LIVE: Biden Delivers Remarks to the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly

My fellow leaders, I truly believe we're at another inflection point in world history, for the choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come. Will we stand behind the principles that unite us? Will we stand firm against aggression? Will we end the conflicts that are raging today? Will we take on global challenges like climate change, hunger, and disease? Will we plan now for the opportunities and risk of revolutionary new technologies? I want to talk today about each of these decisions and the actions, in my view, we must take. To start, each of us in this body has made a commitment to the principles of the UN Charter to stand up against aggression. When Russia invaded Ukraine, we could have stood by and merely protested. But Vice President Harris and I understood that that was an assault on everything this institution was supposed to stand for. And so, my direction, America, stepped into the breach, providing massive security and economic and humanitarian assistance. Our NATO allies and partners in 50-plus nations stood up as well. But most importantly, the Ukrainian people stood up. I ask the people of this chamber to stand up for them. The good news is Putin's war has failed at his core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free. He set out to weaken NATO, but NATO is bigger, stronger, and more united than ever before with two new members, Finland and Sweden. But we cannot let up. The world now has another choice to make. Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom, or walk away and let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed? I know my answer. We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away. And we will not let up on our support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace in the U.N. Charter. We also need to uphold our principles as we seek to responsibly manage the competition with China so it does not veer into conflict. We stand ready to cooperate on urgent challenges for the good of our people and the people everywhere. We recently resumed cooperation with China to stop the flow of deadly synthetic narcotics. I appreciate the collaboration. It matters for the people of my country and many others around the world. On matters of conviction, the United States is unabashed in pushing back against unfair economic competition, against military coercion of other nations in the South China Sea, in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, in protecting our most advanced technologies so they cannot be used against us or any of our partners. At the same time, we're going to continue to strengthen our network of alliances and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. These partnerships are not against any nation. They're building blocks for a free, open, secure, and peaceful Indo-Pacific. We're also working to bring greater measure of peace and stability to the Middle East. The world must not flinch from the horrors of October 7th. Any country, any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack can never happen again. Thousands of invaded a sovereign state, slaughtering and massacring more than 1,200 people, including 46 Americans in their homes and at a music festival. Despicable acts of sexual violence, 250 innocents taken hostage. I've met with the families of those hostages. I've grieved with them. They're going through hell. Innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell. Thousands and thousands killed, including aid workers. Too many families just located, crowding in the tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation. They did not ask for this war that Hamas started. I put forward with Qatar and Egypt a ceasefire and hostage deal. It's been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home, and secure security for Israel and Gaza free of Hamas grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war on October 7th. Since October 7th, we've also been determined to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region. Hezbollah, unprovoked, joined the October 7th attack, launching rockets into Israel. Almost a year later, too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remained displaced. Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely. And that's what we're working tirelessly to achieve. As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution where the world, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own. Progress toward peace will put us in a stronger position to deal with the ongoing threat posed by Iran. Together, we must deny oxygen to terrorist proxies, which have called for more October 7th and ensure that Iran will never, ever obtain a nuclear weapon. Gaza is not the only conflict that deserves our outrage. In Sudan, a bloody civil war unleashed one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Eight million, eight million on the brink of famine. Hundreds of thousands already there. Atrocities are for and elsewhere. The United States has led the world in providing humanitarian aid to Sudan, and with our partners, we've led diplomatic talks to try to silence the guns and avert a wider famine. The world needs to stop arming the generals, to speak with one voice and tell them, stop tearing your country apart, stop blocking aid to the Sudanese people, end this war now. But people need more than the absence of war. They need a chance, a chance to live in dignity. They need to be protected from the ravages of climate change, hunger, and disease. Our administration has arrived, has invested over $150 billion to make progress and other sustainable development goals. It includes $20 billion for food security, over $50 billion for global health. We've mobilized billions more in private sector investment. We've taken the most ambitious climate action in history. We've moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement on day one. Today, my country is finally on track to cut emissions in half by 2030, on track to honor my pledge to quadruple climate financing to developing