JUDY WOODRUFF: One hundred days into his presidency,
President Joe Biden has already faced historic challenges.
Last night, in his televised first address to a joint session of Congress,
he laid out his plans to prepare the country for the future by strengthening infrastructure
and families and sharing some of his vision for America's place in the world.
Yamiche Alcindor reports.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: After just 100 days, I can report to the nation,
America is on the move again.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
YAMICHE ALCINDOR:
A pandemic, an economic crisis,
and a racially and politically divided country still reeling from the siege at the Capitol.
MAN: We're coming for you!
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: On Inauguration Day three months ago, those were the immense challenges facing the
country and President Joe Biden. Though those challenges remain, since that day, there have
been historic achievements, disappointing losses and promises still unfulfilled.
JOE BIDEN: Because of you, the American people,
our progress these past 100 days against one of the worst pandemics in history has been one of the
greatest logistical achievements, logistical achievements this country has ever seen.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In his first address to Congress last night, Biden touted his
administration's work building out plans to get more COVID-19 vaccine to Americans.
Now vaccinators have given more than 200 million shots.
JOE BIDEN: Go and get the vaccination.
(APPLAUSE)
KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States: The vice
president votes in the affirmative, and the concurrent resolution as amended is adopted.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: With Vice President Kamala Harris casting a tie-breaking
vote for the evenly divided Senate, Biden passed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill,
the aim, trying to prevent even more economic devastation.
Since then, he's laid out plans for a $2 trillion jobs plan.
JOE BIDEN: America is moving, moving forward, but we can't stop now.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Last night, Biden detailed another $1.8
trillion tax-and-spending package to help American children and families.
JOE BIDEN: To win that competition for the future,
in my view, we also need to make a once-in-a-generation investment.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Many Democrats, including some of the most progressive,
have praised the historic, FDR-sized spending.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Americans heard a lengthy liberal daydream.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: But Republicans have widely opposed Biden's plans.
Not one GOP lawmaker has voted for or even backed
Biden's spending bills, despite Biden pledging unity on the campaign trail.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): The actions of the president and his party are pulling us
further and further apart.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In the Republican response to the president's speech,
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said Biden's policies and spending packages are divisive.
SEN. TIM SCOTT: It's a liberal wish list of big government waste,
plus the biggest job-killing tax hikes in a generation.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Scott also blamed the Biden administration for not doing
more to reopen schools and credit the Trump administration's vaccine work.
Biden has worked to roll back many of what he said were divisive policies from former
President Donald Trump. He quickly lifted Trump bans on travel from Muslim-majority countries and
transgender troops in the military. Then there are the campaign promises Biden has yet to fulfill.
JOE BIDEN: I will reverse Trump's detrimental asylum policies, raise our target for refugees.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Despite a campaign promise,
Biden recently said he would not lift Trump's cap on refugees allowed into the U.S.
But after intense pressure from advocates and progressive Democrats,
Biden backpedaled. The White House said he would raise the number next month.
But officials also said the federal government has to balance processing the influx of unaccompanied
children and other migrants at the Southern border with efforts to resettle refugees,
though the two groups are processed under separate systems.
Meanwhile, the massive immigration bill Biden sent to Congress
has so far fallen flat. His plans to provide a pathway to citizenship
for 11 million people in the country without legal status appear headed for a smaller compromise.
JOE BIDEN: If you don't like my plan,
let's at least pass what we all agree on. Congress needs to pass legislation this year.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Last night, Biden called on the Senate to
pass a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients,
who came to the U.S. illegally as children, and agricultural workers without legal status.
JOE BIDEN: As president, I promise you, I will get these weapons of war off the street again.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Other Biden promises on guns, voting rights and raising the
minimum wage to $15 an hour have also so far stalled in Congress.
JOE BIDEN: This can be a moment of significant change.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In the meantime, Biden has continued to find his place
as the consoler in chief, after events from mass shootings to police killings of Black Americans.
Last summer, the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin,
set off protests and a national racial reckoning.
This month, Biden addressed the nation after the officer was convicted of murder.
JOE BIDEN: In order to deliver real change and reform, we can and we must do more to
reduce the likelihood that tragedies like this will ever happen and occur again,
to ensure that Black and brown people or anyone,
so they don't fear the interactions with law enforcement.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: On foreign policy, Biden is still working to reestablish American alliances
strained by President Trump's America first policies.
Last night, Biden framed his sweeping spending proposals
as critical to making sure America doesn't fall behind other countries.
JOE BIDEN: We're in competition with China and other countries
to win the 21st century. We're at a great inflection point in history.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: It's a struggle, Biden said,
that will determine America's and democracy's place in the world.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Yamiche Alcindor.