In their first public appearance since Election Day, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Monday.
The ceremony in honor of Veterans Day has become an annual tradition, since Veterans Day was first established as a national holiday in 1954.
Following the ceremony, Biden gave a short address, praising his administration’s handling of veterans’ affairs over the last four years.
Both Biden and Harris seemed cordial with each other at the event, which was Harris’ first public appearance since she lost the race for president against President-elect Donald Trump.
“Our entire administration is proud of our work for the past four years together,” Biden said. “We passed more than 30 bipartisan laws to support our veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors. We brought veterans homelessness down for record low. We delivered more benefits to more veterans than any ever before in VA history.”
Biden added he is “particularly proud” of passing the PACT Act, which he called the “most significant law in our nation’s history.” The act expanded Veterans Affairs benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits by requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to assume a causal link between burn pits and certain conditions.
“The PACT Act has already helped over 1 million veterans and their families get the benefits they deserve,” Biden said.
He also announced plans to further expand medical benefits and coverage for veterans to especially include additional cancer diagnoses.
“God willing, we will make sure that any rare condition you’ve developed is covered,” Biden said. “We’re committed to getting this rule in place by the end of my term.”
In the speech, which will be one of just a few more public addresses for Biden as president, he also defended his withdrawal from Afghanistan, which took the lives of 13 U.S. service members and was labeled a failure by many.
“Four presidents faced a decision after we got Bin Laden, whether to end our longest war in history in Afghanistan,” Biden explained. “I was determined not to leave it to the fifth.”
Biden emphasized the importance of America continuing to care for its veterans.
“Today, standing together to honor those Americans who have dared all, risked all and given all to our nation, I must say clearly, we will never give up.”
