Addressing his first divided Congress, Biden says 'the soul of this nation is strong'

While talking about the political violence that has occurred in the country over the past few years, Biden called out to Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was violently assaulted in his San Francisco home in October, with authorities saying the suspect was seeking his wife.

Biden linked the assault on Paul Pelosi to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob -- attempting to subvert the certification of Biden's presidency -- attacked the Capitol.

"Just a few months ago ... an assailant unleashed political violence in the home of the then-speaker of this House of Representatives. Using the very same language that insurrectionists who stalked these halls chanted on Jan. 6," Biden said.

He pointed to "my friend, Paul Pelosi," with Nancy Pelosi seen from the House floor waving and looking up at her husband, who was seated in the first lady's box.

"Here tonight in this chamber is the man who bears the scars of that brutal attack but is as tough and strong and as resilient as they get."

Biden, noting that "such a heinous act never should have happened," said that American voting rights and election integrity must be safeguarded in order to curb that extremism.

"There is no place for political violence in America. In America, we must protect the right to vote, not suppress that fundamental right. We honor the results of our elections, not subvert the will of the people. We must uphold the rule of the law and restore trust in our institutions of democracy," he said.

As he reupped his "Unity Agenda" -- aimed at improving mental health, supporting veterans, beating the opioid epidemic and fighting cancer -- Biden shared personal stories of some of the guests in the audience.

"Joining us tonight is a father named Doug from Newton, New Hampshire," Biden said. "He wrote Jill and me a letter about his daughter Courtney. Contagious laugh. Her sister’s best friend. ... Courtney discovered pills in high school. It spiraled into addiction and eventually her death from a fentanyl overdose. She was 20 years old."

Biden said her family's been working since her death to end stigma and change laws. "Doug, we're with you," he said.

He next introduced Maurice and Kandice, whose daughter Ava was diagnoses with a rare kidney cancer when she was 1 year old. Ava had to undergo 26 blood transfusions, 11 rounds of radiation, 8 rounds of chemo and had one of her kidneys removed, Biden said.

"They never gave up hope," Biden said. "Ava never gave up hope. She turns 4 next month. They just found out that Ava beat the odds and is on her way to being cancer free, and she’s watching from the White House tonight."

The president, whose oldest son, Beau, died of cancer, has made working to end the disease a major health priority of his administration.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pulled a political stunt ahead of Biden's State of the Union by patrolling the halls of Congress with a white balloon. The move was an apparent reference to GOP criticism over how the president's administration handled a suspected Chinese spy balloon that floated over the U.S. for several days. That wasn't it, though. Throughout Biden's speech on Tuesday, Greene was caught on the hot mic yelling "you lie" and "liar."

But those disruptions -- no matter how tense -- shouldn't be too surprising. As I've written previously, Greene is arguably part of the most incendiary wing of the House GOP. Of course, Greene has always been a congressional rabble-rouser, but her latest move might catch some by surprise considering that she's attempted to dip her foot -- or at least a pinky toe -- in more establishment categories as of late.

-FiveThirtyEight's Alex Samuels

Toward the end of his speech, President Biden called on Congress to codify Roe v. Wade and promised to veto a national abortion ban. But that was pretty much all he had to say about the issue, which was noteworthy given what an eventful year it's been for abortion rights and access. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe last summer, more than a dozen states have imposed near-total bans on abortion and the support for abortion access ended up being a major issue in the 2022 midterms.

Biden's lack of attention to the issue might be reflective of the fact that there's really not much he can do when it comes to abortion rights -- Democrats in Congress didn't have the votes to codify Roe last fall, and with a divided Congress, there isn't likely to be more action. State legislatures and courts will have a much bigger impact on abortion access in the meantime. But some Democrats might have wanted Biden to say more on the topic, because their views on abortion are changing. For example, polling by Civiqs shows that Democrats are more likely to support legal abortion in all cases than they were even two years ago.

-FiveThirtyEight's Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux