🇺🇸 United States of America - President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 79th Session #UNGA

the assembly will hear an address by his Excellency Joseph R Biden Jr president of the United States of America I request protocol to escort his Excellency and invite him to address the assembly for [Applause] my back my fellow leaders today is the fourth time I've had the great honor of speaking to this assembly as president of the United States it'll be my last I've seen a remarkable sweep of History I was first elected office in the United States of America as US senator in 1972 now I know I look like I'm only 40 I know

that I was 29 years old back then we were living through an inflection point a moment of tension and uncertainty the world was divided by the Cold War Middle East was headed toward War America was at war in Vietnam at that point the longest war in America's history our country is divided and angry and there were questions about our stain power and our future but even then I entered public life not out of Despair but out of optimism United States and the world got through that moment wasn't easy or simple without significant setbacks but we

go on to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons throughout through arms control and then go on to bring the cold War itself to an end Israel and Egypt went to war but then forged a historic peace we ended the war in Vietnam the last year in Illinoi I was met with the Vietnamese leadership we elevated our partnership to the highest level it's a testament to the resilience of the human Spirit and the capacity for reconciliation that today the United States and Vietnam are partners and friends and proof that even from the horrors of War there's

a way forward things can get better we should never forget that I've seen that throughout my career in the 1980s I spoke out against the partian South Africa and then I watched the racist regime fall in the 1990s I worked to hold movich accountable for war crimes he was held accountable at home I wrote In pass of violence against women act to end the scourge of violence against women and girls not only in America but across the world as many of you have as well but we have so much more to do especially against rape

and sexual violence as weapons of war and Terror we were attacked on 9/11 by Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden we brought him Justice then I came to the presidency in another moment in the crisis and uncertain certainty I believed America had to look forward new challenges new threats new opportunities were in front of us we need to put ourselves in a position to see the threats to deal with the challenges and to seize the opportunities as well we need to end the era of war that began on 911 as vice president to President Obama he

asked me to work to wind down the military operations in Iraq and we did painful as it was when I came to office as president Afghanistan to replace Vietnam as America's longest war I was determined to end it and I did was a hard decision but the right decision four American Presidents had faced that decision but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth was the decision accompanied by tragedy 13 Brave Americans lost their lives along with hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bomb I think those lost lives I think of them every

day I think of all the 2,461 US military deaths over a long 20 years of that war 20,745 American servicemen's wounded in action I think of their service their sacrifice and their heroism I know other countries lost their own men and women fighting alongside us we honor their sacrifices as well to face the future I was also determined to rebuild my country's alliances and Partnerships to a level not previously seen we did we did just that from traditional treaty alliances to new Partnerships like the quad with the United States Japan Australia and India I know

I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not I won't As Leaders we don't have the luxury I recognize the challenges from Ukraine to Gaza to Sudan and Beyond War hunger terrorism brutality record displacement of people a climate crisis democracy at risk Strang in our societies the promise of artificial intelligence and a significant risk the list goes on but maybe because all I've seen and all we have done together over the decades I have hoped I know there is a way forward in 1919 the Irish

poet William Butler described the world and I quote where Things Fall Apart the center cannot hold M Anarchy is loosed upon the world end of quote some may say those words describe the world not just in 1919 but in 2024 but I see a CR a critical distinction and our time the center has held leaders and people from every region and across the political Spectrum have stood together turned the page we turned the page on the worst pandemic in the century we made sure Co no longer controls Our Lives we defended the UN Charter and

Ure to survive of Ukraine as a free Nation my country made the largest investment in climate clean energy ever anywhere in history there'll always be forces to pull our countries apart and the world apart aggression extremism chaos and cynicism desire to retreat from the world and go alone our task our test is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger and those are pulling us apart that the principles of partnership that we came here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges that the center holds once again my fellow leaders I truly

believe we're at another inflection point world history for the choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come will we stand behind the principles of Unitus we stand firm against aggression we will We End the conflicts that are raging today we take on global challenges like climate change hunger and disease but we plan now for the opportunities and risk of a revolutionary new technologies I want to talk today about each of these decisions and the actions in my view we must take to start each of us in this body has made a

commitment to the princip of the UN Charter to stand up against aggression when Russia invaded Ukraine we could have stood by and merely protested but vice president Harris and I understood that that was an assault on everything this institution was supposed to stand for and so my direction America stepped into the breach providing massive security and economic and humanitarian assistance our NATO allies and partners and 50 plus Nations stood up as well but most importantly the Ukrainian people stood up I ask the people of this chamber to stand up for them the good news is

