WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Marking a year of loss and disruption, President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The signing came hours before Biden delivers his first prime-time address since taking office. He\u2019s aiming to steer the nation toward a hungered-for sentiment \u2014 hope \u2014 as he marks one year since the onset of the pandemic that has killed more than 529,000 Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,\u201d Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to move as fast as possible,\u201d tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain. He added, \u201cWe will hold our celebration of the signing on Friday, as planned, with congressional leaders!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Previewing his remarks, Biden said he would \u201ctalk about what we\u2019ve been through as a nation this past year, but more importantly, I\u2019m going to talk about what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s challenge Thursday night will be to honor the sacrifices made by Americans over the last year while encouraging them to remain vigilant despite \u201cvirus fatigue\u201d and growing impatience to resume normal activities given the tantalizing promise of vaccines. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization\u2019s declaration of a pandemic, he\u2019ll mourn the dead, but also project optimism about the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a chance for him to really beam into everybody\u2019s living rooms and to be both the mourner in chief and to explain how he\u2019s leading the country out of this,\u201d said presidential historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a big moment,\u201d Brinkley added. \u201cHe\u2019s got to win over hearts and minds for people to stay masked and get vaccinated, but also recognize that after the last year, the federal government hasn\u2019t forgotten you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s evening remarks in the East Room are central to a pivotal week for the president as he addresses the defining challenge of his term: shepherding the nation through the twin public health and economic storms brought about by the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released initial guidance for how vaccinated people can resume some normal activities. On Wednesday, Congress approved the president\u2019s $1.9 trillion \u201cAmerican Rescue Plan,\u201d aimed at easing the economic impact of the virus on tens of millions of people. And the nation was on pace to administer its 100 millionth dose of vaccine as soon as Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden said he would focus his remarks on what his administration plans to deliver in the coming months, but also reiterate his call for Americans to continue to practice social distancing and wear face coverings to hasten the end of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to launch the next phase of the COVID response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the American people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added: \u201cThere is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year. There is real reason for hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost exactly one year ago, President Donald Trump addressed the nation to mark the WHO\u2019s declaration of a global pandemic. He announced travel restrictions and called for Americans to practice good hygiene but displayed little alarm about the forthcoming catastrophe. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he had been deliberately \u201cplaying down\u201d the threat of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Biden, who has promised to level with the American public after the alternate reality of Trump\u2019s virus talk, the imperative is to strike the correct balance \u201cbetween optimism and grief,\u201d said Princeton history professor and presidential scholar Julian Zelizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGenerally, the country likes optimism, and at this particular moment they\u2019re desperate for optimism, but you can\u2019t risk a \u2018Mission Accomplished\u2019 moment,\u2019\u201d he said, warning against any premature declaration that the threat has been vanquished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifty days into his presidency, Biden is experiencing a polling honeymoon that his predecessor never enjoyed. Yet public sentiment remains stubbornly polarized and fewer people among his critics seem willing to say they\u2019ll give him a chance than was the case for earlier presidents. Overall, he has earned strong marks on his handling of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released last week, 70% of Americans back the Democratic president\u2019s handling of the virus response, including 44% of Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House hopes that as Biden assumes the role of cheerleader for the virus relief package, the elements of the $1.9 trillion bill that are popular with Republicans will boost his support even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brinkley said Biden\u2019s decision to deliver a speech aimed directly at the nation before he makes the traditional presidential address to a joint session of Congress signals that it is as much an \u201cintroduction\u201d of the president and his administration to the American people as a status report on his first 50 days in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presidential addresses to Congress \u201ctend to be a series of soundbites,\u201d Brinkley said. \u201cThis way, he can make his case directly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the prime-time speech is in many ways an anachronism, better suited for an era when Americans had vastly fewer television options and in which a presidential address could reframe the national conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fragmented media landscape makes it more difficult for Biden to reach people, Zelizer said, but that may be beside the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverything he\u2019s doing is throwback,\u201d said Zelizer. \u201cIt\u2019s part of his effort to create normalcy after the last four years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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