Vice Presidential Pool Reports of February 11, 2022

VP travel pool report #1 JBA arrival

Hello all,

I’ll be your pooler for the VP trip to New Jersey today.

The VP arrived at JBA on marine 2 at 9:41 am and boarded AF2 at 9:43 am. She waved to the press but did not stop to answer questions.

Vice President Harris is scheduled to attend a round table in Newark, NJ, on the removal of lead pipes that contaminate water. Pasting guidance below.

At 9:45AM EST, the Vice President will depart Washington, DC en route Newark, New Jersey. The departure from Joint Base Andrews and arrival at Newark Liberty International will be covered by the travel pool.

At 11:35AM EST, the Vice President will participate in a roundtable with Newark residents to highlight the historic funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to remove and replace lead pipes. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will also attend. This roundtable at the Training Recreation Education Center in Newark, New Jersey will be pooled press.

At 2:35PM EST, the Vice President will depart Newark, New Jersey en route Washington, DC. The departure from Newark Liberty International and arrival at Joint Base Andrews will be covered by the travel pool.

VP travel pool report #2 Newark arrival

AF2 arrived at Newark Liberty International at 10:37 a.m. The VP came back for a brief OTR with reporters at the start of a smooth flight.

I’m passing along the below from the White House on who the VP was greeted by at JBA and who she is traveling with to Newark.

VP is traveling with:

Jamal Simmons- Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Vice President

Michael Fuchs- Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for the Vice President

Michael Collins- Special Assistant to the President and Director of Public Engagement for the Vice President

The Vice President was greeted by Maj. Guy Evertson, Alternate Director Flight Line Protocol, C-32A Pilot upon arrival to Joint Base Andrews.

VP travel pool report #3 Vans

The Vice President exited Air Force 2 at 10:53 am and was greeted by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Michael Regan, the EPA administrator. They talked for about 2 minutes before the Vice President entered her motorcade.

We are now rolling to Newark’s Training Recreation Education Center for the round table.

VP travel pool report #4 Roundtable arrival

We arrived at the Training Recreation Education Center for the roundtable on lead pipe removal at 11:10 am. Your pooler did not see the VP enter the building.

Will tweet photos.

VP travel pool report #5 Roundtable begins

Various government officials representing New Jersey, including Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, chatted with attendees before the Vice President entered the gym.

About 50 seats were set up in front of a U-shaped roundtable. Two blue and white signs were set up behind the table stating, "Replacing Lead Pipes" above a smaller font label, "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law." A label in even smaller font at the bottom of the sign read, "Building a Better America."

Participants in the roundtable, including Gov. Murphy and Administrator Regan, entered the gym minutes before the VP. Attendees sat in awkward silence before Senator Booker from the front row of the audience, asked Gov. Murphy a question.

"Why are you so quiet?" Booker asked, prompting laughter from the crowd.

Administrator Regan was seated to the right of the VP and Schkeema Troutman, a Newark resident, was to the left.

The VP entered the gym at 11:42 am to applause.

The event is streaming at
https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

Passing along full list of attendees/ participants from the WH.

On background from a White House Official:

LEAD PIPES ROUNDTABLE AT TRAINING RECREATION EDUCATION CENTER (TREC)

• Attendees: ~50 guests, including Members of Congress and New Jersey state elected officials. Including:
• Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
• Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
• Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06)
• Congressman Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10)
• Radhika Fox, Assistant Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency
• Director Kareem Adeem, City of Newark Water and Utilities

Participants

• Vice President Kamala Harris
• Administrator Michael Regan, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (moderator)
• Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ)
• Mayor Ras Baraka (D-Newark, NJ)
• Paulo Peralta, Lead Service Line Replacement Project Worker
• Amanda Gentle, Lead Service Line Replacement Project Worker
• Vivian Carter, Impacted Newark Resident
• Stephanie Jones, Impacted Newark Resident
• Schkeema Troutman, Impacted Newark Resident

VP travel pool report #6 Roundtable

The event began with Gov. Murphy praising the state and mayor Ras Baraka's efforts to remove lead service lines.

The Vice President then gave brief opening remarks. The event was streamed on White House live.

"It's hurting our babies. Over half of the children in our nation who are under the age of 6 are at risk on this issue," Harris said.

After Administrator Regan gave brief remarks he introduced Schkeema Troutman, a Newark homeowner concerned about lead exposure.

When Troutman began speaking, Harris noticed the Newark resident's microphone was not working. Ms. Harris paused Troutman to ask the crowd if there was another functioning microphone. The Vice President then picked up her own, stood up and and gave it to Ms. Troutman, who sat to her left.

When Troutman expressed concern about lead exposure, the Vice President responded, "You should not have to worry about that" and detailed provisions in the infrastructure package to help homeowners.

Harris spoke about the need for community engagement on the issue, as well as the jobs the infrastructure package would create.

Harris said communities had for too long suffered lead exposure "without acknowledgement of the need for a sense of urgency to fix the issue. Again, this has been a model," Harris said of Newark.

Harris also framed the issue as one directly fueling racial disparities.

"Lead pipes do exist in high income communities but in high income communities they have the income to fix it, which means whether or not it gets fixed or not can depend on how much money you have. Which is not right," Harris said.

"We want to make sure when we implement these plans that they are helpful and don't get in the way of other things going on in our lives," Harris said to Vivian Carter, an educator and resident of Newark.

"This is about a matter of great urgency obviously," Harris said of the "public health crisis."

"Let's use this as an example of where community leadership always leads us in the right direction," Harris said.

"Where you see a public health matter that in particular affects children, you will always see an educational issue," Harris said.

"And now other cities and other families and children around the country will benefit from the work you did right here," Harris said to the Newark crowd.

Regan closed the event by saying "it's inspiring that we're in a place that has a solution."

The crowd then assembled at 12:22 for a group photo. "Come on over here," an animated Harris said to crowd. She exited the gym at 12:25 PM. We're standing by.

VP travel pool report #7 rolling

The VP entered the motorcade at 2:05 PM after taking photographs with attendees and a round of interviews with local outlets for about an hour and 40 minutes. Your pooler was loaded into the vans and did not see VP exit the gym.

We’re rolling.

VP travel pool report #8 Newark Departure

The motorcade arrived at Newark International at 2:16 PM after an uneventful ride.

Harris took a photograph with the advance team next to Air Force 2 before saluting service members and boarding at 2:19 PM. She did not stop to gaggle with the press.

WH passes along the names of the outlets that interviewed Harris:

TV: ABC-7 New York
Print: NJ Advance Media (Star Ledger and NJ.com)