Vice Presidential Pool Reports of April 16, 2021

VP Pool Report #1

Good morning,
I will be your print pooler for the vice-president today.
Vice-President Kamala Harris is due to meet Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga at 11 am in the ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office building. There will be a short pool spray at the beginning of the meeting.

Some background:
Yoshihide Suga became Japan's Prime Minister in September last year, succeeding Shinzo Abe who retired due to ill health.
This is the first visit of a foreign leader to the White House of the Biden presidency, though PM Suga did participate in a virtual meeting of the "Quad" last month with President Biden, alongside the leaders of India, Australia.
Mr Suga arrived last night at Joint Base Andrews and stayed overnight at Blair House.
Following his bilateral meeting with the vice-president, he will meet with President Biden at 1.30pm in the Oval Office, followed by an expanded meeting in the State Dining Room at 2.30 pm. The two leaders will hold a press conference at 4.15 pm.

VP Pool Report #2

Vice-president Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga entered the ceremonial office at 11.05 am.

They stood in front of the United States and Japanese flags. A Japanese and US translator were also present.

VP Harris began by addressing the shooting in Indiana.

"Yet again we have families in our country who are grieving because of the loss of their family members" over gun violence.

"There is no question that this violence must end and we are thinking of the families that lost their loved ones." The President will speak later about the case, she said.

She then welcomed PM Suga."The President and I are very excited about the conversations we will have." Notes they met during last month's Quad meeting and highlighted "our mutual commitment to the Indo Pacific." Noted the "importance of peace and prosperity in that region of the world."

Said it was a "personal point of privilege" to meet with PM, noting Japanese community in California.

Speaking through a translator, PM Suga began by expressing his "sincere gratitude" for the invitation to the White House.

He praised the Biden's administration's commitment to bilateral relations. "The Japan US alliance needs to be strong."

Said he looks forward to discussing "a wide range of challenges... and reconfirm the bond of our alliance."

When they finished speaking at 11.12 am they walked outside on to the balcony off the room

VP Pool Report #3 (Final report: full quotes and list of participants in bilat)

VP Harris began by addressing the "tragedy" in Indiana.

"Yet again we have families in our country that are grieving the loss of their family members because of gun violence. There is no question that this violence must end and we are thinking of the families that lost their loved ones. The President will speak later about the case."

Turning to PM Suga she said:

"It is now my great pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister of Japan and to thank him for this visit which is the first visit to the United States of a world leader since we came into office. The President and I are very excited about the conversations we will have with the prime minister today. As you know, Mr Prime Minister, you and I met just about a month ago during the Quad summit which was a meeting with the United States with our allies Japan, with Australia and with India where we had extensive conversations about the collaborations and the friendship around some of the biggest challenges facing our world."

"It is also a personal point of privilege for me to spend this time with you. As you know I come from California where we have a very strong and vibrant Japanese community who has made great contributions not only to the state but to the country."

{At this point, a plane flew overhead, so difficult to hear}

She noted "our mutual commitment to the Indo Pacific" and "importance of peace and prosperity in that region of the world."

Speaking through a translator, PM Suga said: "I would like to first of all express my sincere gratitude for inviting me as the first foreign guest in Washington despite the covid 19 pandemic since the inauguration of the Biden administration. I'm also very delighted to have the opportunity to meet with you vice-president Harris face to face today and have wonderful conversations. I am very much looking forward to it."

"Japan highly praises and appreciates that the Biden- Harris administration puts high importance on cooperating with its allies and partners. There is no other time than today that the Japan-US alliance needs to be strong. This is an alliance that is connected by universal values, such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law."
"Today I very much look forward to discussing you with Vice-President Harris as well as with President Biden later on regarding important challenges, a wide range of challenges, that both Japan and the United States face and reconfirm the bond of our alliance."

VP Harris replied: "Thank you very much, I look forward to our conversation."

They exited the balcony at 11.17 am and returned to the ceremonial office room for the bilat meeting.

Participants in the meeting:

US Side
T.H. Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States
Mr. Michael Fuchs, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Mr. Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific
Dr. Philip Gordon, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President
Ms. Nancy Leou, Special Advisor to the Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific

Japanese Side
H.E. Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan
Mr. Sakai Manabu, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Adachi Masashi, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister
H.E. Tomita Koji, Ambassador of Japan to the United States
Mr. Mori Takeo, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs