Addressing a Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday night for his first time as president, Democrat Joe Biden declared that, 100 days into his administration, America is facing both “crisis and opportunity”—and laid out his plans for continued big-government spending, including his so-called American Jobs Plan.
He talked, too, of raising the minimum wage to $15—a comment that earned him some boos throughout the chamber.
“I’d like to meet with those who have ideas that are different, they think are better. I welcome those ideas,” Biden also said at one point. “But the rest of the world is not waiting for us. I just want to be clear, from my perspective: Doing nothing is not an option.”
After the speech, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) delivered the Republican rebuttal.
It was a forceful, persuasive response.
Scott, 55, the only black Republican in the Senate, pushed back hard on Biden’s vision of ever-bigger spending programs as the only way to handle issues.
Among other points, Scott said, “We should be expanding options and opportunities for all families—not throwing money at certain issues because Democrats think they know best.”
He also said that as a black man, he himself has felt “the pain of discrimination,” but stressed that—unlike the Biden and Democrat view—“America is not a racist country” and that “race is not a political weapon to settle every issue the way one side wants.”
Notably, Scott praised Operation Warp Speed under former President Donald J. Trump as the instrument for America’s achievement of three vaccines for the coronavirus in record time.
Related: If You’re Vaccinated and Outdoors in a Small Group, Says CDC, You Don’t Need a Mask
“This [Biden] administration inherited [from Trump] a tide that had already turned. The coronavirus is on the run,” said Scott.
“Our country is flooded with safe and effective vaccines.”
Check out these additional tweets for more reaction and information about the speeches on Wednesday night:
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—By CNJ Staff