On Wednesday night, President Joe Biden will deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress since taking office a little over three months ago. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden will deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening; attendees are limited due to the coronavirus pandemic

  • First Lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted a virtual discussion with a number of special guests ahead of the event

  • Each invitee represented "some of the issues or policies that will be addressed by the President in his speech," per the White House

  • Not even Dr. Biden, who would normally be seated in a viewing box with special invitees, is allowed to bring guests to this year's address

In years past — when the threat of the coronavirus pandemic didn’t hang over Washington — nearly every member of Congress, plus their invited guests, would gather in the House chambers to hear the president’s address. 

This year, with social distancing at top-of-mind, only a fraction of the usual 1,600-plus guests will listen to Biden’s speech in person. Not even first lady Jill Biden, who would normally be seated in a viewing box with special invitees, is allowed to bring guests. 

Instead, Dr. Biden hosted a virtual, pre-speech event with a number of special guests, “each of whom personify some of the issues or policies that will be addressed by the President in his speech,” per the White House. 

Dr. Biden served largely as her husband’s chief cheerleader during Wednesday’s event, telling the attendees that “everything he does is for you.”

“Every morning for the last one hundred days, Joe has awakened with a sense of urgency,” Dr. Biden said in opening Wednesday’s event. “From getting the virus under control, to common sense gun safety reform, from making sure that students have the broadband that they need to learn, to defending LGBTQ rights. 

“He knows that these aren't just issues to be debated and polled,” she continued. “They’re the challenges that shape your lives, the things that keep you up at night. And he knows that you’re counting on him for real solutions, and that you can’t wait.” 

The first lady also heard personal stories from each of her guests, all of whom either benefited from or advocated for policies that resonate with President Biden. 

The attendees included: 

  • Javier Quiroz Castro: Dreamer, DACA Recipient & Nurse
  • Maria-Isabel Ballivian: Executive Director, Annandale Christian Community For Action (ACCA) Child Development Center 
  • Tatiana Washington: Gun Violence Prevention Advocate and Organizer 
  • Stella Keating: First Transgender Teen to Testify Before U.S. Senate 
  • Theron Rutyna: IT Director for the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Javier Quiroz Castro told Dr. Biden how his parents left Mexico when he was young in order to give him a better life in the United States. 

Years later — when the Obama-Biden administration first introduced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012 — Castro was able to attain his nursing license and get a job, telling Dr. Biden on Wednesday: “DACA has given me all sorts of opportunities.”

The program, which protects those who came to the country illegally as children from deportation, was halted by Donald Trump in 2017. On his first day in office, Biden signed a memorandum instructing the Department of Homeland Security and the attorney general "to preserve and fortify DACA."

“Now I'm here, in the biggest medical center in the United States, and I've been serving my communities and I will continue to do so, especially during this pandemic,” Castro said. 

Tatiana Washington, an activist whose aunt died due to gun violence, told Dr. Biden on Wednesday it is “time for us to address the root causes of violence.” 

“Gun violence, domestic violence, and police violence are all interconnected and tie back to our nation’s history and culture of violence and marginalization,” she said, adding: “I’m so grateful for the administration who has listened to the demands of gun violence survivors and activists all over the country.”

The first lady agreed that there is “too much gun violence” in America, adding: “It’s something that my husband, Joe, has worked on for years and years and years. And you're right, now change is coming.” 

In early April, Biden issued a half-dozen executive actions to combat what he called an “epidemic and an international embarrassment” of gun violence in America.

Biden’s mandates included a move to crack down on “ghost guns,” homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check. He also moved to tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces like the one used in Boulder, Colorado, in a shooting that left 10 dead in March.

Biden is expected to touch on a number of issues during his speech this evening, including police reform, the coronavirus pandemic, infrastructure, and his recently-announced American Families Plan, per White House press secretary Jen Psaki. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.