Written by Ariana Neverson
As somebody who voted for Biden, I have been keeping a keen eye on what I think he could do best for our country within his first 100 days. Of the following policies and actions enacted by Biden, I think he has already proven himself to be a good president dedicated to the promises he made during his campaign. For his goals in advancing racial equity, a White House memorandum issued on Jan. 26, titled “Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States” discussed the numerous failings of the government’s attempt to stamp out this issue.
Along with this statement, Biden made a public pledge to crack down on xenophobia against Asian-Americans in the wake of an increase in violence and harassment during the pandemic. The memorandum read, in part, “The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin.”
There is more planned for this initiative that is yet to come.
Biden made a commitment to fight against global warming by signing an executive order beginning the process of rejoining the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which the US withdrew from last year. Additionally, Biden revoked the presidential permit granted to the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, which environmentalists and Native American groups have fought for more than a decade. Biden also revoked an emergency declaration made by the Trump administration that helped fund the building of a wall along the Mexican border and ended the travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries.
In support of LGBTQ+ rights, Biden repealed a divisive law passed under the previous administration, bringing an end to the ban on transgender Americans joining the military. The White House released a statement on Jan. 20, titled, “Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.” The explanation of the repeal reads:
“Transgender service members will no longer be subject to the possibility of discharge or separation on the basis of gender identity, President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity.”
This news came after Biden nominated Pennsylvania’s top health official, Rachel Levine, to be his assistant secretary of health. This would make Levine the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the US Senate.
On Feb. 22, after the confirmation that over 500,000 Americans have passed from the virus, the newly instated president said:
“We must end the politics and misinformation that’s divided families, communities and the country. It’s cost too many lives already. It’s not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus — it’s our fellow Americans. It’s our neighbors, our friends, our mothers, our fathers, our sons, our daughters, husbands, wives. We have to fight this together as one people, as the United States of America. That’s the only way we’re going to beat this virus, I promise you.”