President Joe Biden assured his countrymen that “America is coming back” as the country works to combat the deadly coronavirus and resurrect the economy, which has been severely harmed by the pandemic.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States is the worst-affected region, with the highest number of reported cases and deaths (29,150,068 and 529,102, respectively). Unemployment benefits are now being used by 18 million Americans, and 400,000 small companies have permanently closed their doors.
On the 50th day of his presidency, Biden gave his first prime-time address to the nation, saying, “America is coming back.”
“The development, manufacture, distribution of vaccines in record time is a true miracle of science. It’s one of the most extraordinary achievements any country has ever accomplished. We also just saw the Perseverance rover land on Mars, stunning images of our dreams that are now reality, another example of the extraordinary American ingenuity, commitment, and belief in science and one another,” he said.
He said there was something else that the nation missed in the last year, when the country lost more than 500,000 Americans.
“We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people. But as I stand here tonight, we’re proving once again something I’ve said time and time again to the–probably tired of hearing me say it. I say it to foreign leaders and domestic alike. It’s never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people,” Biden said.
“And today, I signed into law the American Rescue Plan, an historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people. It includes USD 1,400 in direct rescue checks — payments. That means a typical family of four earning about USD 110,000 will get checks for USD 5,600 deposited if they have direct deposit or in a check — a Treasury check,” he said.
“It extends unemployment benefits. It helps small businesses. It lowers health care premiums for many. It provides food and nutrition, keeps families in their homes. And it will cut child poverty in this country in half, according to the experts. And it funds all the steps to beat the virus and create millions of jobs,” he said.
This will resolve the pandemic while also offering direct financial support and relief to Americans who are in urgent need.
Biden said he will be traveling in the coming weeks and months with the first lady, vice president, second gentleman, and members of his Cabinet to speak directly to Americans and tell them the truth about how the American Rescue Plan fits into the current situation.
“If it fails in any place, I will acknowledge that it failed, but it will not; about how after long, dark years, one whole year, there is hope and light of better days ahead,” he said.
He continued saying, “If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we’ll have proven once again that this country can do anything, hard things, big things, important things.”
“Over a year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now we’re coming through it. It is a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. We are bound together by the loss and the pain of the days that have gone by. We are also bound together by the hope and the possibilities in the days in front of us,” he said.
Biden said his fervent prayer for the country is that, “after all we have been through, we’ll come together as one people, one nation, one America.“
“I believe we can and we will. We’re seizing this moment. And history, I believe, will record: We faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this nation’s history — darkest we’ve ever known,” he said.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 95.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered across the country. Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have all received emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for their Covid-19 vaccines.
