总统乔·拜登在参议院任职36年和担任副总统8年后，他对国情咨文和对国会的联合讲话并不陌生，但周三晚上，他终于发表了自己的一个演讲回顾过去的演讲对总统的成就和他未来的议程进行宣传。

这次演讲看起来与往年不同，有新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)把观众限制在有限的范围内，把更大的重点放在国内的电视观众身上——这可能是拜登在就职典礼之外的年度最大观众。

奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂影像公司

乔·拜登总统作为副总统卡玛拉•哈里斯和斯佩在国会联席会议上发表讲话

以下是拜登首次向国会发表联合讲话的要点:

这场流行病使这次演讲与众不同

新冠肺炎是总统首先谈到的话题之一，就像拜登的整个总统任期一样，病毒在塑造总统讲话的外观和感觉方面发挥了很大作用。

对于这位终身政治家来说，这一期待已久的时刻缺乏正常的声势。

通常拥挤不堪的大厅里稀稀拉拉地坐满了人，虽然掌声并没有减少，但却没有达到几年前的音量。

尽管通常有1600多人参加总统对国会的演讲——除了总统的第一年，这种演讲被称为国情咨文——但今年只有200人被允许亲自出席。

众议院会议厅里较小的人群在社交上保持距离，并戴着面具，与会者离拜登走过的中间过道有三个座位。

传统的握手变成了拳头碰撞，国会议员斜靠在社交距离较远的空座位上，沿着过道到达黄金地段，以便在电视上看到他们问候总统。

虽然大多数内阁成员通常都会出席，但今年只有国务卿和国防部长出席。其余的人在家观看，不需要“指定幸存者”

被邀请的客人通常坐在第一夫人的包厢里，而在周三下午的虚拟招待会上庆祝。

白宫表示，拜登的目标是在这样的讲话中比平时更直接地对美国人民讲话，拜登发表了讲话，直接对美国工人讲话。

路透吉姆·沃森/普尔

第一夫人吉尔·拜登在第二绅士道格·埃姆霍夫旁边挥手致意，迎接总统的到来

拜登在多年的绝望后表现出乐观的语气

拜登在他任职的第99天发表了讲话，与他在当前疫情中的许多其他讲话不同，这次讲话的语气明显乐观。

精力充沛的拜登试图为美国在抗击新冠肺炎方面取得的进展邀功，他指出，截至周四，已经注射了2.2亿剂疫苗。

他说，他“继承了一个处于“危机”中的国家”，这个国家面临着历史性的流行病和经济危机，并受到1月6日国会大厦起义的影响。

拜登说:“现在，仅仅过了100天，我就可以向全国汇报了。”美国又开始行动了。"

他说，美国人“永远、永远、永远不要趴下”，“永远要站起来”。

“今天，这就是我们正在做的，”他说。“美国正在重新崛起。选择希望而不是恐惧，选择真理而不是谎言，选择光明而不是黑暗。”

拜登的崇高目标面临党派现实的检验

拜登演讲的大部分内容都集中在他希望在接下来的一年里做些什么:主要的优先事项，如枪支控制和移民，他庞大的基础设施法案，教育和儿童保育计划。

但是，这些目标中的一些不太可能实现，能够实现的目标来之不易。

在移民改革方面，众议院民主党人提出了独立的法案，为儿童移民延期行动和农场工人绿卡提供了获得公民身份的途径。这些法案的存在表明众议院议长南希·佩洛西没有获得通过拜登全面改革方案所需的支持。

和伊利诺伊州参议员迪克·德宾。参议院中排名第二的民主党人，几乎承认总统的全面移民改革方案今年不会在他的议院以民主党控制的微弱优势通过。

同样，枪支管制似乎进展不快。

而一些参议员，像帕特·图米，R-Pa。康涅狄格州的克里斯·墨菲(Chris Murphy)正在讨论一些可能获得共和党支持的措施，如增加某些类型的背景调查，众议院通过的枪支管制措施在参议院共和党人中几乎没有得到支持。

拜登的2.3万亿美元基础设施计划可能会成功，在预算和解过程中，该计划可以在参议院以简单多数获得通过，但他能否获得两党对该措施的支持仍有待观察，这是他未能做到的新冠肺炎救济会。

卡罗琳·布雷曼/通过盖蒂图像池

众议员吉姆·乔丹和众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在乔·布什总统就职前进行了交谈

尽管有这些障碍，拜登在讲话中明确表示，他愿意考虑其他建议，以便在基础设施和刑事司法改革等问题上达成共识，只要这意味着进展。

拜登在回应提出自己基础设施计划的共和党人时说:“我喜欢会见那些有不同想法的人，他们认为这些想法更好。”。“我欢迎这些想法。但世界其他地方并没有等着我们。我只想明确一点，在我看来，什么都不做不是一种选择。”

