President Joe Biden opened his first State of the Union address by warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that he "badly miscalcuated" when he invaded Ukraine and that the US and its allies are "coming for you." The politicians in the chamber applauded President Biden's comments.
The US would block its skies to Russian planes. President Biden, who is notorious for starting his speeches late, started strolling through Congress roughly six minutes after his planned 9pm ET comments. He shook hands with several legislators who rose and applauded.
Joe Biden bans Russian Flights From US Airspace
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi introduced Biden, calling it a "great honor" to do so. Before discussing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Biden stated that the United States had survived the worst of the pandemic.
Biden went on to say that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Americans gathered that night with an unbreakable conviction that freedom would always win over tyranny, a clear allusion to Putin's attack on Ukraine's sovereignty.
According to Biden, the US economy produced more than 6.5 million new jobs in 2021 under his watch, "more employment created in one year than ever before in America's history," as per Metro.
Following the intensifying Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden imposed a ban on Russian planes from entering US airspace on Tuesday. The action comes after the European Union and Canada also banned Russian-owned and operated aircraft from their respective airspaces.
The Russian aircraft restriction comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that US Vice President Joe Biden personally warned him that the US and NATO would not establish a "no-fly zone" because it may be seen as a declaration of war against Russia, a nuclear powerhouse.
Following Russia's attack on Ukraine last week, the United States and the European Union increased sanctions against the country. As the invasion enters its seventh day, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to destroy Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, after Russian missiles targeted Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, according to Business Insider.
Maskless Attendees Show at Biden's State of the Union Address
As visitors proceeded to sit for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday night, few masks were spotted in the House chamber, underscoring the nation's shifting view on masks as a tool of limiting COVID-19.
Previously, anybody without a mask in the chambers may have been punished or asked to leave, according to chamber regulations, which were dropped on Sunday night, with Congress' attending physician Brian Monahan calling it "now an individual choice option."
Before the speech, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland shared a photo on Twitter of herself and others, all without masks, congregating in a room.
The United States of America declared war on Syria on Friday. In places with low COVID-19 hospitalization rates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared that most Americans may go without a mask. However, virtually all US states had already stopped or declared an end date for their indoor mask laws for companies before the CDC's statement.
The absence of masks reflects the Biden administration's shift toward using vaccinations and antiviral medicines to prevent new infections and protect Americans from severe symptoms, Newsweek reported.
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