Colorado Leaders Criticize & Applaud President Biden's Address To Joint Session Of Congress

WASGHINGTON, D.C. (CBS4) - President Joe Biden delivered his first address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. He spoke of his administration's first 100 days in office, recovery plans and ambitious proposals on jobs, infrastructure, gun control and police reform.

"It's good to be back," Biden told a sparse House Chamber with an audience of just 200. The floor is normally filled with 1,600 people, but due to the coronavirus, attendance was minimal.

Shortly after the president's address, Colorado's governor and state delegates responded with their take on his comments and promises.

"Tonight, President Biden laid out a bold agenda to help rebuild our economy, get women back into the workforce, support American families, fix our broken immigration system, bolster our education system and increase clean energy jobs -- all priorities we share here in Colorado," said Gov. Jared Polis. "Every day we are working to power the comeback, getting vaccines into arms and helping our economy build back stronger, and I look forward to our continued partnership with President Biden and his administration as we race toward the end of this pandemic and the Colorado comeback."

Among those who attended was Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet who virtually invited a single mother from Boulder, Ambrosia Berg, who, he says, will benefit from the Child Tax Credit expansion.

"The president outlined an agenda that the majority of Coloradans support, including extending the Child Tax Credit, passing paid family and medical leave and immigration reform, increasing access to affordable health care and child care, and creating millions of good-paying jobs to rebuild our nation's infrastructure," said Bennet in a statement. "It's our job to seize this moment and finally invest in the American people."

Bennet says the Child Tax Credit was expanded to $3,000 per child and $3,600 per child for children under age 6 and allows millions of low-income children to be included.

Congressman Doug Lamborn disagreed with claims of success in the administration's first 100 days.

"The first 100 days of Biden's presidency have been marked by outrageous spending and the creation of an entirely new crisis at our Southern Border. The Democrats are attempting to override the filibuster, stack our Supreme Court, and make Washington D.C. the 51st State. Through all this, Biden has done nothing to stall the radical left's efforts and has governed in a totally hyper-partisan fashion. The only positive thing going on in our Union is that the full effects of Operation Warp Speed and the Trump vaccine are in full swing. Biden's next priority is just as flawed. His 'infrastructure' plan is full of unrelated liberal priorities, with only 6% of funding going to roads and bridges. Moving forward, we must stop the reckless spending and halt the wave of illegal immigrants at our southern border."

The Colorado GOP echoed some of those criticisms.

"President Biden has spent the first 100 days of his term pushing extreme, costly, and disastrous policies. This administration has turned their backs on our energy workers, refused to admit there is a serious humanitarian & security crisis on the border, and has recklessly spent trillions of dollars on far-left policy dreams," said Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown.