Biden touches on Uvalde, border in speech
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden mentioned Uvalde in his State of the Union address Tuesday night as he touted the gun law he signed last year and urged Congress to pass further restrictions.
Here’s what Biden said about issues affecting Texas:
‘Ban them now’
Biden said he met with parents who lost their children when a gunman killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
He said they all had the same plea: “Do something about gun violence.”
“Thank God, thank God we did,” Biden said. “Passing the most sweeping gun safety law in three decades.”
That bill, which U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas helped draft, required greater scrutiny of gun buyers under 21 years old and restricted access to firearms for
dating partners convicted of domestic abuse. The bill also created stiffer penalties for gun trafficking and “straw” purchasing, in which someone buys a firearm for someone prohibited from owning one. And it included funding for mental health and school safety measures.
But Biden said more must be done, urging Congress to “finish the job and ban these assault weapons.”
“Ban them now,” “Once and for all.”
‘Border problems’
he said.
The president also urged Congress to “come together on immigration and make it a bipartisan issue once again.”
Biden touted what he called a record number of personnel working to secure the border, who he said have arrested 8,000 human smugglers and seized 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in the last several months. He also said his new plan to allow asylumseekers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to live and work in the U.S. for two years if they apply from their home countries has led to a 97 percent drop in illegal crossings at the border.
But, Biden said, “America’s border problems won’t be solved until Congress acts.
“If we don’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border,” he said. “And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, essential workers.”
‘Do the right thing’
Biden slammed major oil companies that reported record profits “in the midst of a global energy crisis” as he called for higher taxes on the industry.
He accused oil companies of investing too little of the profit in increasing domestic production.
“I think it’s outrageous,” he said. “If they had in fact invested in the production to keep gas prices down — instead, they used the record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOS and shareholders.”
In response, the president called for Congress to quadruple taxes on corporate stock buybacks to encourage long-term investments.
“Corporations ought to do the right thing,” he said. “They’ll still make considerable profit.”