Vice Presidential Pool Reports of August 10, 2022

VP Pool #1

Good morning all,

I'll be covering pool today, call/text 513-904-3702 with any questions.

VPOTUS landed on AF2 at 10:29 am at Harry Reid International Airport. She was greeted on the tarmac by Rep. Steven Horsford (D, NV 4) at 10:42 am.

She then departed Reid at 10:46 am en route to the day's first event at the MGM Grand Conference Center's Marquee Ballroom, speaking at the United Steelworkers Convention, where she is expected to give remarks at about 11:15 am.

VP Pool #1A

Supplemental info:

• On Background from a White House Official
  

  • Today, August 10th, Vice President Harris is traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada to deliver remarks at the 2022 Constitutional Convention of the United Steelworkers and to meet with Nevada state legislators to discuss reproductive rights. The Vice President's remarks for both events will be livestreamed at whitehouse.gov/live.
• President's visit to Nevada comes as new reports indicate that our economy had zero percent inflation in July, and on the heels of major legislative accomplishments for the Administration. This week, the President signed the CHIPS and Science Act and the U.S. Senate passed of the Inflation Reduction Act. If signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act will:
  
  • Cap seniors' out of pocket spending for prescription drugs at $2000 per year.
  • Save 13 million Americans, covered under the Affordable Care Act, $800 per year on their health insurance premiums.
  • Take the most aggressive action in our history to combat the existential crisis of climate change. It strengthens our energy security, creates jobs manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles in America with American workers. And, it will lower families' energy costs by hundreds of dollars each year.
• At the Convention, Vice President Harris will speak to the shared vision of the United Steelworkers and the Biden-Harris Administration of building a strong economy by empowering workers and building a strong middle class. She will do so by highlighting the contributions of the United Steelworkers throughout history, and the work steelworkers are undertaking as the historic investments of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are implemented, including manufacturing fiber optic cables and producing materials needed for roads and bridges.
• The Vice President chairs the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh serving as vice-chair. The Task Force is dedicated to mobilizing the federal government's policies, programs, and practices to empower workers to organize and successfully bargain with their employers.
• Since the overturning of Roe, Vice President has convened state legislators; health care providers; faith leaders; constitutional law, privacy, and technology experts; advocates; state attorneys general; and disability rights leaders to build a broad coalition to protect reproductive rights and freedoms.
• On Friday, August 5th, Vice President Harris convened Latina legislators from across the country to discuss reproductive rights, including Nevada Representative Selena Torres.

Vice President's Work as Chair of the Labor Taskforce

• The VP has traveled the country to engage with workers and labor leaders on the frontlines, including:
  
  • Speaking at the NEA's 2022 Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in Chicago, IL (July 2022)
  • Visiting a school with NEA President Becky Pringle and announcing an investment in clean school busses in Falls Church, VA (May 2022)
  • Sheetmetal Workers Local 19 in Philadelphia, PA (April 2022)
  • IBEW Apprenticeship program in Durham, NC (March 2022)
  • Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 in Columbus, OH (November 2021)
  • Roundtable with tech industry organizers inPittsburgh, PA (June 2021)

• The Vice President chairs the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh serving as vice-chair.
  
  • Established in April of 2021, The Task Force is comprised of over 20 participant agencies, offices, and White House components, counting 13 cabinet secretaries as members.
  • In February 2022, the task force released its 1st report, which included more than 70 actions that the federal government can take to make it easier for workers to organize, such as leveraging federal government purchasing/spending power to support workers who are organizing. President Biden accepted the recommendations, and as a follow up, the Task Force will submit a second report to the President which will describe progress in implementation and contain additional proposals for further action.

• In May 2022, the VP and Sec. Walsh held a roundtable with a diverse group of young, grassroots worker organizers, including Christian Smalls of the Amazon Labor Union and Laura Garza of Starbucks Workers United, to discuss their extraordinary efforts to organize unions in their workplaces.

The Vice President's Leadership on Reproductive Rights

• The Vice President has visited Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, and Massachusetts to meet with state legislators about protecting reproductive rights.
• In July, she convened a meeting of legislators from Montana, Indiana, Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska at the White House.
• Last week, she convened a meeting of Latina state legislators from Kanas, Utah, Texas, Arizona, New York, Illinois, and Nevada at the White House.
• Additionally, she has convened health care providers, constitutional law experts, faith leaders, state attorneys general, disability rights leaders, and advocates over the last three months

VP Pool #2

Pool arrived at MGM Grand Convention Center at 10:52 am for the 2022 Constitutional Convention of the United Steelworkers. VP Harris will speak just after 11:30 am. Reminder, livestream is available at whitehouse.gov/live

VP Pool #3

VP Harris completed her remarks at 11:57am and the pool walked to the local lawmakers roundtable, also at MGM. Pool arrived at 12:06 pm. VP Harris is expected to speak at 1:15, also livestreamed.

