WATCH: ‘Fund the police,’ Biden says at State of the Union

U.S. President Joe Biden pledged additional police funding and a focus on reducing gun crime in his State of the Union address delivered Tuesday evening to Congress.

“We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police is to fund the police,” he said. “Fund them. Fund them. Fund them with resources and training. Resources and training, they need to protect their community. I ask Democrats and Republicans alike to pass my budget and keep our neighborhoods safe.

WATCH: President Joe Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address – A PBS NewsHour Special

And as gun violence rises, he returned to calls to ban assault weapons, a blunt request he hadn’t made in months.

“I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence,” Biden said during his first official State of the Union Address. “Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on a terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon? Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”

He called for more funding and “training for police to protect our communities.”

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