President Joe Biden told a pareddown joint session of Congress on Wednesday that “America is rising anew,” and he urged a $1.8 trillion investment in children, families and education. He said the effort was needed to help rebuild an economy devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and to enable America to compete with rising global competitors.

“America is ready for takeoff. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world: There is no quit in America,” Biden said.

“I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” he said.

“Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”

“I have never been more confident or more optimistic about America,” he said. “We have stared into an abyss of insurrection and autocracy — of pandemic and pain — and ‘We the People’ did not flinch.”

He repeatedly hammered home how his plans would put Americans back to work, restoring millions of jobs lost to the virus. He laid out a sweeping proposal for universal preschool, two years of free community college, $225 billion for child care and monthly payments of at least $250 to parents. His ideas target frailties that were uncovered by the pandemic, and he argues that economic growth will best come from taxing the rich to help the middle class and the poor.

Biden also provided an update on the COVID-19 crisis, showcasing hundreds of millions of vaccinations and relief checks delivered to help offset the devastation wrought by a virus that has killed more than 573,000 people in the United States.

He also championed his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, a staggering figure to be financed by higher taxes on corporations.

Guns

Biden renewed a push to ban “assault weapons,” “high-capacity magazines” and “ghost guns” amid a wave of mass shooting incidents in recent weeks.

“These are homemade guns built from a kit that includes directions on how to finish the firearm,” he said of “ghost guns.” “The parts have no serial numbers, so they show up at crime scenes, and they can’t be traced. The buyers of these ghost gun kits aren’t required to pass any background check. Anyone from a criminal to a terrorist could buy this kit and within 30 minutes have a weapon that is lethal. But no more.”

Biden touted the significant green spending in his multitrillion-dollar infrastructure plan as a means to better compete with China on clean energy technologies.

“There is simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can’t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing,” Biden said.

“There is no reason why American workers can’t lead the world in production of electric vehicles and batteries,” Biden added. “There is no reason. We have the capacity.”

Biden repeated claims that the clean energy investments in the proposal will create millions of U.S. jobs.

Republicans, however, have raised alarm at pieces of Biden’s plan that they say would invest too heavily in climate change, which they don’t consider traditional infrastructure. Republican lawmakers have also accused the Biden administration of threatening jobs by taking steps to restrict fossil fuel development in favor of renewable energy.

Capital gains

Biden said that wealthy people should pay more in taxes to help pay for the public investments in his jobs and family plans.

He also said that “trickle-down economics,” meaning the idea that lower taxes on businesses and the wealthy will benefit everyone, is not effective.

“It’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to pay their fair share. Just pay their fair share,” Biden said.

“We take the top tax bracket for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, those making $400,000 or more, back up to 39.6%,” Biden added.

Biden called for raising capital gains taxes for those making more than $1 million a year. He said doing so would only affect three-tenths of 1% of all people in the country.

Policing

Biden advocated for further police reform and applauded the verdict in the case of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty of murdering George Floyd.

Biden said he spoke to the daughter of Floyd, Gianna, and she told him her “daddy changed the world.” The president further remarked that she was likely “right” after the “conviction of George Floyd’s murderer,” though lawmakers must have the “courage to act” on law enforcement reforms circulating through Congress.

“We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of black Americans,” Biden said. “Now is our opportunity to make some real progress. The vast majority of men and women wearing the uniform and a badge serve our communities, and they serve them honorably. I know them. I know they want to help meet this moment as well. My fellow Americans, we have to come together.”

The border

Biden cast blame on the Trump administration for the mass migration that has engulfed the U.S. southern border since January.

“When I was vice president, I focused on providing the help needed to address these root causes of migration. It helped keep people in their own countries instead of being forced to leave. Our plan worked, but the last administration shut it down,” Biden said.

His comments were vague, not naming the plan or going into detail about what measures were in place under former President Barack Obama, whom he served under from 2009 to 2017.

The Biden administration, since taking office, has focused on dealing with the root causes that prompt so many to leave their homes.

Biden called for spending $861 million in foreign aid to Central America in his fiscal year 2022 budget proposal. The figure is considerably higher than the $560 million spent in 2017 and $462 million in 2018.

China and Korea

Biden promised to confront Iran and North Korea with “stern deterrence” in support of diplomatic efforts to manage the rogue states’ nuclear programs.

“On Iran and North Korea — nuclear programs that present serious threats to American security and the security of the world — we’re going to be working closely with our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence,” Biden said.

Biden’s team already is working to rehabilitate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a reversal of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the pact and impose a “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign on the regime.

His team’s approach to North Korea has put more emphasis on deterrence than diplomacy thus far, resuming military drills with South Korea despite North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s misgivings about the U.S. military’s presence in the region.

“I also told President Xi that we’ll maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-pacific, just as we do with NATO in Europe — not to start a conflict, but to prevent one,” Biden said.

Trump exited the Iran deal in 2018, delighting Middle Eastern allies who think it acquiesced to Iran’s potential to develop a nuclear bomb while alarming European allies who regard the pact as a way to defuse the risk that Tehran would build that bomb in the near future.