February 20th marks exactly one month from the date that Joe Biden was sworn in as America’s 46th president. In his first month, he has signed executive orders to reverse the actions of his predecessor and to restructure our nation’s policies. Before taking office, he made promises to better the COVID crisis, improve the climate issues, and immigration policies.
During Biden’s campaign he promised if he was elected, he would begin his coronavirus plan before his inauguration. When he was giving a speech at the Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, “I’ll reach out to every governor in every state, red and blue, as well as mayors and local officials, during the transition, to find out what support they need and how much of it they need.” He assured the voters that his “National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness” plan will benefit all states and begin immediately if elected.
When Biden was elected, he proposed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, as well as $1,400 stimulus checks which were recently approved by the Senate. This bill will not only help COVID patients, but unemployed citizens, schools, and low-income families. It would contribute $350 billion for local and state governments and $130 billion for schools, housing aid, and food assistance. With Biden’s plan, citizens who are unemployed will be able to provide for themselves and their families which was one of Biden’s main goals during his campaign.
With Biden’s COVID relief bill, the Biden administration has increased vaccine distributions. At a recent briefing at the White House, Biden said, “And I’m pleased to announce today, as a consequence of the stepped-up process that I’ve ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply — I’ll say it again — for every adult in America by the end of May. By the end of May. That’s progress — important progress.” Prior to taking office, Biden was told that every adult would receive vaccines at the end of July, but Biden and his team sped up the process by having two pharmaceutical companies, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, collaborate. It was refreshing to know that Biden kept his promise and made vaccination one of his top priorities. He was, and still is, determined to help our country move forward from this pandemic.
In his presidential campaign, Biden also promised to take substantial steps to address climate change. His main promise for climate change was rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris Climate Agreement is an international treaty that proposes avoiding carbon emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change. On Biden’s first day, he signed an executive order to have the United States rejoin the Paris climate agreement. Tony Blinken, Secretary of State, called it “a good day in our fight against the climate crisis.” The signing of the Paris Agreement was one of Biden’s many steps that he plans to take to reform our climate crisis.
In addition to rejoining the Paris Agreement, Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone Pipeline System was an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States which exposed people and wildlife that came into contact with the pipeline to toxic chemicals. Unfortunately, this cut 1,000 jobs, but Biden and Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, believe that this is a step that will improve the climate. Along with shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, President Biden signed an executive order putting a temporary hold on the oil and gas activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This hold saved thousands of animals and prevented any future crisis that would occur due to the activity.
However, Biden did not sign an order to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net zero emissions by 2050, which was promised during his campaign. Biden said he wanted to spend $2 trillion to drive down emissions by enhancing four million buildings to make them more efficient. So far, he has not signed any executive orders to accomplish this goal and has not addressed it yet. Climate activists who voted for Biden want him to follow through with his promises and make the changes he guaranteed during his elections. Voters don’t want another president where the promises they heard were abandoned. Nevertheless, Biden is taking the steps to improve our climate and wildlife.
In the first 48 hours of his presidency, Biden signed executive orders to end the Trump travel ban or as the Trump administration called it, the “Muslim ban.” This will allow citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen to visit the United States. This ban not only separated families, but targeted Muslim-Americans and made them seem like a “threat” to security. When Trump made this ban, it led to protesting the scrutiny of Muslim-Americans in airports across the U.S. Biden ending this ban demonstrates the inclusiveness and unity America should have. Regarding the ban, Biden said that, “They have jeopardized our global network of alliances and partnerships and are a moral blight that has dulled the power of our example the world over. And they have separated loved ones, inflicting pain that will ripple for years to come. They are just plain wrong.” Biden listened to his citizens and ended this ban to take a step forward in stopping the discrimination of Muslim-Americans.
Along with ending the Trump travel ban, Biden signed executive orders to stop the construction of the wall at the United States-Mexico border. In his proclamation, Biden wrote, “Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats. But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution. It is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security.” During Trump’s campaign, he promised that he would build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants, but during his presidency, the wall was never built and was ultimately a waste of funds. To strengthen immigration, Biden sent an immigration bill to Congress that will keep families together and create citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. Our immigration system does need adjustments due to its unorganized policies, so Biden has not completely fulfilled his promise.
Overall, Biden kept the majority of promises that he made during his campaign. His changes that he made to our system benefited our wildlife and humanity; the steps that he took did change our government. Although he still has a long way to go to fix the broken parts of our country, Biden proved himself to be someone who can guide our country to success.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/us/politics/whats-in-the-stimulus-bill.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/climate/biden-paris-climate-agreement.html