges, and airports on Earth. Now our infrastructure is ranked 13th in the world.That's why it was so important to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law--the most sweeping investment to rebuild America in
history. We're done talking about infrastructure weeks. We're going to have an infrastructure decade.
It is going to transform America and put us on a path to win the economic competition of the 21st Century that we face with the rest of the world--
particularly with China. As I've told Xi Jinping, it is never a good bet to bet against the American people.
We'll create good jobs for millions of Americans, modernizing roads, airports, ports, and waterways all across America. We'll build a national
network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations, begin to replace poisonous lead pipes. And tonight, I'm announcing that this year we will start fixing over 65,000 miles of highway and 1,500 bridges in disrepair.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On Technology:
Stop tech companies collecting personal data on our children
We must hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they're conducting on our children for profit.
It's time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On War & Peace:
Make dictators pay a price; American resolve matters
Russia's Vladimir Putin badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people. From President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian,
their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, inspires the world. Groups of citizens blocking tanks with their bodies. Everyone from students to retirees teachers turned soldiers defending their homeland.
Let each of us here tonight in this
Chamber send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world. Throughout our history we've learned this lesson when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And the costs and the threats to
America and the world keep rising.
That's why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War 2. It matters. American diplomacy matters. American resolve matters.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
On War & Peace:
Military & humanitarian assistance, but no troops to Ukraine
Along with 27 members of the European Union, we are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever.Together with our allies--we are right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions.
The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs.
Together with our allies we are providing support to the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom. Military assistance. Economic assistance.
Humanitarian assistance. We are giving more than $1 Billion in direct assistance to Ukraine.
Let me be clear, our forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine.
As I have made crystal clear the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of territory of NATO countries with the full force of our collective power.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address
Mar 1, 2022
Page last updated: Mar 05, 2022