President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. This will be the first time he will be addressing a divided Congress. Republicans took control of the House of Representatives after winning the midterm elections.
Part of Biden’s speech will focus on how Democrats and Republicans can work together.
He will call for unity in the effort to fight and end cancer. Biden wants Congress to reauthorize the National Cancer Act. The White House says the reauthorization will allow the nation’s cancer research and care systems to be updated. It added that this would allow information from research to be accessed by a greater number of experts so that they can work to end cancer as we know it.
Biden believes he can also find bipartisan support to help veterans and their families. The president will present a vision to help veterans access better health care, education and housing.
Biden will also call on lawmakers to help address veteran suicides. The administration says that over 71,000 ex-servicemen have committed suicide since 2010.
The president will also call on Republican and Democratic lawmakers to work together to address the mental health crisis in America. The main objectives will be to support a healthy environment, strengthen system capacity, and connect more Americans to care.
Biden is also calling for bipartisanship in tackling the opioid and overdose epidemic. He believes lawmakers can support the administration’s efforts to disrupt the distribution and tracking of fentanyl.
One of the guests seated in the First Lady’s viewing box is Doug Griffin. He lost his 20-year-old daughter to an overdose of fentanyl. He is calling for better access to substance use disorder treatment services.
Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova was also asked to sit in the First Lady’s viewing box. The White House has praised Markarova for her work during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
RowVaughn and Rodney Wells will also be in attendance. They are demanding police reforms in the wake of their son’s death. He died after being beaten by Memphis police officers.
State of the Union airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT.
.page-bottom> .RichTextModule {display: none;} .page-bottom .link {font-size: 12px; padding: 5px 10px; border: 1px solid #005687; border-radius: 4px; font-family: “proxima-nova”, sans-serif; ,