nations with $11 billion thus far this year. We've rejoined the World Health Organization, donated 700 million doses of vaccine to 117 countries. We must now move quickly to face MPOX outbreak in Africa. We're prepared to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to MPOX and to donate 1 million doses of MPOX vaccine now. We call on our partners to match our pledge and make this a billion-dollar commitment to the people of Africa. Beyond the core necessities of food and health, the United States, the G7, and our partners have embarked on an ambitious initiative to mobilize and deliver significant finance to the developing world. We're working to help countries build out their infrastructure, to clean energy transition, to the digital transformation, to lay new economic foundations for a prosperous future. It's called the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. We've already started to see the fruits of this emerge in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia and in the Americas. We have to keep it going. If we want to get things done together, in order to do that, we must build a stronger, more effective, and more inclusive United Nations. The U.N. needs to adapt and bring new voices and new perspectives. That's why we support reforming and expanding the membership of the U.N. Security Council. Our U.N. Ambassador just laid out our detailed vision to reflect today's world, not yesterday's. It's time to move forward. The Security Council, like the U.N. itself, needs to go back to the job of making peace, of brokering deals to end wars and suffering, to stop the spread of the most dangerous weapons, of stabilizing troubled regions in East Africa, from East Africa to Haiti, to Kenya-led mission that's working alongside the Haitian people to turn the tide. We also have a responsibility to prepare our citizens for the future. We'll see more technological change, I argue, in the next two to 10 years than we have in the last 50 years. Artificial intelligence is going to change our ways of life, our ways of work, and our ways of war. It could usher in scientific progress that the past has never seen before, and much of it could make our lives better. But AI also brings profound risks, from deep fakes to disinformation to novel pathogens to bioweapons. We've worked at home and abroad to define the new norms and standards. This year, we achieved the first-ever General Assembly resolution on AI to start developing global rules, global rules of the road. We also announced a declaration on the responsible use of AI, joined by 60 countries in this chamber. But let's be honest, this is just the tip of the iceberg, what we need to do to manage this new technology. Nothing is certain about how AI will evolve or how it will be deployed. No one knows all the answers. My fellow leaders, it's with humility I offer two questions. First, how do we as an international community govern AI? As countries and companies race to uncertain frontiers, we need an equally urgent effort to ensure AI's safety, security, and trustworthiness. As AI grows more powerful, it also must grow more responsive to our collective needs and values. Benefits of all must be shared equitably, should be harnessed to a narrow, not deepened, digital divide. Second, will we ensure that AI supports rather than undermines the core principles that human life has value and all humans deserve dignity? We must make certain that the awesome capabilities of AI will be used to uplift and empower everyday people, not to give dictators more powerful shackles on the human spirit. The years ahead, there may well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with AI. Let me close with this. Even as we navigate so much change, one thing must not change. We must never forget who we're here to represent, we the people. These are the first words of our constitution, the very idea of America. They inspired the opening words of the UN Charter. I made the preservation of democracy the central cause of my presidency. This summer, I faced a decision whether to seek a second term as president. It was a difficult decision. Being president has been the honor of my life. There's so much more I want to get done. As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided after 50 years of public service, it's time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward. My fellow leaders, let us never forget, some things are more important than staying in power. It's your people. It's your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people, not the other way around. Because the future will be won by those who unleash the full potential of their people, to breathe free, to think freely, to innovate, to educate, to live and love openly without fear. That's the soul of democracy. It does not belong to any one country. I've seen it all around the world, in the brave men and women who entered apartheid, brought down the Berlin Wall, fight today for freedom and justice and dignity. We saw it, that universal yearning for rights and freedom in Venezuela, where millions cast their vote for change that hadn't been recognized, but it can't be denied. The world knows the truth. We saw it in Uganda, LBGT activists demanding safety and recognition of their common humanity. We've seen citizens across the world peacefully choosing their future, from Ghana to India to South Korea, nations representing one quarter of humanity who will hold elections this year alone. It's remarkable the power of We the People that makes me more optimistic about the future than I've ever been. Since I was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972, every age faces its challenges. I saw it as a young man. I see it today. But we are stronger than we think. We're stronger together than alone. And what the people call impossible is just an illusion. Nelson Mandela taught us, and I quote, it always seems impossible until it's done. It always seems impossible until it's done. My fellow leaders, there's nothing that's beyond our together. God bless you all, and may God protect all those who seek peace. Thank you.