Putin's War has failed and his at his core aim he set out to destroy Ukraine but Ukraine is still free he set out to weaken NATO but NATO is bigger stronger more united than ever before with two new members fin land and Sweden but we cannot let up the world now has another choice to make will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom or walk away and let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed I know my answer we cannot grow weary we cannot look away and we

will not let up on our support for Ukraine not to Ukraine wins a just endurable peace in the UN [Applause] Charter we also need to PLL our principles as we seek to responsibly manage the competition with China so it does not Veer into conflict We Stand ready to cooperate on urgent challenges for the good of our people and the people everywhere we recently resumed cooperation with China to stop the flow of deadly synthetic narcotics I appreciate the collaboration it matters for the people of my country me many others around the world a matters of conviction

the United States is unabashed pushing back against unfair economic competition against military coercion of other nations and in the South China Sea and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and protecting our most Advanced Technologies so they cannot be used against us or any of our partners at the same time we're going to continue to strengthen our network of alliances and Partnerships across the indopacific these Partnerships are not against Any Nation there are building blocks for a free open secure and peaceful Indo Pacific we're also working to bring greater measure of peace and stability

in the Middle East the world must not flinch from the hard of October 7th any country any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack can never happen again thousands of armed hos terrorists invaded a sovereign state slaughtering and massacring more than 1,200 people including 46 Americans in their homes and at a music festival thep despicable acts of sexual violence 250 Innocents taken hostage I've met with the families of those hostages I've grieved with them they're going through hell innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell thousands and thousands

kills including Aid workers too many families dislocated crowning in the tents facing a dire humanitarian situation they did asked for this war that Hamas started I put forward with cutter and Egypt to ceasefire and hostage deal it's been endorsed by the UN Security Council now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza free of H of Hamas grip ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war on October [Applause] 7th since October 7 we've also been determined to prevent a wider War than

engulf the entire region Hezbollah unprovoked join the October 7th attack launching Rockets into Israel almost a year later too many on each side of the Israeli Lebanon border remain displaced fullscale war is not in anyone's interest even if situation has escalated a diplomatic solution is still possible in fact fact remains the only path to Lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes and the Border safely and that's what working that's what we're working tirelessly to achieve as we look ahead must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians

on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future including a two- State solution where the world where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalize relations with all its neighbors where Palestinians live in security dignity and self-determination in a state of their [Applause] own progress toward peace will put us in a stronger position to do with the ongoing threat posed by Iran together we must deny oxygen to Terror to his terrorist proxies which have called for more octob oober 7th and ensure that Iran will never ever obtain a nuclear weapon

Gaza is not the only conflict that deserves our outrage in Sudan a bloody Civil War Unleashed one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis 8 million 8 million on the brink of famine hundreds of thousands already there atrocities into our for and elsewhere the United States has led the world in providing humanitarian Aid to Sudan and with our partners who've LED diplomatic talks to try to silence the guns and aort and avert a wider famine the world needs to stop arming the generals to speak with one voice and tell them stop tearing your country apart stop

blocking Aid to the sudin people end this war [Applause] now but people need more than the absence of War they need a chance chance to live in dignity they need to be protected from the ravages of climate change hunger and disease our Administration as AR has invested over $150 billion do to make progress and other sustainable development goals it includes 20 billion for food security over 50 billion for Global Health we mobilized billions more in private sector investment we've taken the most ambitious climate action in history we've moved to rejoin the Paris agreement on day

one today my country is finally on track to cut emissions in half by 2030 on track to honor my pledge to quadruple climate financing to developing nations with 11 billion thus far this year we've rejoined the World Health organization donated nearly 700 million doses of covid vaccine to 117 countries we must now move quickly to face empo outbreak in Africa we're prepared to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to moox and to donate 1 million doses of moox vaccine now we call on our partners to match our pledge and make this