VP Pool #4: USW speech notes

Highlights from VP Harris speech to 2022 Constitutional Convention of the United Steelworkers.

She began with an anecdote from her childhood:

"As many of you know, I was born in Oakland, California. And when I was a child, my mother drove this yellow Dodge Dart. And I remember my sister and I would be sitting in the backseat driving up the 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge from time to time. And I remember as a child, staring in awe at the towers and at the sweeping cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, thinking, because I learned about its history, thinking, 'What a magnificent sight,' thinking as a child, 'Well if America could build that, we could build anything.' The Golden Gate Bridge is without question a monument to the potential of our country. And the Golden Gate Bridge was made with USW steel"

And went on to praise the labor movement:

"You helped make America the most powerful nation in the world."
"The strength of America is because of the workers of America, and the protection of the workers of America, and the recognition of the dignity of the work that those workers do."

Labor is entering a new era, expanding into new workforces like museum workers and tech workers, she said:

"A new era. an era in which workers of every age, every race, every gender, every profession have the opportunity to benefit from the power of solidarity."

"Everyone benefits from that work because when union wages are up, everybody's wages go up. When union workplaces are safer, all workplaces are safer. and when unions are strong, America is strong."

She then spoke about recent legislation passed: The CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act:

"It is clear that our nation is making progress. Now, we still know there is more work to be done."

On the IRA, to a standing ovation:

"Our nation's largest corporations will now start to pay their fair share"

She ended with a statement of labor advocacy:

"We are here together with determination and resilience to meet the challenges of the moment and to invest in the future of our nation. And we are guided by the spirit of this labor union and we are guided by the ambition of our nation to always push forward, to always fight for a more fair, more equal and more just future. America has a job to do, and to get it done, we need you. So please continue to do what you do so well. Continue to build coalitions of workers of all ages and races and backgrounds."

VP Pool #5

Roundtable with local lawmakers on reproductive rights began at about 12:50pm, live streamed at whitehouse.gov/live.

Background and participants below:

On Background from a White House Official

Today, August 10 at 1:15 PM PDT, Vice President Kamala Harris will convene Nevada state legislators to discuss the fight to protect reproductive health care. The event will be live streamed at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Vice President Kamala Harris is coalescing leaders from across the nation who are on the frontlines fighting to protect a woman's right to make her own reproductive health decisions. As part of that work, the Vice President has met with state legislators from 17 states to discuss protecting reproductive rights.

• She has visited Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, and Massachusetts.
• In July, she convened a meeting of legislators from Montana, Indiana, Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska at the White House.
• Last week, she convened a meeting of Latina state legislators from Kansas, Utah, Texas, Arizona, New York, Illinois, and Nevada at the White House.
• Additionally, she has convened health care providers, constitutional law experts, faith leaders, state attorneys general, disability rights leaders, higher education leaders, and advocates over the last three months.

Participants

• Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford
• Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro
• Senator Pat Spearman
• Senator Melanie Scheible
• Assemblywoman Michelle Gorelow
• Assemblywoman Danielle Monroe-Moreno
• Assemblywoman Selena Torres

VP Pool #5A

A participant on the panel not previously listed is Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen. Representatives from healthcare organizations and nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood, were also present.

The pool was asked to leave following the lawmakers' statements, at 1:15 pm, after which the roundtable continued.

VP Pool #6: Roundtable notes

Highlights from VP Harris speaking to Nevada lawmakers at a roundtable on abortion rights:

She began by discussing recent economic numbers. No July inflation, gas prices down, low unemployment. US economy recovered all jobs lost in pandemic:
"We are delivering for the American people."

Then addressed the Dobbs decision:
"The United States Supreme Court, with the Dobbs decision, took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America. From the women of America."
"What we have seen around the country are extremist, so-called leaders passing laws to punish women, to criminalize healthcare providers."

She remarked on states which have laws which ban all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, leaning on her experience as a prosecutor.

"The idea that laws would be passed, that after a person has endured such an act of violence, to not allow her to exercise the right to self-determination and allow her to make decisions about her body and her future, it's abhorrent."

She celebrated the recent vote in Kansas to keep abortion rights there.

"This is a nonpartisan issue. No matter who you voted for."
"Our nation was founded on certain fundamental principles including the principles of freedom and liberty."
"To stand for the proposition that the government should not interfere in the most intimate, private decision a person can make about their body and their future, to stand in support of that, does not require one to abandon their faith or their beliefs."

She warned about what rights may be under attack next based on Justice Clarence Thomas' written opinion:

"This. in many ways, sadly just may be the beginning. We have a Supreme Court Justice, his name is Clarence Thomas, who said the quiet part out loud. Talking about other fundamental rights that we thought were long-settled may be up for debate or even attack. Including the right to have access to contraception and same-sex marriage. So everyone is impacted by this decision."