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U.S. President Joe Biden says he wants the U.S. Congress to seek bipartisan cooperation on the significant domestic and foreign policy challenges facing the United States in the coming months.
But as VOA's Capitol Hill Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, lawmakers see very differently on key issues.
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Transcript/ScriptUS CONGRESS - SOTU REACTION (TV)
HEADLINE: Biden’s Bipartisan Message May Not Hold on Immigration, China, Ukraine
TEASER: A divided Congress does not see eye-to-eye on major issues
PUBLISHED AT: 02/08/23 at 730pm
BYLINE: Katherine Gypson
PRODUCERS: Katherine Gypson
CONTRIBUTING:
DATELINE: Capitol Hill
VIDEOGRAPHER: Rob Parsons
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, Bowman
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, feeds
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:02
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: ))
((TV/web intro: U.S. President Joe Biden says he wants the U.S. Congress to seek bipartisan cooperation on the significant domestic and foreign policy challenges facing the United States in the coming months. But as VOA's Capitol Hill Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, lawmakers see very differently on key issues. ))
((NARRATOR))
President Joe Biden with a message of bipartisanship for the U.S. Congress Tuesday night….
((President Joe Biden))
“If we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together and find consensus on important things in this Congress as well.”
((NARRATOR))
But on Capitol Hill, now divided between a Democratic-majority U.S. Senate and a Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives, lawmakers disagreed on the big issues Biden said the country needs to address.
((Rep. Mark Takano, Democrat))
“The Republicans chant ‘Close the border, close the border’ without really conceding that that is not the solution to the problem. I think, I think we can get more serious about the border, other ports of entry like airports. But we also have to really get down to our DREAMers, those, you know, several million young people, some of them adults by now in their 30s, who came to this country through no fault of their own.”
((NARRATOR))
Republicans said Biden’s request for more funding at the borders would encourage more migration. But some Republicans are skeptical of Biden’s request for more funding for border security, fearing it would be used in ways that encourage rather than discourage migration.
((Rep. Brian Babin, Republican))
“If we give them more money, they're going to use it to count more, and facilitate the process and give more immigrants coming in. Instead of stopping the immigration and disincentivizing it, that's where that money would be used.”
((NARRATOR))
Biden said backing Ukraine is a key U.S. national security interest.
((Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Democrat))
“This is our reputation at stake in front of the world, in front of the global community. We stand for democracy, we're the beacon of hope to democracies around the world. We must stand with Ukraine.”
((NARRATOR))
… But House Republicans want more oversight of U.S. aid to help combat the Russian invasion.
((Rep. Ryan Zinke, Republican))
“What's the plan? To suggest that it's just open-ended, a blank check in Ukraine. And remember, when we ship armament to Ukraine, we don't control where their armaments going.”
((NARRATOR))
Republicans also say that Biden did not react quickly enough to the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down last week.
((Rep. Don Bacon, Republican))
“He's very tentative. He doesn't want to provoke but by doing so he's actually tempting the Chinese to do more. I think they see, they sense weakness.”
((NARRATOR))
But Biden argued the United States is in competition – not conflict with China.
((Rep. Vincente Gonzalez, Democrat))
“The president did the right thing and waited till it left our coast and it was in a safe place to shoot it out of the sky. And we did, and I think we showed China, Russia, and the world that if you come and try these type of maneuvers in our country, that we're going to take repercussions.”
((NARRATOR))
The divided Congress will face a major test in late May when the debt ceiling must be raised to avoid a U.S. government default.
((Katherine Gypson, VOA News, Capitol Hill))
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