拜登公布新的1.8万亿美元“家庭计划”

正如白宫承诺的那样，拜登呼吁对家庭和儿童进行“一代人一次”的投资，向国会议员和美国人民阐述了他最近宣布的美国家庭计划。

在该计划中，拜登呼吁为3岁和4岁的儿童普及学前教育，并为家庭和工人提供两年的免费社区大学、全国带薪休假计划和8000亿美元的税收抵免。

拜登在讲话中提到了他与教育的个人联系，特别提到了他的妻子，在一所社区大学任教的第一夫人吉尔·拜登。

“如果我听过一次，我就听过一千次，”他引用妻子的话说道。“‘乔，任何一个比我们教育水平高的国家都会打败我们。’她将深入参与领导这项工作。"

拜登还谈到了他计划如何支付这笔巨额投资，重申了他不增加年收入低于40万美元的个人税收的承诺。

“有时候我会和民主党的朋友发生争执。我认为你应该能够成为亿万富翁和百万富翁，但要支付你应得的份额，”拜登说。

“我不想惩罚任何人，”他继续说道。“但我不会给这个国家的中产阶级增加税收负担。他们已经付够了。”

梅利纳·马拉/普尔/法新社通过盖蒂图像

副总统卡玛拉•哈里斯和众议院议长南希·佩洛西聆听总统乔·拜登讲话

历史造就了:议长女士和副总统女士

为了历史上第一次在总统向国会发表演讲时，两位女性坐在总统身后——副总统卡玛拉•哈里斯和佩洛西。

佩洛西以前参加过国会的总统演讲，但今年是她第一次和女性副总统坐在一起。

“议长女士，副总统女士，”拜登在演讲开始时说。“没有一位总统在这个讲台上说过这些话——没有一位总统说过这些话。也是时候了。”

哈里斯是第一位女性副总统，也是第一位担任该角色的黑人和第一位印第安美国人。

当哈里斯周三晚上到达众议院会议厅时，美国广播公司新闻问她，“今晚两个女人坐在总统身后有什么意义?”

“正常，”她回答。

哈里斯的任务是领导基础设施建设

拜登宣布，他将委托哈里斯牵头推动他的2.3万亿美元基础设施提案获得通过。

她将面临共和党议员的广泛反对，他们说该计划过于宽泛，一些民主党人也表达了这种观点。正如总统所建议的那样，共和党人也反对提高公司税来支付这笔费用。

通过盖蒂图像的吉姆·沃森/游泳池

副总统卡玛拉•哈里斯问候美国众议院议长南希

一群共和党人提出了他们自己的计划，重点是他们所说的更“传统”的基础设施投资。

这项任务对哈里斯来说是一项重要的任务，她在成为副总统之前是一名参议员。

拜登还让她负责阻止移民流动来自中美洲，而她也接受了其他问题，如鼓励美国黑人接种疫苗。

Key takeaways from Biden's 1st address to a joint session of Congress

PresidentJoe Bidenis no stranger to the State of the Union and joint addresses to Congress after 36 years in the Senate and eight years as vice president, but Wednesday night, he finally got to deliver one of his own --a speech that looked backon the president's accomplishments and pitched ahead to his future agenda.

The speech looked different than in years past, withCOVID-19keeping the audience confined and putting a larger emphasis on the television audience at home -- likely Biden's biggest audience of the year outside of his inauguration.

One day shy of his 100th day in office, Biden made the case for his future agenda.

The pandemic made this a speech like none other

COVID-19 was one of the first topics the president addressed, and as has been the case for all of Biden's presidency, the virus played a large role in shaping the look and feel of the president's remarks.

For the lifelong politician, this long-awaited moment lacked much of the normal fanfare.

The usually jam-packed chamber was sparsely filled, and while the applause was no less frequent, it did not reach the same volume as years past.

While more than 1,600 people typically attend a presidential speech to Congress -- called a State of the Union address except in a president's first year -- this year, only 200 people were allowed to be there in person.

The smaller crowd in the House of Representatives chamber was socially distanced and masked, with attendees kept three seats away from the center aisle Biden walked down.

Traditional glad-handing transformed into fist-bumping, with members of Congress leaning across socially distanced empty seats to reach prime real estate along the aisles in order to be seen on television greeting the president.

While most of the Cabinet usually attends, this year only the secretaries of state and defense were there. The rest watched from home, eliminating the need for a "designated survivor."

