President Joe Biden speaks during an Independence Day celebration at the White House, July 4, 2022. (Photo: AP)

In Washington, President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden welcomed to the White House 1,000 essential workers and military personnel, the first major event held in person at the White House since President Biden took office.

President Biden said at the reception, “I've never been more optimistic about America than I am today, an optimism that digs deep and never gives up. That's America! So on this day amid the storms of strikes, may we commit ourselves to a principal prejudice, to a larger complex mission to protect and make a more perfect our union, make real the Declaration of Independence and sure that America is a place not credited by the thirst for power any cost, but by a covenant of trust, hope, and promise.”

The celebrations have been marred by a mass shooting at July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, killing six people and injuring 31 others.