Biden heading to Latin America during Netanyahu address
US Vice President will be visiting Uruguay, Guatemala in March, missing Netanyahu's March 3 speech to Congress.
US Vice President Joe Biden is heading to Latin America the first week of March, putting him out of the country while Israel's prime minister is to address Congress.
The White House has said Benjamin Netanyahu's March 3 speech violates diplomatic protocol since the invitation came from Republican House Speaker John Boehner without notifying the president's staff. Some Democratic lawmakers are skipping the address in protest.
The House speaker and vice president traditionally sit behind speakers during a congressional address. But the White House had said Biden would be overseas.
Biden's office disclosed the destination Wednesday. Biden and his wife, Jill, plan to attend the presidential inauguration in Uruguay and then head to Guatemala for meetings on the violence that forced Central American children to flee for US borders last year.
This will be the second time Biden has ever missed an address by a foreign leader to a joint session of Congress, according to Politico.
