AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
- President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday.
- Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, delivered the GOP rebuttal.
- "Our best future won't come from Washington schemes or socialist dreams," Scott said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, delivered the GOP's response to President Joe Biden's first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening.
The South Carolina senator delivered his remarks following Biden's speech, during which the president laid out a recovery plan for the US and celebrated the progress that had been made in the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his response, Scott, a rising star who has served in the Senate since 2013, said Biden's speech was "full of good words" but that he hasn't delivered on his promise to unite Americans.
"Our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes," Scott said, adding that the president's actions are pulling us further apart.
He praised Republicans and President Donald Trump for progress made during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it should be a "joyful springtime for our nation" because "this administration inherited a tide that had already turned."
"Thanks to Operation Warp Speed and the Trump Administration, our country is flooded with safe and effective vaccines. Thanks to our bipartisan work last year, job openings are rebounding," he said.
He also criticized school closures and promoted school choice.
"Locking vulnerable kids out of the classroom is locking adults out of their future. Our public schools should have reopened months ago," he said. "Other countries did. Private and religious schools did. Science has shown for months that schools are safe."
Scott also criticized Democrats for not working with Republicans on Biden's coronavirus stimulus and infrastructure plan. He emphasized the importance of finding common ground, especially in regard to race.
"I have experienced the pain of discrimination. I know what it feels like to be pulled over for no reason, to be followed around a store while I'm shopping," he said. "I've also experienced a different kind of intolerance. I get called Uncle Tom and the n-word by progressives, by liberals."
Scott noted his work in Congress on police reform but accused Democrats of not being interested in working for a solution. He also said it was "backward to fight discrimination with more discrimination."
"Today, kids are being taught that the color of their skin defines them again, and if they look a certain way they're an oppressor," he said. "America is not a racist country."
On the economy, Scott said Republicans had created the "most inclusive economy in my lifetime," citing low employment rates among Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans, as well as women.
"Our best future won't come from Washington schemes or socialist dreams," he said.
"It will come from you - the American people," he said, praising the US as "the country where my grandfather in his 94 years saw his family go from cotton to Congress in one lifetime."
On Tuesday, Scott spoke with reporters about how he was preparing for his speech.
"You figure out who your audience is, you figure out what you want to say and you try and find a way to say it well," Scott said, The Associated Press reported. "And you lean into who you are."
Ahead of the speech, Scott sent out a fundraising appeal on behalf of the Republican National Convention, CNN's DJ Judd reported. The email took on a pointedly harsher tone.
"Joe Biden does not believe in the promise of America, and nothing he says tonight can change that," Scott said in the email said. "Make no mistake; if Patriotic Americans, like yourself, sit on the sidelines, Joe Biden will be able to replace the American Dream with a socialist nightmare."
Scott's address came amid increased scrutiny of the police in the US. During Biden's speech, the president urged Congress to pass a police reform bill. Scott is the lead Republican engaging in talks over reform in the Senate.
He sponsored the Senate's 2020 policing bill which focused on improving data collection on police misconduct and expanding de-escalation training for police. The bill did not receive the 60 votes needed, falling short by five.
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