Joe Biden to the US: ‘America is rising anew’

Biden's speech took place in a setting unlike any other presidential address in the US Capitol, still surrounded by fencing after insurrectionists in January protesting his election stormed to the doors of the House chamber where he gave his address.

President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)

President Joe Biden declared in his first address to a joint session of Congress that “America is rising anew” on the verge of overcoming the historic pandemic.

Looking to the future, he urged a 1.8 trillion dollar (£1.3 trillion) investment in children, families and education that would fundamentally transform roles the government plays in American life.