Vice Presidential Pool Reports of April 25, 2023

VP pool report #1: wheels rolling to Goddard Space Center

VP Harris and President Yoon of ROK to tour Goddard Space Center and give remarks

VP pool report #2: arrival at Goddard 3:05pm

President Yoon's motorcade was waiting for the VP motorcade on 295 and folded in behind us on the way to Goddard.

—-

On background from a White House Official:
On Tuesday, April 25th, as part of President Yoon of the Republic of Korea's (ROK) State Visit to the United States, Vice President Harris will host President Yoon for a visit to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center. The Vice President and President Yoon will tour Goddard facilities, receive briefings from scientists on cooperative efforts regarding space exploration and addressing the climate crisis, and discuss both the present and the future of the U.S.-ROK partnership in space. They will also meet with Korean-American space experts.

Prior to the leaders' visit to NASA's Goddard, NASA and the ROK Ministry of Science and ICT will sign a Joint Statement of Intent for Cooperation on Space Exploration and Science to enhance our nations' potential cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as space communications and navigation; science and technology research at the Moon, such as biological and life sciences research and activities on the lunar surface; space science, including in the fields of heliophysics, astrophysics, and planetary science; Earth science; and activities to further enhance future space exploration. The visit and signing will be a part of the engagements marking the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK alliance, which has evolved beyond the Korean Peninsula and now is a force for peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.

President Yoon's visit is the second state visit of the Biden-Harris Administration. Each of these visits – President Macron of France's visit to NASA Headquarters in November 2022 and President Yoon's upcoming visit to NASA Goddard – underscore the critical role of space cooperation in our alliances and partnerships around the world.

The United States and the ROK are committed to deepening and broadening our political, economic, security, and people-to-people ties, in space and here on Earth. As chair of the National Space Council, Vice President Harris continues to champion the importance of the United States' leadership in space, and collaboration with our international partners.

As part of her efforts to strengthen international cooperation on space, the Vice President has also engaged with foreign leaders, including from France, India, Japan, South Africa, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, and others on a range of space-related matters.

Additional Background on United States and The Republic of Korea's Partnership in Space

• In September 2022, the Vice President met with President Yoon of the Republic of Korea in Seoul, where they agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation on space.
• U.S.-ROK alliance space cooperation is growing across all sectors – civil, commercial, and national security.
• We are partnering on international rules and norms.
  • In May 2021, Korea signed the Artemis Accords, affirming their commitment to the peaceful, transparent exploration of space. There are currently 23 Artemis Accords signatories.
  • In April 2022, the Vice President announced the U.S. commitment not to conduct destructive, direct ascent anti-satellite missile testing, demonstrating global leadership on norms for sustainable space activities. President Yoon committed to the Vice President in their September 2022 meeting in Seoul that the ROK would make the same commitment, which subsequently occurred. On December 7, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution in support of this commitment.
• We are strengthening our cooperation on lunar exploration.
  • In 2022, NASA and KARI celebrated the successful launch of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, known in the ROK as Danuri, carrying the NASAShadowCam mission instrument to the Moon. ShadowCam will support future lunar exploration efforts searching for evidence of frost or ice deposits in permanently shadowed lunar regions.
  • The ROK is also working on payloads for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions; the ROK's first payload will be the Lunar Space Environment Monitor (LUSEM).
• We are strengthening our cooperation on using space to address the climate crisis.
  • We are working together leveraging different satellite payloads in orbit to monitor air quality and climate change across different regions of the world.
  • The ROK's Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), the first instrument in the constellation, launched in 2020 and measures air pollution over Asia.
  • The United States launched the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission in April 2023, which will measure air pollution over North America using the same U.S.-produced sensor as the Korean GEMS satellite.
• Following the meeting of President Biden and President Yoon in May 2022, the third round of the U.S.-ROK Civil Space Dialogue was held in Seoul in December 2022.

Additional Background on the Vice President's Recent Space Engagements

• In January 2023, the Vice President awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken for their bravery in NASA's first commercial crew mission to the International Space Station in 2020.
• In September 2022, the Vice President convened the second meeting of the National Space Council at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX where she announced new commitments from the U.S. government, private sector companies, education and training providers, and philanthropic organizations to support space-related STEM initiatives to inspire, prepare, and employ the next generation of the space workforce. During the meeting, Space Council members discussed advancing the Council's priorities in expanding Space STEM education and workforce development, human space exploration, and rules for commercial novel space activities.
• In August 2022, the Vice President visited Kennedy Space Center for the first attempt of NASA's Artemis I launch and toured Artemis II and Artemis III mission hardware.
• In August 2022, the Vice President met with private sector leaders at Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, CA and delivered remarks on the Administration's efforts to foster a burgeoning and globally competitive U.S. commercial space sector.
• In July 2022, the Vice President joined the President and the NASA Administrator to make public the first images from the Webb Space Telescope.
• In April 2022, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Vice President announced the United States commitment not to conduct destructive, direct ascent anti-satellite tests, demonstrating global leadership in commitment to norms for sustainable space activities. On December 7, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution in support of this commitment.
• The Vice President has also engaged with NASA Astronauts on Earth and aboard the International Space Station, including Mark Vande Hei, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, Katie Rubins, Anne McClain as well as members of NASA's Crew-4 mission (Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins) while the Vice President visited Mission Control at Johnson Space Center. Most recently, Vice President Harris called the newly announced Artemis-2 crew(Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen) to congratulate them on being named the first humans to return to the Moon in over 50 years.