a billion doll commitment to the people of Africa beyond the core necessities of food and health the United States the G7 and our partners have embarked on an ambitious initiative to mobilize and deliver significant Finance to the developing World we're working to help countries build out their infrastructure to clean energy transition to the digital transformation to lay New Economic foundations for a prosperous future it's called The partnership for Global infrastructure and investment we've already started to see the fruits of this emerge in southern Africa and Southeast Asia and in the Americans we have to keep

it going I want to get things done together in order to do that we must build a stronger more effective and more inclusive United Nations the UN needs to adapt and bring new voices and New Perspectives that's why we support reforming and expanding ing the membership of the UN Security [Applause] Council my un Ambassador just laid out our detailed Vision to reflect today's world not yesterday's it's time to move forward a security Council like the UN itself needs to go back to the job of making peace a brokering deals to end Wars and suffering this

and to stop the spread of the most dangerous weapons of stabilizing trouble regions in East Africa from East Africa to Haiti to Kenya Le Mission that's working alongside the Haitian people to turn the tide we're also have a responsibility to prepare our citizens for the future we'll see more technological change I argue in the next two to 10 years we have in the last 50 years artificial intelligence it's going to change our ways of life our ways of work and our ways of War it could Usher in scientific progress at a pace never seen before

and much of it could make our lives better but AI also brings profound risks from Deep fakes to disinformation to novel pathogens to bioweapons we've worked at home and abroad to define the new norms and standards this year we achieved the first ever General Assembly resolution on AI to start developing Global rules Global rules of the road we also announced a declaration of on the responsib responsible use of AI joined by 60 countries in this chamber but let's be honest this just a tip of the iceberg what we need to do to manage this new

technology nothing is certain about how AI will vow or how it will be deployed no one knows all the answers my fellow leaders it's with humility I offer two questions first how do we as an International Community govern AI as countries and companies raced to uncertain Frontiers we need an equally urgent effort to ensure AI safety security and trustworthiness as AI grows more powerful it must grow Al also must grow more responsive to our Collective needs and values benefits of all must be shared equitably should be harnessed to a narrow not deepen digital divides second

will we ensure that AI supports rather than undermines the core principles that human life has value and All Humans deserve dignity we must make certain that the awesome capabilities of AI will be used to uplift in power everyday people not to give dictators more powerful Shackles on human on the human spirit and years ahead there may be they may be May well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with AI let me close with this even as we navigate so much change one thing must not change we must never forget who

we're here to represent We the People these are the first words of our constitution the very ID of America they inspired the opening words of the UN Charter I made the preservation of democracy the central cause of my presidency this summer I faced a decision whether to seek a second term as president was a difficult decision being president has been the honor of my life there's so much more I want to get done as much as I love the job I love my country more I decided after 50 years of Public Service it's time for

a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward my fellow leaders let us never forget some things are more important than staying in power it's your people [Applause] it's your people that matter the most never forget we are here to serve the people not the other way around because the future will be the future will be won by those who unleash the full potential of their people to breathe free to think freely to innovate to educate to live and love openly without fear that's the sole democracy it does not belong to any one country

country I've seen it all around the world and the brave men and women who entered aparte brought down the Berlin Wall fight today for freedom and Justice and dignity we saw it that Universal yearning for rights and freedom in Venezuela where Millions cast their vote for change that hadn't been recognized but it can't be denied the world knows the truth we saw in Uganda lbgt activist demanding safety and recognition of their common Humanity we seen citizens across the world peacefully choosing their future from Ghana to India to South Korea Nations representing one quarter of humanity

who will hold elections this year alone it's remarkable the power of we the people that makes me more optimistic about the future than I've ever been since I was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972 every age faces his challenges I saw it as a young man I see it today but we are stronger than we think we're stronger together than alone and what the people call impossible It's Just an Illusion Nelsa Mandela taught us and I quote it always seems impossible until it's done it always seems impossible until it's done my fellow

leaders there's nothing that's beyond our capacity if we work together let's work together God bless you all and may God protect all those who seek peace thank you [Applause]