JOE BIDEN QUOTES IV

American politician (1942- )

NATO is in fact going to crumble if we don't beat Trump. NATO is in real trouble. We need NATO for more reasons than just physical security. We need NATO to make sure that we do not allow Russia to continue to have its influence in Eastern Europe in ways that it had before. It wasn't just to stop the Soviet Union from coming into the United States, coming into Europe. It was to make sure that we did not have a kleptocracy taking over that part of the world, to unite Europe in our behalf.

JOE BIDEN

New Hampshire Democratic Debate, February 7, 2020


A little thing we've begun to do is replace all the traditional light bulbs in our house with fluorescent light bulbs. I introduced a bill to promote compact fluorescent light bulbs. If every family in America changed just one bulb, we could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 7 million tons per year. There are a lot of little things we can do to make a gigantic change.

JOE BIDEN

interview, Grist


Look, no one should have to choose between earning a living and protecting their own health. As well the health of those around them they love so much. This virus has made all too clear the absolute necessity of making sure everyone, everyone, can access affordable, high quality healthcare. That's what our government should be doing right now. Not fighting in the courts to strip away the healthcare protections from folks who need it more than ever. Testing, rapid results, treatment, and ultimately access to a vaccine for COVID-19 should be available to everyone, and I mean everyone, free of cost.

JOE BIDEN

virtual town hall meeting, May 4, 2020


The answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don't look like you or worship the way you do or don't get their news from the same source as you do. We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.

JOE BIDEN

Inaugural Address, January 20, 2021


After 9-11, the President had a historic opportunity to unite Americans and the world in common cause. Instead, by exploiting the politics of fear, instigating an optional war in Iraq before finishing a necessary war in Afghanistan and instituting policies on torture, detainees and domestic surveillance that fly in the face of our values and interests, President Bush divided Americans from each other and from the world.

JOE BIDEN

speech, Jul. 15, 2008


You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him and seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind, but even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart.

JOE BIDEN

acceptance speech, Aug. 27, 2008


We still have such a long way to go but today, most Americans now get the challenge we're facing. They believe in science. The issue is important to them and they want their leaders to act on climate, particularly young people, as you said, inspired by the activism of Greta and so many young Americans as well, who are leading on climate.

JOE BIDEN

virtual town hall meeting, April 22, 2020


The fact that our economy is three and a half times as large as the next largest economy and larger than the next four combined does not make us immune from what's happening around the world.

JOE BIDEN

remarks at Entrepreneurship Summit, Dec. 3, 2011


We can and we must build a more perfect union. Because the American people have seen the alternative.

JOE BIDEN

speech at Houston rally, March 2, 2020


My father had an expression he repeated a thousand times growing up: Every man and woman is entitled to be treated with dignity. Everyone. That's what your new revolution was about: dignity.

JOE BIDEN

remarks to the Ukrainian Rada, December 9, 2015

Tags: dignity


Some of my friends in the current administration have little interest in alliances, international organizations and treaties. There's a logic to their disengagement. They start from the premise that America's military might is the single most important determinant in the international system. Because that might is so much greater than anyone else's they see allies and agreements as more of a burden than a benefit. It's Gulliver tied down by the Lilliputians.

JOE BIDEN

speech, Apr. 12, 2005


Our military might and economic resources are necessary but not sufficient to lead us into this new century. It is our ideas and ideals that will allow us to exert the kind of leadership that persuades others to follow and to deal effectively with these forces of change.

JOE BIDEN

speech, Apr. 15, 2008


Democratic revolutions like the ones in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya -- and the ones still unfolding in Syria and Yemen --are imbued, literally imbued with entrepreneurial spirit, a spirit that requires risk and initiative, steadfast determination, and a unifying idea.... The revolution that gave birth to my own country was inspired by the same desire for freedom and ensured that from its earliest days America has been hard-wired for innovation. Back then, it was pamphleteers like Thomas Paine. Today, it's modern new technologies that connect us in an instant.

JOE BIDEN

remarks at Entrepreneurship Summit, Dec. 3, 2011

Tags: revolution


Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war.

JOE BIDEN

Inaugural Address, January 20, 2021


When seagull droppings landed on my head at a campaign event at Bowers Beach two days before Election Day, I chose to read it as a sign of a coming success.

JOE BIDEN

Promises to Keep

Tags: success


Well, there are a number of lessons to this war. One of the lessons of the war is that when you go into a country that is under a dictatorship, no matter what the underlying makeup of the country is, that it takes an awful long time to be able to help re-establish a circumstance where there's a possibility of a democratic country emerging. And so that's one of the lessons I think everyone has learned.

JOE BIDEN

interview, NPR, Dec. 13, 2011


The system wasn't working, and I thought it was time to err on the side of a new model. What might work, I thought, was a system that promoted personal accountability, consistency, and certainty. Congress could say people who committed the same federal crime, under the same circumstances, were going to jail for the same amount of time. We could give judges a narrower set of sentencing guidelines to work with, and felons would be required to pay the same price. We'd be judging the crime, not the person.

JOE BIDEN

Promises to Keep


Ordinary people given an opportunity are capable of accomplishing extraordinary things.

JOE BIDEN

speech to AFL-CIO union members, April 7, 2020

Tags: opportunity


Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.

JOE BIDEN

attributed, Social Policy for Effective Practice

Tags: value


My message to everyone who's been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign. We need you. We want you and there's a place for you in our campaign.

JOE BIDEN

speech at Houston rally, March 2, 2020