WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Joe Biden's first joint address to Congress (all times local):
11 p.m.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has used the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s address to Congress to vow that “America is not a racist country.”
Scott, the only Black Republican senator, seized on Biden’s calls earlier in the evening that passage of major police reform could help stamp out institutional racism nationwide. Scott countered that “today, kids are being taught the color of their skin defines them again. If they look a certain way, they’re the oppressor.”
He said Biden and other top Democrats have begun crying racism too frequently when it comes to unrelated policy disputes, saying “race is not a political weapon to settle every issue.” He bristled at Democratic suggestions that voting rights restrictions passed by GOP-controlled legislatures around the country were meant to keep minority Americans from casting ballots.
Scott argued that the economy under Republican President Donald Trump boomed, helping to lower unemployment dramatically for Black and Hispanic Americans before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Scott also chided congressional Democrats for opposing legislation he personally championed on police reform, arguing that, going forward, Americans of all races should unite since they “are all in this together.”
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN'S JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS:
President Joe Biden used his first joint address to Congress to declare the nation is “turning peril into possibility, crisis into opportunity.” He celebrated progress against the coronavirus and urged a $1.8 trillion investment in children, families and education that would fundamentally transform roles the government plays in American life.
Read more:
— Biden speech takeaways: Government is good, and so are jobs
— AP FACT CHECK: Claims from Biden’s joint address to Congress
— ‘Congress should act,’ Biden tells lawmakers near and far
— A closer look at Biden’s $1.8 trillion plan for families and education
— South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, in Republican response, seeks to credit GOP for ‘joyful springtime’
— First lady holds virtual reception for guests not at speech
— Harris, Pelosi to making history seated behind Biden at speech
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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
10:50 p.m.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott says President Joe Biden is failing to fulfill his promise to bring the country closer together and is even pulling the country further apart.
Scott gave the GOP’s response to Biden’s address to Congress on Wednesday night. He says public schools should have opened months ago and have been shown to be safe for children during the coronavirus pandemic. He calls the last few months “the clearest case I’ve seen for school choice in our lifetimes.”
Scott says infrastructure is another issue that should unite the country. He says Republicans support investments in roads, bridges, airports and broadband, but Democrats want what he describes as a “partisan wish list” that goes beyond that. He says “they won’t even build bridges to build bridges.” Biden has appealed to Republicans to present him with a legitimate counteroffer to his plan.
Scott also talked about Georgia's new voting law, calling opposition to it “misplaced outage” that is not about the country's racial past but about “rigging elections in the future.” Democratic advocates have said the law makes it harder for people to vote, particularly people of color.
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10:40 p.m.
President Joe Biden abandoned the COVID-19-safe elbow bumps as he left the House of Representatives after his first speech to Congress on Wednesday night.
Biden opted for fist bumps, back slaps, handshakes, and even some hand-holding as members of Congress approached him.
The longtime senator took his time leaving the chamber, and was standing in the aisle talking to lawmakers when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gaveled the session closed.
He chatted with senior Democratic leaders, including the head of the House Financial Services Committee, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California, and Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who leads the House Appropriations Committee. Biden held DeLauro’s hands as they spoke.
Biden engaged some Republicans, shaking hands with Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and grabbing his arm as they talked. The president appeared in no hurry to leave and spoke with most anyone who approached him, even taking one person’s card.
He finally left the chamber at 10:21 p.m., 10 minutes after ending his speech.