Full Transcript of Biden’s State of the Union Speech

President Biden delivered his annual State of the Union address on Thursday to a joint session of Congress. The following is a transcript of his remarks, as recorded by The New York Times.

Good evening. Good evening. If I were smart, I would go home now.

Mr. Speaker, Madam Vice President, members of Congress, my fellow Americans, in January 1941, Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation, and he said, “I address you in a moment, unprecedented in the history of the union.”

Hitler was on the march. War was raging in Europe. President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary time. Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world.

Tonight, I come to the same chamber to address the nation. Now, it’s we who face unprecedented moment in the history of the union. And yes, my purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either. Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today.

What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas at the very same time. Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not.

But Ukraine, Ukraine can stop Putin. Ukraine can stop Putin, if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons they need to defend itself. That is all — that is all Ukraine is asking. They’re not asking for American soldiers. In fact, there are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine, and I’m determined to keep it that way.