WATCH: Biden Delivers Coast Guard Academy Commencement Speech

NEW LONDON, CT — The last time Joe Biden visited the United States Coast Guard Academy was as vice president in 2013 when he delivered the commencement address.

Two years earlier his boss, President Barack Obama, delivered the commencement address at the academy, where hundreds queued in line for hours to hear the then-president.

On Wednesday, after Air Force One landed at Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, President Biden traveled to New London for the 140th U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation.

The president traveled on Marine One to New London to deliver the 2021 commencement address at Cadet Memorial Field. (See the full commencement video below.)

"Cadets, stand up, turn around and salute your parents," Biden began his remarks, as he congratulated them on soldering through the pandemic, which forced last year's graduation to be virtual. "There's no doubt in my mind the class will reflect the very best of our country."

Biden said the graduates “have each other's backs,” and when times have been tough they’ve been “there for one another.”

“The pandemic didn’t change it, it made it more important,” Biden said.

He added that there is “no doubt in my mind” that the graduates “reflect the very best of our country.”

He said as the nation’s commander-in-chief, he’s been looking forward to this event for a long time. He said the Coast Guard has been severely tested over the past year, responding to 30 storms, wildfires in the West and massive flooding in the central part of the country.

Biden said the situation will grow worse unless we get a handle on climate change.

“The Coast Guard always recognized the broader definition of our national security,” Biden said.

He said the key to our nation’s future is to work together as the world keeps changing rapidly.

He said it's time for the graduates to go out and be the future and to make the future, noting that one-third of the graduates are women. He concluded his remarks at 12:15 p.m. by saying he's "never been more optimistic about our future."

Watch the livestream of President Joe Biden’s U. S. Coast Guard Academy commencement keynote address here.

And here, watch the U.S. Coast Guard Academy livestream of the events leading up to the commencement beginning at 9:30 a.m.:

Vice President Kamala Harris was also in Connecticut recently. In late March, Harris visited New Haven as part of the Biden Administration's "Help is Here" campaign to promote the American Rescue Plan stimulus package. Harris was joined at various stops while in the Elm City by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.