The invited guests usually seated in the first lady's box were instead celebrated in a virtual reception Wednesday afternoon.

The White House said Biden's goal would be to speak more directly to the American people than usual during such an address, and Biden delivered, speaking directly to American workers.

Biden projects optimistic tone after year of despair

Biden delivered the address on his 99th day in office, and unlike many of his other speeches amid the ongoing pandemic, this one struck a decidedly optimistic tone.

An energized Biden sought to take credit for strides the United States has taken fighting COVID-19 -- noting 220 million vaccine doses will have been administered by Thursday.

He said he had "inherited a nation" that was "in crisis" -- facing a historic pandemic and economic crisis and reeling from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

"Now, after just 100 days," Biden said, "I can report to the nation" America is on the move again."

Americans, he said "never, ever, ever stay down" and "always get up."

"Today, that's what we're doing," he said. "America is rising anew. Choosing hope over fear, truth over lies, and light over darkness."

Biden's lofty goals face a partisan reality check

Much of Biden's speech focused on what he hopes to do over the next year: major priorities like gun control and immigration, his enormous infrastructure bill, education and child care plans.

But it's very unlikely some of these goals will be met, and the ones that can be accomplished will be hard-won.

On immigration reform, House Democrats have introduced standalone bills to give a pathway to citizenship to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and green cards to farmworkers. The existence of those bills indicates House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not have the support necessary to pass Biden's comprehensive reform package.

And Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, has all but admitted the president's comprehensive immigration reform package won't pass in his chamber this year with a razor-thin margin of Democratic control.

Likewise, gun control seems to be going nowhere fast.

While some senators, like Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., are discussing measures that might grab some Republican support, like increasing certain types of background checks, the House-passed gun control measures have little support among Senate Republicans.

Biden might be able to succeed with his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which can be passed with a simple majority in the Senate under the budget reconciliation process, but it remains to be seen whether he can secure any bipartisan support for that measure, something he failed to do withCOVID-19 relief.

Despite the roadblocks, Biden made it clear in his remarks he was open to considering other proposals to find consensus on issues like Infrastructure and criminal justice reform -- so long as it meant progress.

"I like to meet with those who have ideas that are different, that they think are better," Biden said in response to Republicans who have proposed their own infrastructure plan. "I welcome those ideas. But the rest of the world is not waiting for us. I just want to be clear, from my perspective, doing nothing is not an option."

Biden unveils new $1.8 trillion 'families plan'

As promised by the White House, Biden called for a "once in a generation" investment in families and children, making his case for his newly announced American Families Plan to members of Congress and the American people.

In the plan, Biden calls for universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, as well as two years of free community college, a national paid leave program and $800 billion in tax credits for families and workers.

In his remarks, Biden noted his personal connection to education, singling out his wife, first lady Jill Biden, who teaches at a community college.

"If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times," he said, quoting his wife. "'Joe, any country that out-educates us is going to outcompete us.' She will be deeply involved in leading this effort."

Biden also addressed how he planned to pay for the massive investment, reiterating his pledge not to raise taxes on any individual making less than $400,000 a year.

"Sometimes I have arguments with my friends in the Democratic Party. I think you should be able to become a billionaire and a millionaire, but pay your fair share," Biden said.

"I'm not looking to punish anybody," he continued. "But I will not add a tax burden, additional tax burden, to the middle class in this country. They're already paying enough."

History made: Madam speaker and madam vice president

For thefirst time in history, two women sat behind the president as he delivered an address to Congress -- Vice President Kamala Harris and Pelosi.

Pelosi has attended presidential speeches to Congress before, but this year's marked the first time she sat alongside a female vice president.

"Madam speaker, madam vice president," Biden said at the start of his speech. "No president has ever said those words from this podium -- no president has ever said those words. And it's about time."

Harris is the first woman vice president, as well as the first Black person and first Indian American to serve in the role.

As Harris arrived at the House chamber Wednesday night, ABC News asked her, "What is the significance of two women sitting behind the president tonight?"

"Normal," she replied.

Harris tasked with leading infrastructure push

Biden announced he was tasking Harris with leading the push to get his $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposals passed.

She'll face widespread opposition among Republican lawmakers who say the plan is too expansive, a sentiment some Democrats have expressed, too. Republicans are also opposed to raising taxes on corporations to pay for it, as the president has suggested.

A group of Republicans have proposed their own plan that is focused on what they call more "traditional" infrastructure investments.

The assignment is a major one for Harris, who before she became vice president was a senator.

Biden has also tasked her withstemming the flow of migrationfrom Central America, while she has embraced other issues like encouraging Black Americans to get vaccinated.