House expected to pass COVID relief bill next week

First lady Jill Biden spoke virtually Saturday morning at the Student Veterans of America (SVA) National Conference, reflecting on her military family and thanking them for being “a force for change” in the United States.

“You are the voice of a generation who has carried the incredible weight of our wars for over 20 years. You speak up for each other. You get things done, and you show your brothers and sisters in arms what's possible," she said.

President Biden and Jill Biden’s late son, Beau, served in Iraq with the Army National Guard, and Jill Biden’s father was a Navy signalman in World War II. 

“Thanks to the GI Bill, he was able to go to business school in Philadelphia,” Biden said of her father. “Ever since my dad's time in service, our nation has made a promise to the courageous souls who take up arms for us, that your service will earn you the chance to pursue your education.” 

She said the commitment of the Biden administration is to “implement the Forever GI Bill with precision and care.”

“We're going to learn from your work, and develop best practices for supporting veterans in higher education,” she said.

Assisting military families has always been one of Jill Biden's main issues. During her time as second lady during the Obama administration, she and former first lady Michelle Obama led “Joining Forces,” a support program for military families, which Biden relaunched this year.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez

Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet virtually on Tuesday for their first bilateral meeting.

“The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review joint efforts in areas of mutual interest” such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and economic ties, according to the White House.

On Jan. 22, Biden made his first foreign leader call as president to Trudeau. A readout of that call provided by the White House said they “agreed to speak again in a month to continue to build out” the cooperation between the two countries.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez

House Democrats unveiled their massive $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, releasing the full text of the 591-page bill late Friday.

The legislation includes an increase to the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, $1,400 direct payments to Americans making $75,000 or less a year, as well as an extension of $400 federal unemployment benefits.

The House Budget Committee is expected to "markup" the bill on Monday. The full House is expected to pass the bill by the end of next week -- possibly even over the weekend -- before it heads off to the Senate. 

The legislation, which had already been passed in pieces out of individual committees, was packaged together by the House Budget Committee.

The House bill closely resembles Biden's rescue plan and includes more money for schools, vaccine distribution and funding for state and local governments.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

The United States formally rejoined the Paris climate accord on Friday, 30 days after President Joe Biden signed the mechanism to reenter the historic agreement.

While climate advocates cheered the decision, Biden's special presidential envoy for climate change, John Kerry, sounded the alarm about the need for urgent and ambitious action.

Kerry attacked former President Donald Trump, blaming his administration for being "inexcusably absent for four years."

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan