World News | AP FACT CHECK: Claims from Biden''s Joint Address to Congress

Washington, Apr 29 (AP) The Associated Press is fact-checking remarks from President Joe Biden's first address to a joint session of Congress and the Republican response. A look at some of the claims we've examined:

BIDEN: “If you believe in a pathway to citizenship, pass (immigration legislation) so over 11 million undocumented folks, the vast majority who are here overstaying visas, pass it.”

THE FACTS: He's making an unsubstantiated claim.

There is no official count of how many people entered the country legally and overstayed visas. The government estimates that 11.4 million were living in the country illegally as of January 2018 but doesn't distinguish between how many entered legally and stayed after their visas expired and how many arrived illegally.

Robert Warren of the Center for Migration Studies of New York, a former director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's statistics division who has studied visa overstays for decades, has done the most recent work on the issue. He estimated that, as of 2018, 46per cent of people in the country illegally overstayed visas — not a majority, let alone a “vast majority.”

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BIDEN, on his economic proposals: “There's a broad consensus of economists — left, right, center — and they agree that what I'm proposing will help create millions of jobs and generate historic economic growth.”

THE FACTS: He's glossing over the naysayers. Some economists, also bridging the ideological spectrum, say he's spending too much or in the wrong way. Biden's pandemic relief plan did enjoy some bipartisan support, even getting a general seal of approval from Kevin Hassett, who was Trump's chief economist. But his policies have also drawn bipartisan criticism.

For one, Larry Summers, who was Barack Obama's top economist and Bill Clinton's treasury secretary, warned that Biden's relief package risks rates of inflation not seen in a generation.

Biden's latest proposals on infrastructure and families would require substantial tax increases on corporations and wealthy investors — leading to criticism by many CEOs and more conservative economists that growth could be compromised. Biden's economics team says the resulting programs and infrastructure would boost growth.

The plan to increase capital gains taxes drew the scorn of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and Republican adviser. He said the White House is wrong to focus on the sliver of people being taxed and what matters is how much of the economy would be taxed.

“The wealth taxes are a draconian tax on the annual return to that capital,” he said. “What matters is the amount of economic activity that is taxed, not the number of people.”

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BIDEN: “We kept our commitment, Democrats and Republicans, sending USD1,400 rescue checks to 85per cent of all American households.”

THE FACTS: That's incorrect.

Republicans in both the U.S. Senate and House opposed the bill containing the USD1,400 stimulus checks, known as the American Rescue Plan, portraying it as too big and too bloated.

All but one Democrat supported the legislation.

While no Republicans voted for this year's coronavirus bill, they supported sending checks to Americans in previous rounds of relief legislation. A relief law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in December, when Donald Trump was still president, provided USD600 checks to many Americans.

Some Republicans have touted programs created by the coronavirus bill despite voting against it.

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BIDEN: "When I was vice president, the president asked me to focus on providing help needed to address the root causes of migration. And it helped keep people in their own countries instead of being forced to leave. The plan was working, but the last administration decided it was not worth it. I'm restoring the program and I asked Vice President Harris to lead our diplomatic effort to take care of this.”

THE FACTS: That's wrong.

Biden led Obama's efforts to address a spike in migration from Central America, but poverty and violence have been endemic for decades. Hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. aid have gone to Central America annually, even during Donald Trump's presidency, but migration from Mexico and Central America has continued unabated with periodic spikes.

In March, the number of unaccompanied children encountered by U.S. border authorities reached nearly 19,000, the highest number on record in the third major surge of families and children from Central America since 2014 under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Biden has proposed USD861 million in Central American aid next year as a first installment on a USD4 billion plan, compared with annual outlays of between USD506 million and USD750 million over the previous six years.

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BIDEN, arguing that Congress should authorize Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. “And by the way, that won't just help people on Medicare — it will lower prescription drug costs for everyone.”

THE FACTS: There may be a bit of wishful thinking in there.

Under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bill, private insurers that cover working-age Americans and their families would indeed be able to get the same discounts as Medicare. But while Pelosi should be able to drive her legislation through the House, the situation in the Senate is different. If just a few Democratic senators have qualms about her expansive approach, Biden may have to settle for less. So there's no guarantee that a final bill would lower prescription drug costs for everyone. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)