A3
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021
Biden pitches big spending boost Pause: ‘A reset
is essential right
now for all aspects’
By JONATHAN LEMIRE
and JOSH BOAK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pres-
ident Joe Biden declared
Wednesday
night
that
“America is rising anew” as
he called for an expansion of
federal programs to drive the
economy past the pandemic
and broadly extend the social
safety net on a scale not seen
in decades.
In his fi rst address to Con-
gress, he pointed optimisti-
cally to the nation’s emer-
gence from the coronavirus
scourge as a moment for
America to prove that its
democracy can still work
and maintain primacy in the
world.
Speaking in highly per-
sonal terms while demanding
massive structural changes,
the president marked his fi rst
100 days in offi ce by propos-
ing a $1.8 trillion investment
in children, families and edu-
cation to help rebuild an
economy devastated by the
virus and compete with ris-
ing global competitors.
His speech represented
both an audacious vision and
a considerable gamble. He
is governing with the most
slender of majorities in Con-
gress, and even some in his
own party have blanched at
the price tag of his proposals.
At the same time, the
speech highlighted Biden’s
fundamental belief in the
power of government as a
force for good, even at a time
when it is so often the object
of scorn.
“I can report to the nation:
America is on the move
again,” he said. “Turning
peril into possibility. Cri-
sis into opportunity. Setback
into strength.”
While the ceremonial set-
ting of the U.S. Capitol was
the same as usual, the visual
images were unlike any pre-
vious presidential address.
Members of Congress wore
masks and were seated apart
because of pandemic restric-
tions. Outside the grounds
were still surrounded by
fencing after insurrectionists
in January protesting Biden’s
election stormed to the doors
of the House chamber where
he gave his address.
The nationally televised
ritual raised the stakes for his
ability to sell his plans to vot-
ers of both parties, even if
Republican lawmakers prove
resistant. The president fol-
lowed the speech by hitting
the road to push his plans,
starting in Georgia on Thurs-
day and then on to Pennsyl-
vania and Virginia.
“America is ready for
takeoff . We are working
again. Dreaming again. Dis-
covering again. Leading the
world again. We have shown
each other and the world:
There is no quit in America,”
Biden said.
This year’s scene at the
front of the House chamber
also had a historic look: For
the fi rst time, a female vice
president, Kamala Harris,
was seated behind the chief
executive. And she was next
to another woman, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The fi rst ovation came as
Biden greeted “Madam Vice
Continued from Page A1
Chip Somodevilla/AP Photo
President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress on Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol as
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi look on.
President.” He added, “No
president has ever said those
words from this podium, and
it’s about time.”
The chamber was so
sparsely populated that indi-
vidual claps could be heard
echoing off the walls.
Yet Biden said, “I have
never been more confi dent or
more optimistic about Amer-
ica. We have stared into an
abyss of insurrection and
autocracy — of pandemic
and pain — and ‘We the Peo-
ple’ did not fl inch.”
At times, the president
plainly made his case for
democracy itself.
Biden demanded that the
government take care of its
own as a powerful symbol
to the world of an America
willing to forcefully follow
its ideals and people. He con-
fronted an issue rarely faced
by an American president,
namely that in order to com-
pete with autocracies like
China, the nation needs “to
prove that democracy still
works” after his predeces-
sor’s baseless claims of elec-
tion fraud and the ensuing
attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Can our democracy
overcome the lies, anger, hate
and fears that have pulled us
apart?” he asked. “Ameri-
ca’s adversaries — the auto-
crats of the world — are bet-
ting it can’t. They believe we
are too full of anger and divi-
sion 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.”
Biden repeatedly ham-
mered home that his plans
would put Americans back
to work, restoring the mil-
lions of jobs lost to the virus.
He laid out an extensive pro-
posal for universal preschool,
two years of free commu-
nity college, $225 billion for
child care and monthly pay-
ments of at least $250 to par-
ents. His ideas target frailties
that were uncovered by the
pandemic, and he argues that
economic growth will best
come from taxing the rich to
help the middle class and the
poor.
Biden’s speech also pro-
vided an update on combat-
ing the COVID-19 crisis he
was elected to tame, show-
casing hundreds of millions
of vaccinations and relief
checks delivered to help off -
set the devastation wrought
by a virus that has killed
more than 573,000 people
in the United States. He also
championed his $2.3 trillion
infrastructure plan, a stagger-
ing fi gure to be fi nanced by
higher taxes on corporations.
His appeals were often
emotive and personal, talking
about Americans needing
food and rental assistance.
He also spoke to members of
Congress as a peer as much
as a president, singling out
U.S. Sen. Mitch McCon-
nell, the Republicans’ leader,
to praise him and speak-
ing as one at a professional
homecoming.
