This Week: Catholic leaders react to SOTU; Congress advances TikTok bill

Michie · Mar 8, 2024

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Joe Biden delivered his third State of the Union address March 7, calling for the protection of democracy in the U.S. and overseas, providing further military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, expanded abortion access, and for bipartisan cooperation on immigration policy. A rebuttal by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., was met with lackluster reviews, including from fellow Republicans.

Also in Washington the same week, lawmakers considered new restrictions on the social media platform TikTok over its ties to China as a pressure campaign by that company may have backfired.

Catholics, pro-life leaders respond to State of the Union address

Biden delivered a boisterous address, sparring at times with lawmakers on the floor, although he stumbled over some of his words on several occasions, in the course of a nearly 70-minute speech. The annual address also gave Biden an opportunity to address voter concerns over his age in what may be the largest television audience he has before the November election. More than 6 in 10 Americans who watched the address had a positive reaction to Biden’s speech, according to a CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

Some Catholic leaders praised portions of Biden’s speech, while others, as well as pro-life groups, criticized other policy positions.

Joan F. Neal, deputy executive director and chief equity officer at Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, said in a statement, “We, too, remain concerned about the fragility of our democratic system after the insurrection of January 6, 2021.

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