-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, on a cold January morning, less than a year after being elected our Nation's first President, George Washington set out in a carriage drawn by six horses, headed to Federal Hall to fulfill his duty under our new Constitution, which read:

The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the state of the Union.

One of the few firsthand accounts of that speech came from Senator Maclay, who said:

The President was dressed in second morning, and read his speech well.

Not exactly a hot take, but Senator Maclay wasn't one for glowing praise.

More than two centuries later, I had the privilege of watching, from a few rows back, as President Biden delivered the State of the Union Address earlier this month. And I must tell you: Joe Biden didn't just ``read his speech well''; he was electrifying. Despite the tremendous challenges we face around the world today, I came away feeling optimistic about our Nation's future, and as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I came away strongly supportive of many of the administration's foreign policy priorities.

To appreciate what this President has accomplished, we need to remember where he started. We need to remember the uncertainty and isolation of the COVID pandemic--a pandemic that experts estimate killed almost 30 million people worldwide.

We need to remember how the global economy was on the brink of collapse--supply chains failed; unemployment surged; there were fears that we were headed for a repeat of the Great Depression.

And we need to remember, from ASEAN to NATO, the disenchantment of our allies. One senior European diplomat said back in 2020:

The transatlantic relationship has never been this bad. The trust between the U.S. and Europe is not there anymore.

Now, I am not going to sugarcoat the world we face today. The Hamas attacks against Israel were one of the worst days in Jewish history, and it has led to a terrible humanitarian crisis for the Palestinians in Gaza. China's efforts to expand its authoritarian influence stretch from the smallest Pacific Island nation to the largest continent in the world--Africa. And Putin continues to wage a campaign to restore the former Soviet empire and annihilate the Ukrainian nation.

These are serious threats. To counter them, we need serious American leadership around the world, leadership that is rooted in values that promote human rights, that defend democracy, and that are driven by something I know Joe Biden has--basic decency.

Sitting and watching the State of the Union, I was struck by the strength of President Biden's moral compass. This is not a President who stands only for himself; he stands for all of us. This is not a President who stands idly by as our climate is destroyed; he has passed landmark legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act. This is not a President who seeks revenge against public servants for their personal views; he revitalizes our foreign policy and national security workforce. This is not a President who invites the Russians to do ``whatever the hell they want'' or threatens to pull out of NATO; he brings our allies together to stand up for Ukraine's independence. This is not a President who idolizes dictators and encourages autocrats; he prioritizes human rights and civil society movements around the world.

President Biden's foreign policy is focused on the future--a future for Europe, whole and free; a future for an Indo-Pacific that is thriving and at peace; a future with a two-state solution that gives security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians for generations to come.

This will not be easy, but sitting at the State of the Union, I was encouraged by the bipartisan support I felt in the room when it came to foreign policy. Even Speaker Johnson seemed to be nodding his head as the President talked about Ukraine.

There have been many State of the Union speeches since George Washington spoke more than 200 years ago. They have been printed on paper, broadcasted over the radio and on television, and shared on clips across the internet; but throughout history, Presidents' speeches to Congress have given us hope.

In 1947, at the dawn of the Cold War, President Truman said in his State of the Union Address:

If we maintain and strengthen our cherished ideals, and if we share our great bounty with war-stricken people over the world, then the faith of our citizens in freedom and democracy will be spread over the whole earth.

This is still true today.

To the political prisoners in Putin's jails, do not give up hope on freedom.

To the human rights defenders uncovering violence and assassinations, do not give up hope for justice.

To the war-stricken people of the world who are hungry and forced to flee their homes, do not give up your hope for democracy.

To our allies and partners across the globe, know that the United States stands with you.

And remember that if we come together and stand up for each other, we can build a world that is safe and peaceful and prosperous.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source