Biden’s First Speech to Congress is California’s Spotlight Moment
Tonight will be history in the making. For the first time in American history, a female Vice President and a female Speaker of the House will sit behind a president of the United States for an address to a joint session of Congress.
A powerful image that will seep through the consciousness of our nation and the little girls watching them on the screen. It is also a testament to the organizing work and years of mobilizing the vote from Black, Native, Asian, and Latina women in states like Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin.
This historic moment also reflects the powerful influence of California on the national stage. A proud daughter of Oakland, Kamala Harris, sitting beside a proud daughter of San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi. A formidable duo that will shape the future of this country.
This mass exodus from Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Southern California to Washington D.C. is no surprise. Why shouldn’t the Biden Administration lean on California’s talent to lead this nation forward from the worst crisis since the Great Depression?
After all, California is the state that does not, as Governor Gavin Newsom said in his State of the State Address, “wait for someone else to show us the way forward. We go first, and we go boldly.”
We were the first state to shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the early days. We were also the first state to provide financial relief to our undocumented residents.
The progressive leadership of California traces back over two decades. In 2012, then- Attorney General Kamala Harris, a daughter of immigrants, issued guidance to local law enforcement agencies in California that they were not obligated to release immigrants to federal ICE officials. It was also under her tenure that she convened advocates, legal service providers, and prominent law firms to provide help for unaccompanied minors. A valuable lesson needed today as she leads the Biden Administration’s response to children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In 2010, Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, marshalled one of the greatest legislative achievements in congressional history, the passage of the Affordable Care Act. More than four million Latinos in the United States finally gained access to health care coverage as a result.
Both Harris and Pelosi have already produced tangible results for Biden’s first 100 days. Leveraging California values — hope, family and unity, and commitment to equity — they successfully got the United States Congress to pass its first signature achievement, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
And these are just two California powerhouses at work. Biden is also leaning on several other Californians to advance his vision of building back better. Noticeable among his core team are the top cabinet secretaries leading homeland security, health and human services, treasury and the small business administration are Californian.
Three of those cabinet officials are California Latinos, Xavier Becerra of Health and Human Services, Alejandro Mayorkas of Homeland Security, and Isabel Guzman of the Small Business Administration.
In a state where the pandemic and the economy struck a blunt force on Latino communities, Biden aptly understands that the path to America’s recovery resides in California, and therefore, the Latino community.
There is no doubt that President Biden’s first speech before a joint session of congress will tout the success of his first 100 days. More Americans are vaccinated against Covid-19 and more Americans have been able to withstand the deleterious effects of this economy with additional economic relief.
Yet, to truly transform this nation with an eye towards equity, Biden’s secret weapon will be the sage counsel from the Californians who surround him.
We are no longer the California of Governor Pete Wilson of 27 years ago. Since those dark days of the 1990s, defined by hateful propositions aimed to ostracize immigrant and communities of color, California has now led the way on inclusive policies for immigrants, workers, and on climate.
With California in full view at this address to a joint session of Congress, we must move beyond our mantle as the resistance state. It is time to become the insistence state, and work with President Biden to bring about the just society that eludes us still.
Written by Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, CEO, Latino Community Foundation
