Biden says in State of Union that the US is “unbowed, unbroken.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is using his State of the Union address Tuesday night to urge Republicans to work with him to finish “the work” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation as he attempts to quell pessimism in the country to overcome and navigate the political divisions in Washington.

The annual speech comes as the nation struggles to understand the confusing crosscurrents at home and abroad — economic uncertainty, a tiring war in Ukraine, rising tensions with China and more — and cautiously assesses Biden’s suitability for a likely re-election. The President is offering a reassuring assessment of the state of the nation rather than making flashy policy suggestions.

“The history of America is a history of progress and resilience,” Biden said, according to excerpts released ahead of time by the White House. He highlights record job creation during his tenure as the country emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. And he declares that two years after the Jan. 6, 2021 uprising in the Capitol, the country’s democracy is “unbowed and unbroken.”

With Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, Biden is pointing to areas of bipartisan progress in his first two years in office, including the states’ vital infrastructure and high-tech manufacturing. And he says, “There’s no reason we can’t work together on this new convention.”

“People sent us a clear message. Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict is getting us nowhere,” Biden said. “And that has always been my vision for the country: to restore the soul of the nation, to rebuild the backbone of America – the middle class – to unite the country.”

“We were sent here to finish the job!”

The president is taking the lectern in the House of Representatives at a time when just a quarter of adult Americans say things are moving in the right direction in the country, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About three quarters say things are on the wrong track. And a majority of Democrats don’t want Biden to seek another term.

He confronts those feelings head-on, aides say.

“You’re wondering if there’s any way you and your kids can move forward without moving away, I get that,” Biden says. “That is why we are building an economy where no one is left behind. Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we’ve made over the past two years.”

The setting for Biden’s speech looks markedly different from a year ago when Democratic stalwart Nancy Pelosi sat behind him as Speaker of the House — though tighter-than-usual security measures have returned as a holdover from the 2021 attack. Pelosis was replaced by Republican Kevin McCarthy, and it was unclear what reception troubled Republicans in the chamber would give the Democratic president.

McCarthy vowed Monday to be “respectful” during the address and, in turn, urged Biden to refrain from the phrase “extreme MAGA Republicans,” which the president used during the 2022 campaign.

“I’m not going to tear up the speech, I’m not going to play games,” McCarthy told reporters, a reference to Pelosi’s dramatic action after President Donald Trump’s last State of the Union address.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had made a name for herself nationally as Trump’s press secretary, was to provide the Republican response to Biden’s speech.

She should focus much of her speech on social issues, including race in business and education and alleged big-tech censorship by conservatives.

“While reaping the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in awakened fantasies than the harsh reality Americans face every day,” she was to say, according to excerpts released by her office. “Most Americans just want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are being attacked in a left-wing culture war that we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.”

With COVID-19 restrictions now lifted, the White House and lawmakers from both parties invited guests to carry political messages with their presence in the House of Representatives chamber. The parents of Tire Nichols, who was badly beaten by Memphis police officers and later died, are among those expected to sit next to First Lady Jill Biden. Other Biden guests include rock star/humanitarian Bono and the 26-year-old who disarmed a gunman when he fired in Monterey Park, California last month.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus invited family members of those involved in police incidents to urge police reform after Nichols’ death. A White House briefing ahead of the speech linked police reform to reducing violence and suggested that providing better police training tools nationwide could lead to less crime.

Biden is changing his tune after spending his first two years pushing through key bills like the bipartisan infrastructure package, legislation boosting high-tech manufacturing and climate action. With the Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, he is focused on implementing these massive bills and making sure voters credit him with the improvements.

The switch is largely inevitable. Itching to undo many of its accomplishments, the newly empowered GOP promises to conduct a variety of investigations — including investigating the recent discovery of classified documents from his vice presidential days at his home and former office.

At the same time, Biden must find a way to work across the aisle to keep the government funded by raising the federal debt limit through this summer. He has insisted he will not negotiate the country’s debt obligations; Republicans have equally insisted he must make concessions on spending.

On the eve of the president’s address, McCarthy called on Biden to come to the negotiating table with House Republicans on spending cuts under a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

“We need to move towards a balanced budget and insist on real accountability for every dollar we spend,” McCarthy said.

While hopes for large-scale bipartisanship are slim, Biden re-released his 2022 appeal for Congress to get behind his “unity agenda” with action on the opioid epidemic, mental health, veterans’ health and cancer . He should announce new executive branch action and urge lawmakers to support new policies to support cancer research, address veteran housing needs and suicide, improve access to mental health care, and work to further crack down on the deadly fentanyl trade .

The White House said the president will ask for the new price cap of $35 per month for insulin for people on Medicare to be extended to everyone in the country. He would also urge Congress to quadruple the 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks enacted in last year’s Democrats’ climate and health bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

The speech comes days after Biden ordered the military to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which boldly flew over the country, captivating the nation and serving as a reminder of strained relations between the two world powers.

Last year’s address came just days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, and many in the West doubted Kyiv would withstand the onslaught. Over the past year, the US and other allies have sent tens of billions of dollars in military and economic aid to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. Now Biden must work—both at home and abroad—to maintain that coalition as the war drags on.

___

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the State of the Union address at: https://apnews.com/hub/state-of-the-union-address

Zeke Miller and Seung Min Kim, The Associated Press

Source