Joe Biden Urges Immediate Reforms & Reflects on Grief in Protest Speech: 'No More Excuses, No More Delays'

Former Vice President Joe Biden delivered a somber speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday in which he called for both immediate congressional action on police reform and for unity while expressing understanding over outrage in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed last week after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

“Congress should act and act now,” Biden, 77, said.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee promised a group of black community leaders in Delaware on Monday that he would address institutional racism in his first 100 days in the White House, if elected over incumbent President Donald Trump in November's election.

On Tuesday, Biden called for an immediate legislative “down payment” and urged Congress to pass a police reform bill banning chokeholds, introduced by New York lawmaker Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Biden said that bill should be on Trump's desk in the next few days.

Biden, in his first major appearance since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, also called on Congress to “stop transferring weapons of war to police forces" — referring to what critics call the militarization of police — "and improve oversight and accountability.”

“No more excuses, no more delays,” he said.

The former vice president's speech Tuesday morning came after days of protests, rioting and looting sparked by Floyd's death.

Floyd's arrest on May 25 in Minneapolis was partially filmed, with the footage showing he pleaded for air while officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. (Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter but has not entered a plea; the other officers involved were fired.)

Biden echoed Floyd's final words as he began his speech Tuesday.

"'I can’t breathe,' " he said. "'I can't breathe' — George Floyd’s last words, but they didn’t die with him. They’re still being heard, echoing all across this nation."

He spoke about how minority groups — specifically black Americans — make up a disproportionate percentage of the more than 105,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. and of the 40 million-plus jobs lost across the country because of the pandemic.

A recent NPR analysis of reported virus fatalities shows black people dying at a faster rate than other racial groups in 32 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C.

"We know that these racial ethnic disparities in COVID-19 are the result of pre-pandemic realities," Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center at the Yale School of Medicine, told NPR. "It's a legacy of structural discrimination that has limited access to health and wealth for people of color."

RELATED: Anderson Cooper Calls Out Trump's Response amid Protests: 'So Low Rent and Just Sad'

Matt Rourke/AP/Shutterstock Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Biden said Floyd's death and the protests that have come afterwards are "a wake up call to the nation" and that the U.S. needs to "respond with action," vowing himself — if elected — to begin working on healing racial inequality and divides across the country.

The country is “crying out for leadership” that can “unite us and bring us together," Biden said.

Invoking the memory of his son Beau, who died of cancer, and daughter Naomi and first wife Neilia, who were both killed in a car crash, he said: "I know what it means to grieve. My losses are not the same as the losses felt by so many, but I know what it is to feel like you cannot go on. I know what it means to have a black hole of grief sucking at your chest."

"But," he continued, "I also know that the best way to bear loss and pain is to turn all that anger and anguish to purpose."

The former vice president chastised Trump — who has criticized Biden's protest response in turn — for using the military to violently break up a protest outside of the White House on Monday afternoon, using tear gas, flash grenades to clear out the crowd in order for Trump to walk to the nearby St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo while holding a Bible.

“I just wish he opened it [the Bible] once in a while instead of brandishing it," Biden said. "If he opened it, he could’ve learned something. We’re all called to love one another as we love ourselves. It’s really hard work, but it’s the work of America.”

Trump's 2020 campaign released a statement following Biden's speech deriding his reaction to the nationwide protests and contending the Biden team "made it clear that they stand with the rioters," referring to the violence that has sometimes marred the protests, with buildings burned and ransacked.

But Biden denounced violence universally in his speech and called for peaceful gatherings.

He also said that it was not acceptable for police to "escalate tension” and “resort to excessive violence.”

While Trump has expressed solidarity with the Floyd family and called for justice, his focus in recent days has become the protesters — particularly those he holds responsible for widespread unrest. The White House has, without evidence, blamed the "radical" left.

Last week the president suggested the military should shoot looters and he said the Secret Service could have sicced "vicious dogs" on demonstrators at the White House.

On Monday night he said he would send the military into communities if their local leaders did not respond more aggressively and, in his words, get protests under control.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Trump's comments "inflammatory rhetoric" and he would not be asking for the federal government's armed intrusion in his state.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills warned Trump on Monday that his mere presence in her state "might create unrest." The president had been scheduled to visit a cotton swab facility there Friday, where swabs for coronavirus tests are made.

RELATED: Governors Respond to Trump's Call to 'Dominate' Protesters and His Threat to Send in the Military

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Thousands of people stage a die-in next to the Colorado State Capitol with their hands behind their backs to protest the death of George Floyd on Saturday in Denver.

Stephen Maturen/Getty Terrence Floyd (center) attends a Monday vigil where his brother George Floyd was killed after a police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest in Minneapolis.

On Tuesday, Biden said Trump was “more interested in power than in principle" and "more interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care.” He also criticized Trump for “using the American military to move against the American people.”

While denouncing violence and supporting protests, Biden promised he would take action against racial inequality as president.

“It’s going to take more than talk," he said. "We’ve had talk before. We’ve had protests before. We’ve got to now vow to make this at least an error of action and reverse the systemic racism with a long overdue concrete changes ... It’s going to take the work of a generation.”

To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:

• Campaign Zero which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.

• ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.

• National Cares Mentoring Movement provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond.