Kamala Harris photo

Vice Presidential Pool Reports of August 15, 2023

August 15, 2023

Pool Reports by Ellen Dennis, The Spokesman-Review

Sent: Reports:
August 15, 2023
11:34 PDT

VP Travel Pool report #1 - arrival in Seattle

Vice President Kamala Harris touched down at 11:17 a.m. Pacific Standard Time under clear skies Tuesday at King County International Airport. A crowd of roughly 15 people welcomed her on the tarmac, including Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.

Wearing a sky blue-colored suit, Harris smiled as she disembarked AF2 and stepped into the bright sunlight during Seattle's hottest week of the year so far.

August 15, 2023
11:46 PDT

VP Travel Report #2 - motorcade rolling

VP Kamala Harris entered a car in an extensive motorcade headed to McKinstry, a construction and energy company, where she will give a speech ahead of the 1-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law.

The motorcade drove through south Seattle, past pedestrians who stopped and took videos on phone cameras.

August 15, 2023
12:13 PDT

VP Travel Report #3 - opening remarks at McKinstry

The VP's motorcade arrived just before noon, Pacific Standard Time, to a packed auditorium in McKinstry. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell gave opening remarks, followed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, then U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

The crowd cheered for the first three speakers at the event who spoke beneath a blue banner that read "INVESTING IN AMERICA."

Quotes to come.

August 15, 2023
12:23 PDT

VP Travel Report #4 - background from WH

Passing along background from the WH:

On background from a White House Official:
Today, August 15, Vice President Kamala Harris will return to Seattle, WA to deliver remarks ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) being signed into law. The Vice President will also receive a tour of McKinstry, a company working on the design, construction, and operation of energy-efficient and net-zero buildings. McKinstry foresees a significant increase of building electrification and energy efficiency work over the next few years due to the IRA. The Vice President will be joined by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Senator Maria Cantwell, Governor Jay Inslee, and Mayor Bruce Harrell.

The Vice President will highlight the monumental impact that this historic legislation is having on communities across America through building a clean energy economy that creates good-paying, union jobs and ensuring access to clean air and water for all communities. She will also reaffirm the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to addressing the climate crisis with the urgency it demands. Her remarks will be livestreamed at 3:00 PM ET at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Last year, Vice President Harris fought alongside President Biden to pass the largest climate investment in the country's history and advance environmental justice while cutting energy bills for working families and creating good-paying jobs in wind, solar, and electric vehicle manufacturing. The Vice President personally cast the tie-breaking vote to pass this legislation through the U.S. Senate. The Inflation Reduction Act has also lowered prescription drug prices for seniors, capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for those on Medicare, and reduced health insurance premiums for 13 million people across the nation.

Tuesday's celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act will be Vice President Harris' second visit to Seattle since taking office. In October of last year, she was in town to announce new funding for electric school buses while touting the impacts of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Additional Background on Vice President Harris' Leadership on Climate and the Inflation Reduction Act

Throughout her career, Vice President Harris has taken actions and led policies that center communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, reduce air pollution and protect public health, and help communities become more resilient. Her experiences and perspective on the climate crisis and approach to policy helped shape the Administration's foundational climate priorities of the initial Build Back Better agenda and influenced how she's championed the Inflation Reduction Act since its passage, including by becoming a leading voice on its historic provisions.

  • As the District Attorney of San Francisco, the Vice President established one of the first environmental justice units in the nation, and as California Attorney General, she took action against polluters to protect vulnerable communities.
  • As a Senator, the Vice President led legislation like the Climate Equity Act, the Water Justice Act, the Environmental Justice for All Act, and the Clean School Bus Act, all of which sought to center communities on the front lines of toxic pollution and the climate crisis.

Before passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Vice President continued her leadership on climate by shining a spotlight on the impacts of the climate crisis and touting Administration priorities, including by traveling the country. Some of these trips occurred as the climate provisions in the eventual Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act were being shaped.

The Vice President has held more than 15 events focused on uplifting the historic provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act—a full list of those engagements is attached. Through groundbreakings and site visits in communities across the country and moderated conversations on college campuses, Vice President Harris has been a leading voice on the climate action and economic opportunity made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act's historic investments to combat the climate crisis.

August 15, 2023
12:47 PDT

VP Travel Report #5 - Harris remarks at McKinstry

VP Harris stepped onto the stage at about 12:30 p.m. PST in the McKinstry auditorium.

Harris told the crowd that the climate change clock was not ticking, but "booming."

She described solar panel infrastructure built around the country under the Biden administration and other investments in low-cost, clean energy.

"We have made millions of dollars in tax credits available so clean energy upgrades can happen to businesses," she said, adding that those investments create "good-paying union jobs."
AAP
More quotes to come.

August 15, 2023
13:05 PDT

VP Travel Pool Report #6 - tour of McKinstry

Here is background on the tour from the WH:

On Background from a White House Official

Tour Participants:

  • VPOTUS
  • Senator Maria Cantwell
  • Dean Allen, CEO, McKinstry (tour guide)

TOUR STOP 1
At tour stop 1 the Vice President will receive a briefing on the factory at large. She will hear from workers on the trades and union agreements, standard workers' day and the importance of manufacturing innovation.

Participant: Ambrose Bradley, SMART Local 66 Sheet Metal Worker, McKinstry

TOUR STOP 2
At tour stop 2 the Vice President will be briefed on the need for innovation and positive contributions to the environment. The workers at the stop will speak to the importance of metro charging, heat pumps, solar panels and supply chains.

Participants:

  • Isabella Verdugo, Engineer and IRA Strategy Manager
  • Shannon Moore, SMART Local 66 Sheet Metal Worker and MEP Coordinator

TOUR STOP 3
At tour stop 3 the Vice President will meet with recent high school graduates and hear how the IRA is positively impacting the future workforce.

Participants:

  • Subeg Dhillon
  • A'Xavier Williams
August 15, 2023
14:03 PDT

VP Travel Pool Report #7 - rolling again

After the tour of the McKinstry factory wrapped up, VP Harris and her motorcade are traveling north on Interstate 5 through Seattle toward a campaign fundraising event in Medina. The event will be co-hosted by Microsoft president Brad Smith.

The VP is expected to give remarks at the event. A pool reporter will be present.

August 15, 2023
14:39 PDT

VP Travel Pool Report #8 - fundraiser details

Background from WH Staff on the fundraiser:

The Vice President's fundraiser in Medina, Washington is at the Residence of Beth McCaw and Yahn Bernier and is in support of the Biden Victory Fund.

August 15, 2023
19:32 PDT

VP Travel Pool Report #9 - more detail, quotes and departure info

Seattle Mayor Harrell and Gov. Inslee addressed the packed auditorium in the construction company McKinstry before Harris spoke, along with U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

"Seattle and Washington have long been the epicenter of affordable energy pricing," Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said. "We know that today we might have record heat in Seattle, but we also have a record investment in diversifying our energy future and driving down costs for consumers."

Secretary Granholm told the crowd that the U.S. energy sector has never been "more electrified." She cited an Energy Dept. projection that estimates that by 2030, 80% of all electricity generated in the country will be "clean," thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.

Harris took the stage and thanked lawmakers in the room, including Sen. Cantwell, whom she called one of the nation's "greatest climate leaders."

The Vice President also gave a shout out to the activists, organizers and young leaders in the crowd.

She discussed the "stark" global climate crisis, including Washington state's "deadly heatwaves and devastating wildfires."

"Across our nation, we see communities choked by drought, washed out by floods and decimated by hurricanes," she said. "Of course, we are all praying for the people of Maui. Far too many lives lost."

Harris went on to tell the crowd that the Inflation Reduction Act created 175,000 new clean energy jobs in the past year. Those jobs included 2,500 solar panel manufacturing jobs across the country, she said. She also pointed toward her administration's prioritization on lower energy costs – working toward family tax credits and rebates for things like new insulation and windows.

"President Biden and I are building an economy that works for working people," she said to a cheering crowd. "That, my friends, is called Bidenomics."

The Vice President said she and Biden had created 400,000 jobs alone in Washington state since the pair took office.

After the speeches and tour of the McKinstry factory, Harris rode in the motorcade to a fundraising event co-hosted by Microsoft president Brad Smith at a house with a lakeside pool in Medina, a small city north of Bellevue.

The Vice President's fundraiser was held in a home owned by Beth McCaw and Yahn Bernier. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff spoke to a foyer filled by roughly 50 people before Harris addressed the group.

She talked more about the Inflation Reduction Act and climate crisis, as well as her and Biden's commitments to racial equity and women's rights in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act a year ago Wednesday. The Biden administration advertises the act as the country's largest "climate investment" in history, which has amounted, in total, to nearly $1 trillion, Harris said Tuesday.

The Vice President and her staff boarded Air Force 2 just before 4:30 p.m. and took off for their next stop in Los Angeles.

This is my last report for the day. Please email or call if you have further questions.

Kamala Harris, Vice Presidential Pool Reports of August 15, 2023 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/363921

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