Joe Biden: “our country is at war. We face fundamental challenges to our security at home and abroad. The President himself has…”

“our country is at war. We face fundamental challenges to our security at home and abroad. The President himself has compared our situation to the Cold War, to World War II. Those were existential struggles, for which we made great sacrifices and which fundamentally realigned our priorities. Thousands of American families have paid the ultimate sacrifice, tens of thousands of our sons and daughters have been wounded. Tens of thousands more have been put in the line of fire, some of them for multiple tours of duty. The war in Iraq alone has lasted longer than World War II, and its cost, at $315 billion, continues to grow. Here at home, we face challenges to the American dream--the faith that hard work would be rewarded with a decent job, a better future for our children, and secure retirement. The income of the average American family has not risen in the past 6 years. Global competition from a billion and a half new workers will change the world our children inherit. American families have virtually no money left over to save, and private retirement savings are woefully inadequate to meet the wave of retirees now upon us. To meet these challenges, we will have to make massive investments in education and in research to boost the productivity and earnings of American workers. We need to find alternative fuels to reduce our dependence on oil that undermines our foreign policy and holds our economy hostage. Over 46 million Americans are without health insurance.…”