Pool report #3: Harris & Yoon NASA briefing

Harris and Yoon greeted a row of Korean American NASA employees including an astronaut.

They then moved to another room where they viewed the Acoustic test chamber and received a visual presentation called the

Hyperwall talk by Researcher Leslie Ott with slides on climate change and air quality satellites. (H/t CNN's Jasmine Wright)

Press were escorted out before the end of the presentation.

Remarks by both leaders still to come.

VP pool report #4: Harris remarks & departure

Harris remarks

We celebrate the 70th anniversary of our alliance, focusing on one component today: space, Harris says.

Our governments signed a joint statement about strengthening that cooperation.

• - addressing climate crisis
• - continuing to search for water on the moon
• - expanding collaboration on Artemis
• satellites that can track air pollution in North America and Asia.
• - establishing international rules and norms for peaceful and responsible use of space

—-

Yoon remarks (in Korean)

Over the past six decades, NASA has led and inspired…

satellites can be vital tool in fighting climate change by collecting data

We are in the process of establishing a Korean version of NASA

Take cooperation between two alloes and bring to next level

First step is a bilateral communication platform to facilitate communication on joint projects.

—-

Motorcade departed Goddard at 4:10pm back to the White House

VP pool report #5: Harris greeters

From the first stop -

The Vice President greeted with NASA Korean American Experts, per White House

• - The Vice President
• - President Yoon Suk Yeol, Republic of Korea
• - Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, NASA
• - Su Jung Go, Assistant Research Scientist, Sciences and Exploration Directorate
• - Alicia Jose, Administrative Officer, Astrophysics Science Division
• - Edward Kang, Roman Space Telescope Propulsion Engineer, Propulsion Systems Branch
• - Edward Kim, Research Scientist, Earth Sciences Remote Sensing, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory
• - Juri Schauermann, Assistant Director, Solar System Exploration
• - Sol Shin, Contract Specialist, Institutional Procurement Office
• - Johnny Kim, NASA Astronaut, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and Physician

VP pool report #6: return to WH

VP Motorcade arrived back at the White House at 4:37pm

VP supplemental pool #1 - rolling to Howard

Hello all,

I'll be your supplemental pooler for the VP's remarks at a rally for reproductive freedom at Howard University.

Remarks are scheduled for 6:45pm. They'll be livestreamed here http://whitehouse.gov/live

The VP's motorcade was rolling to Howard University at 6:26pm.

VP supplemental pool #2

Motorcade arrived at Howard University at 6:34pm.

Your pooler did not see the VP enter the building.

Pool was brought in to a nearly full auditorium. Signs below the podium read "Fighting for reproductive freedom."

VP supplemental pool #3 - Remarks

Brittany House shared her own abortion story before introducing the VP at 6:57pm as "a fierce champion for reproductive freedom."

The VP was welcomed with a standing ovation and a few chants of "Four more years!"

She thanked Brittany for sharing her very personal story.

The VP also shared her experience as a student at Howard University, where she ran for "office" for the very first time adding "And now I stand here, proud to run for reelection with President Joe Biden (…) so we can finish the job!"

"fundamental freedoms are under attack in our country today, and it is the tradition of this university and dare I say the tradition of our country to fight for freedom, to fight for rights…(end of quote was inaudible.)

VP was fired up and decided to take the mic and move away from the podium, walking the stage.

"These extremist, so-called leaders, check out what they're doing. They're also saying they're gonna ban abortion six weeks into a pregnancy. Well, clearly most of them don't even know how a woman's body works, because most women don't even know they're pregnant at that stage of a pregnancy."

On abortion pill lawsuit, VP said: "they're trying to say that a lawyer and a politician is in a better position than a doctor to determine what is safe and effective for your use as prescribed by a physician."

"when I'm talking about this around the country and looking at some of these so called leaders, I'm saying okay, now once you understand the implications of what you're saying, open your medicine cabinet, in the privacy of your bathroom in the privacy of your home, and wonder what's sitting up in there and whether if it was up to what political attack you would be so comfortable with it."

The VP went on to say that extremists weren't just after a woman's right to choose, but that this "national agenda" was also about taking Americans right to vote. She talked about bans on books, she referenced without naming it Florida's "Don't say gay" law, and the recent battle over guns and the "Tennessee Three."

VP wrapped her remarks at 7:20pm.

She walked down from the stage to greet and take pictures with members of the audience all along the front row.

She then went back on stage to take a picture with those who were standing behind her during her remarks.

She walked out of the auditorium at 7:27pm

Note: Cheers from the audience sometimes made it hard to hear the VP so please check quotes against tape.

From the VP's office

Order of speakers:
- Angel Danielle Sobtejou, Howard University Student
- Deirdre Schifeling, National Political Director, ACLU
- Laphonza Butler, President, EMILY's List
- Alexis McGill Johnson, President, Planned Parenthood
- Mini Timmaraju, President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
- Dr. Serina Floyd MD MSPH FACOG, PPMW Chief Medical Officer
- Brittany House will introduce the Vice President
- The Vice President

VP supplemental pool #4

The VP's motorcade had already left when the pool got into our van.

Pool left Howard at 7:33pm and we are no longer with the VP.

That's all from me! Have a great evening!