Congressman Ruiz reacts to ‘home run’ Biden speech, highlights east valley vaccinations

Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz was one of only 200 lawmakers selected to attend Wednesday night's presidential address to a joint session of Congress in person.

Ruiz was seated just a few seats from First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and grabbed a selfie with the president moments after the speech.

News Channel 3's Jake Ingrassia spoke to the congressman to get his reaction to what he heard as Biden marked his first 100 days in office. "I thought he did wonderful; he really hit a home run," Ruiz said.

Selling points, Ruiz said, were Biden touting his creation of a record breaking number of jobs, a massive rollout of vaccine distribution, and the American Rescue Plan lifting millions of Americans out of poverty – in addition to laying out his visions for infrastructure of the future.

And then there's the history that was made behind the president: for the first time, two women led the Senate and House during a presidential address to Congress. Ruiz said it's a moment he will never forget.

"That is something that is going to be a cherished moment for me and my family, something I will talk to my daughters about for years to come and inspire them," he said.

Because of the pandemic, there was a major change in setting at the address. The audience was cut down from 1,600 to just 200 lawmakers. Social distancing and masks were still in place. "The energy was very different," Ruiz said. "There wasn't that packed, electrifying energy that you normally feel in the House, but it was as enthusiastic and as exciting."

Ruiz brought with him a virtual guest: Dr. Conrado Bárzaga, CEO of the Desert Healthcare District – highlighting their joint effort to vaccinate underserved communities in the eastern Coachella Valley. It's an effort they said has been made significantly easier under Biden's presidential leadership. "Everything has changed dramatically for the better," Bárzaga said.

Bárzaga said vaccinating hard-hit populations in the valley is facilitated in large part by work happening in Washington D.C., including federal partnerships with pharmacies.

"What the government has done is they have required these companies like Rite Aid and CVS to have at least 40 percent of those vaccines coming to underserved communities, so that has really ramped up our efforts," Bárzaga said.

Thanks to that work, Bárzaga said more than 20,000 doses of vaccines have been distributed in the east valley so far.

He and Ruiz agree, from a public health standpoint, it's going to take national unity to end the pandemic.

"Too often the two parties fight so much against each other, living under the same roof, that they don't understand that their house is on fire," Ruiz said.

Ruiz also spoke about the American Jobs Plan presented by President Biden, as it relates to clean energy and lithium in the Salton Sea. He said he's scheduled a meeting with the Secretary of Energy soon to discuss it.