Kamala Devi Harris

“ And I am proud to report that, while the United States still has work to do, we, too, are making progress—and that women strengthen our democracy everyday.
In every presidential election for the last 56 years, in the United States, more women have voted than men.
More women than ever before serve in the United States Congress.
More women than ever before are their family’s breadwinner. ”

“ And yet, millions of Americans, many of whom live in rural America, do not have access to broadband. And if they do, it is not affordable.
Broadband impacts our economy. It impacts our education system, our healthcare system. And I’m talking about small business owners who don’t have the literal bandwidth to grow their businesses; students who can’t study at home, who have to drive to the local McDonald’s, to the parking lot, to get access to their WiFi; seniors who haven’t seen their doctor because, in the middle of a pandemic, telemedicine is not an option for them. ”

“ Today, the American Rescue Plan is very close to becoming the law of the land. And now we need to help ensure that relief is distributed equitably — equitably. And that means we need to acknowledge, as so many of us do — we need to acknowledge the pandemic has made worse the fissures and the flaws and failures that already existed in our systems and in our structures. We’ve seen that race and place matter a lot in how well protected a person is from the virus or not. And race and place have played a role in access to services. ”

“ Friends, there is no cause more righteous than the right to vote.
It is the right that unlocks so many other rights. The right to be treated with dignity at work. The right to a high-quality public education. ”

“ It’s a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure, in America’s future. It is what the American people deserve. It will keep our nation competitive, it will build up our nation’s communities, and it will put our nation back to work. ”

“ And as you will hear in a moment, President Joe Biden is a leader with great will, great determination, and even greater empathy. He has seen the grief of all of those who have lost a loved one to gun violence. It is for them, for all of us, that he will never, ever give up on this fight. ”

“ Black Americans — and Black men, in particular — have been treated, throughout the course of our history, as less than human.
Black men are fathers and brothers and sons and uncles and grandfathers and friends and neighbors. Their lives must be valued in our education system, in our healthcare system, in our housing system, in our economic system, in our criminal justice system, in our nation. Full stop.
Because of smartphones, so many Americans have now seen the racial injustice that Black Americans have known for generations — the racial injustice that we have fought for generations ”

“ Please tell your folks about how to get vaccinated at pharmacies and community health centers and mobile units. And please continue to tell everyone you know to wear a mask.
And this brings me to my final point: The American people will continue to look to you as much as they look to me or the President. Because of your tireless efforts, because they know they can rely on you, they will continue to look to you for answers and for action and for comfort and for hope. ”

“ And in early February of this year, more than 150 bills to restrict voting had already been introduced in more than 30 state legislatures.
That is four times as many as the same time last year.
So we have to tell the truth about these efforts: They are certainly not designed to protect our elections. They do not protect our democracy. And the only purpose they serve is to cut people out. To leave people out. To attempt to silence people. ”

“ And by way of introduction to the discussion, as everyone knows, a few weeks ago, the President asked me to take on a role of leadership in addressing the root causes of migration and to focus on the Northern Triangle countries, similar to the work he did when he was Vice President years ago.
And so the work we are doing is informed by that approach and that strategy and that direction. It is work that also is informed, for me, by certain — just basic principles and beliefs.
One is that most people don’t want to leave home. They don’t want to leave the place where their grandparents lived. ”

“ So now the best way, I also believe, to get a good job is through a strong union. Union members have better pay, better healthcare, better retirement, better protections on the job. I believe every worker in America deserves the ability to organize or join a union.
And there’s another thing about American jobs and the American Jobs Plan. It will not only create good jobs, it will have a big impact — impact — on communities. It will have a big impact on people’s quality of life at home.
Let’s talk about, for example, broadband. The world runs online. ”

“ The American Rescue Plan will also get $1,400 checks in the pockets of people who need them most, and a $3,000 tax credit per child.
Think about it: This plan will actually lift one in three black and Latino Americans who are living in poverty and lift them out of poverty. We will also lift half of America’s children who are living in poverty out of poverty. I mean, just think about that: Half of the children in our country who are living in poverty won’t be. ”

“ And so the focus that we are bringing to our work in the Northern Triangle is really about assessing and figuring out what we might do to encourage economic development, addressing what we know is — is present there in terms of the need to address issues that relate to integrity of government, rule of law, and corruption — but looking at it also in the context of what we can do with the resources we have to assist on issues like agriculture, farming, water irrigation. ”

“ So let us remember, our cause is righteous. Our resolve is strong. Our spirit is mighty. So let us keep on in the tradition of Selma and John Lewis.
Thank you all, and may God bless you, and may God bless America. ”

“ A Great Experiment takes great determination—the will to do the work and then the wisdom to keep refining, keep tinkering, keep perfecting.
The same determination is being realized in America today.
I see it in the scientists who are transforming the future. ”

“ Vice President Kamala Harris spoke today with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, and affirmed her commitment to deepening the strong alliance between Norway and the United States. Vice President Harris and Prime Minister Solberg agreed on the importance of standing together to support human rights and shared democratic values. They agreed to cooperate bilaterally and multilaterally to advance global health, particularly the well-being of women and girls. ”

“ A good job allows people the freedom to build the life you want, to reach as high as you want, to aspire. That’s what a good job does.
And good jobs are what the President and I will create with the American Jobs Plan. We will draw on the skills that millions of workers in our country already have. ”

“ As United States Senator, he fought for equal justice—working tirelessly to ban discrimination in housing and to build the Great Society.
Under President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Mondale transformed the Office of the Vice President. He brought the President and the Vice President closer together, re-defining the relationship as a true partnership. Vice President Mondale worked side by side with President Carter as the two endeavored to end the arms race, promote human rights, and establish peace. ”

“ We can’t just talk about higher education without thinking about what kind of training Americans need to get hired. Instead of simply framing it as higher education, let’s create a variety of opportunities for education after high school. ”

“ Even as our work to pass our American Rescue Plan gets under way, and while we get vaccines distributed across the country and deliver relief to those who are hurting from this pandemic, we have not taken our eye off the right to vote and the fight to maintain everyone’s right to vote. ”

“ The Vice President and the Director-General also discussed the resumption of the United States’ role in the global public health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vice President Harris also stressed the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong support for efforts to strengthen the global COVID-19 response, mitigate its secondary impacts, including on women and girls, and advance global health security to prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic. In addition, the Vice President emphasized the importance of making America safer through global cooperation. ”