House Speaker Paul Ryan has invited Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America, to address a joint session of the Congress on February 28.
"I'm inviting President Trump to address a joint session of Congress on February 28. This will be an opportunity for the people and their representatives to hear directly from our new President about his vision and our shared agenda," Ryan told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday.
Ryan's formal invitation fulfils a tradition that provides an incoming President with the opportunity to address Congress within weeks of taking office.
A joint session of Congress usually occurs in the House of Representatives chamber, and is attended by all 100 US senators and 435 representatives. The White House and both chambers of Congress are now controlled by Republicans.
A day earlier, Ryan met Trump and the Vice President Mike Pence at the White House.
"We had a very, very productive discussion about our agenda, including health care, tax reform, rebuilding our military, securing the border. The President is eager to get moving on this agenda and so are we," he said.
"Already, we have hit the ground running, taking the first steps to keep our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare," he said, adding that this is going to be a step-by-step approach.
"With this unified Republican government, we have a unique opportunity to deliver results to the American people. And in the days and weeks, we look forward to laying out more of our agenda," he said.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said only two other time since World War II Republicans have the House, the Senate majority and the presidency.
"We understand what the American people have entrusted in us. And I believe yesterday was the right start where the President invited the House and Senate Republicans and the Democrats together,” he said.
"It was a start to build the relationship. We talked about the challenges, we talked about the failing system of Obamacare. People talked about do you just allow the system to fail? No, because the American people, you've got to give them relief. You have to give them a rescue and something much better," he added.
With PTI Inputs