The GOP members in
the chamber largely stayed
silent, even refusing to clap
for seemingly universal goals
like reducing childhood pov-
erty. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott,
of South Carolina, said, in
the Republicans’ designated
response, that Biden was
more rhetoric than action.
“Our president seems like
a good man,” Scott said. “But
our nation is starving for
more than empty platitudes.”
The president spoke
against a backdrop of the
weakening but still lethal
pandemic, staggering unem-
ployment and a roiling
debate about police violence
against Blacks. He also used
his address to touch on the
broader national reckoning
over race in America, urg-
ing legislation be passed by
the anniversary of George
Floyd’s death next month,
and to call on Congress to act
on the thorny issues of pre-
scription drug pricing, gun
control and modernizing the
nation’s immigration system.
In his fi rst three months
in offi ce, Biden has signed
a $1.9 trillion COVID-19
relief bill — passed without
a single GOP vote — and has
shepherded direct payments
of $1,400 per person to more
than 160 million households.
Hundreds of billions of dol-
lars in aid will soon arrive
for state and local govern-
ments, enough money that
overall U.S. growth this year
could eclipse 6% — a level
not seen since 1984. Admin-
istration offi cials are betting
that it will be enough to bring
back all 8.4 million jobs lost
to the pandemic by next year.
A signifi cant amount pro-
posed just Wednesday would
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extending the enhanced tax
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COVID-19 aid. There would
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for subsidized child care and
free preschool for all 3- and
4-year-olds.
Another combined $425
billion would go to perma-
nently reduce health insur-
ance premiums for peo-
ple who receive coverage
through the Aff ordable Care
Act, as well a national paid
family and medical leave
program. Further spending
would be directed toward
Pell Grants, historically
Black and tribal institutions
and to allow people to attend
community college tui-
tion-free for two years.
Funding all of this would
be a series of tax increases on
the wealthy that would raise
about $1.5 trillion over a
decade. Republican lawmak-
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balked at the price tags of
Biden’s plans, complicating
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Associated Press writer
Darlene Superville contrib-
uted to this report.
Henrikson said the aim
is to end up with a fi nal
product that the board is
able to adopt .
Commissioners unan-
imously supported paus-
ing the work. D uring the
hiatus, Henrikson said,
county staff will continue
to prepare drafts of the 18
goals and provide regular
updates to the board.
“As we go forward, the
governing body will take
on the responsibility of tru-
ing up this process,” Com-
missioner Lianne Thomp-
son said to committee
members during a board
meeting Wednesday night.
“We’re working on this.
Let me assure you, your
work is honored. It is val-
ued. It is not lost.
“A reset is essential
right now for all aspects.”
When committee mem-
bers received an email
from Henrikson about the
pause, there was some
shock and speculation
about the intent behind the
move.
Several
committee
members attended the
b oard meeting Wednes-
day to ask commissioners
to reinstate the committee
meetings.
“Has it been tedious and
too long, maybe,” Patrick
Corcoran, a member of the
countywide citizen advi-
sory committee, said. “But
this is the part of the pro-
cess that’s supposed to be
diffi cult. This is the begin-
ning part of the making
of the sausage. And as the
process works through,
it will fi nally come to the
B oard of C ommissioners
to adopt the language as it
is written at that point. So
I’m a little more patient
with the process.
“Pauses equal lost
momentum on a major proj-
ect and this project doesn’t
need to lo se momentum.
Land use planning is a
very complex, steep learn-
ing curve for the non tech-
nical stakeholders.”
Corcoran added that
having county staff work
exclusively with commis-
sioners over the next sev-
eral months is at odds with
Oregon’s land use plan-
ning goals, which stress
citizen involvement.
“While I’m hesitant to
lose momentum, I think
there is value in having a
dialogue with commission-
ers, the P lanning C ommis-
sion and staff on the best
way to move forward,”
Andy Davis, the chair-
man of the countywide cit-
izen advisory committee,
said. “So what I’d like to
ask you to consider is to
include some of or all of
the CAC members in the
dialogue suggested at the
work session so that we
can share both our refl ec-
tions on our current work
and to have conversations
with you about some of the
items that were brought up,
like aspirational goals and
scope of authority.
“I think reasonable peo-
ple can have diff erent ideas
about how those concepts
fi t into the comprehen-
sive plan and having a dia-
logue about them outside
of just short public com-
ment periods may be help-
ful to everyone getting on
the same page, or at least
understanding each other
and fi nding a way forward
in a way that best contrib-
utes to making a success-
ful comp plan — and in the
long run makes our county
stronger, which is what I
believe all of us want in
this process.”