Biden's first speech to Congress

Five key moments from Biden's first speech to Congress

Half a century after he entered Congress as a senator, Joe Biden returned to deliver his first address as the 46th US President. Here are the key moments.

'Madam Vice-President, Madam Speaker

For the first time in US history, the two people seated behind the president as he delivered his address were women.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, and Vice-President Kamala Harris, who served as a California senator before Biden made her his running mate, flanked the president throughout the speech, looking over Biden's shoulders.

As he greeted the two as "Madam Vice-President, Madam Speaker," Biden added: "No president has ever said those words from this podium - no president has ever said those words, and it's about time!"

'Truth over lies'

Mr. Biden began his address to Congress with a not-so-subtle dig at his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Mr. Biden said he "inherited a nation in crisis" - describing America as a "house on fire".

"Now, after just 100 days, I can report to the nation: America is on the move again," he said, adding that America never stays down.

"America is rising anew. Choosing hope over fear. Truth over lies. Light over darkness. After 100 days of rescue and renewal, America is ready to take off. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again."

'Root out systemic racism'

Racial tensions have been at new highs in the past year following the May 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Mr. Biden referred in his address to Mr. Floyd's murder at the hands of an officer, saying: "We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of Black America."

"We won't ignore what our own intelligence agencies have determined - the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today is from white supremacist terrorism."

The president did defend the police, too, garnering applause, saying that "most men and women in uniform wear their badge and serve their communities honorably".

But he said work must be done "to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve, to root out systemic racism in our criminal justice system".

The wealthy need to 'pay their fair share

Much of Biden's speech focused on selling his big-budget plans for overhauling US infrastructure and social programs - all of which would rely on hiking taxes on the rich. The president insisted on Wednesday night that this was fair play.

"It's time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to pay their fair share. Just pay their fair share," he said.

A lot of companies evade taxes through tax havens from Switzerland to Bermuda to the Cayman Islands, and they benefit from tax loopholes and deductions that allow for offshoring jobs and shifting profits overseas. That's not right."

Mr. Biden emphasized his proposed tax reforms would help "reward work, not wealth" and affect "three-tenths of 1% of all Americans".

The government would also "crackdown" on the millionaires and billionaires who cheat on taxes.

"Look, I'm not out to punish anyone - but I will not add to the tax burden of the middle class of this country," Mr. Biden said. "What I've proposed is fair."

'We have to prove democracy still works'

Mr. Biden closed the evening by recalling the events of 6 January when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol and asked lawmakers to prove democracy can rise above such actions.

At the start of his speech, he called this riot "the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War".

"Can our democracy deliver on the most pressing needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate, and fears that have pulled us apart? America's adversaries - the autocrats of the world - are betting it can't," he said.

"They believe we are too full of anger and division and rage. They look at the images of the mob that assaulted this Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy.

"They are wrong. And we have to prove them wrong. We have to prove democracy still works."