ATLANTA — On Tuesday, during his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden called for unity in the U.S. Congress. He started the night by shaking hands with the new speaker of a now Republican-controlled House, Kevin McCarthy.
In his speech, Biden applauded some measures that sent money to Georgia, including the CHIPS Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law.
“Already, we've funded over 20,000 projects, including at major airports from Boston to Atlanta to Portland," the president listed in Tuesday's speech. "These projects will put hundreds of thousands of people to work rebuilding our highways, bridges, railroads, tunnels, ports and airports, clean water, and high-speed internet across America."
There were also many notable faces in the audience, including the family of Tyre Nichols. President Biden acknowledged them while amplifying his call for police reform.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams was among those Georgia Democrats in the audience applauding the president. She spoke to 11Alive ahead of Biden’s speech, echoing one of the accomplishments impacting Georgians.
"We've all heard about the benefit of $35-a-month cap on life saving insulin for our seniors, which we would not have if it weren't for us delivering those two essential U.S. senate seats right here in Georgia," Williams explained.
While Biden faced some heckles throughout his speech -- including from one of Georgia's own U.S. representatives -- the president’s biggest message to Congress was to work together to finish the job and get things done.
Following the speech, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican response, denouncing many actions from the Democrats and calling on Republicans to step up and lead the country in a better direction.