Vice Presidential Pool Reports of February 9, 2023

VP travel pool report #1/St. Cloud tour

The VP met with eight New Flyer union members and got a multi-step tour of their facility, showing the process from start to finish of making zero-carbon buses.

Her first stop in the tour was a grey welded frame bus. On her right was a bus with more of an exterior. She looked at it and jokingly said "It's going to Long Beach California."

The VP walked up the facility stairs to see the next bus from a birds eye view.

"What you guys are doing is incredibly awesome," she said to a union member. "This is highly skilled work."

The VP came down stairs to see a fully finished bus. "Can I come on board?" she asked of the three New Flyer employees who were aboard the bus.

The bus turned on, making a loud noise. Then the VP sat in the drivers seat as a union member showed her the bus monitor system.

The VP talked with two other employees, Tesheiona Payton, and Veronica Puentes, who work with finishing the buses and getting them ready for inspection.

On Background from a White House official:

Today, the Vice President will travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota to highlight how the Administration's investments in electric vehicles are creating a clean energy economy that works for all and good-paying, union jobs. The Vice President will participate in a tour of a final assembly plant for New Flyer electric buses that will be led by the unionized CWA members at that facility. At 2:55 PM CT, the Vice President will deliver remarks at the New Flyer plant.

The Vice President's trip to St. Cloud, MN comes as the President, Vice President, and Cabinet have fanned out across the country to amplify the President's State of the Union address, where he explained how the Administration's actions are creating millions of jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, lowering costs for the middle class, and investing in a clean energy future. Yesterday, at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Vice President led a moderated conversation on the Administration's historic progress to combat the climate crisis and the work ahead to build a clean energy economy.

The New Flyer manufacturing plant the Vice President will visit employs around 600 workers. New Flyer also manufactures electric transit buses in Oklahoma City, OK, Knoxville, TN, Columbus, OH, Madison, WI, and other communities across the nation. At today's event, New Flyer will display finished buses destined for New York City, NY, Rochester, NY, Minneapolis, MN, and Long Beach, CA. Additionally, buses currently in production at the plant will go to numerous destinations across the nation, such as Muncie, IN and Urbana / Champaign, IL.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law contained roughly $90 billion in funding for the nation's transit districts, at least $5.5 billion of which was dedicated to clean transit buses. Based on formula funding alone, Minnesota is expected to receive more than $850 million over five years through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve public transit across the state.

In March 2022, the Vice President announced the first installment of $1.1 billion in funding for electric transit buses. Over the last two years, the Vice President has traveled to Falls Church, VA, Seattle, WA, Cincinnati, OH, High Point, NC, and Charlotte, NC to highlight how investing in electric transit buses and electric school buses create good-paying union jobs, allow all communities to breath clean, healthy air, and combat the climate crisis. As a Senator, the Vice President authored the Clean School Bus Act, which informed the electric school bus provisions included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

VP travel pool report #2/St. Cloud remarks

St. Cloud Mayor, Dave Kleis, welcomed the crowd to St. Cloud.

"We appreciate the VP being here to talk about such an important topic: clean energy."

Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison, spoke to the crowd to thank the VP for coming and to prompt the audience as to why they showed up today.

"Any environmentalists in the house?" Ellison asked the audience.

In his statements, he emphasized the Biden-Harris administration's focus on electrifying transportation, referencing Biden's bill in 2019 that aimed to electrify bus fleets.

The VP got on the stage at 2:53 at New Flyer, a St. Cloud bus and coach manufacturer, which the administration has championed as a "leader in zero-emission mass mobility solutions."

New Flyer union members, known as CWA Local 7304, were in attendance. The union members stood up together, with shirts that read "In it together," as the VP made her opening remarks.

In her remarks, the VP acknowledged Gov. Tim Walz's commitment to the climate.

"He has been a true champion and a partner to the president and our administration, and particularly a champion to our climate and for communities."

Harris referenced Biden's state of the union address, reiterating that the country "is strong," specifically pointing to a low unemployment rate.

The backdrop behind the VP as she spoke is what New Flyer is known for: Clean energy buses.

"It is a model of American innovation. No exhaust, no diesel smell. The bus has wifi and even USB outlets next to every seat," the VP said. The audience laughed as the VP expressed her excitement about being able to charge a phone on the bus.

"Electric buses are key to the future of public transportation in America. Which is why since taking office, together with democrats and republicans, we have invested 5.5 billion dollars to put thousands of electric transit buses on the streets of our nation."

Every day millions of Americans ride the bus every day. To go to work, to school, to church, to the grocery store. America's buses get people where they need to go. They are essential, and they are in desperate need of upgrade," she said.

The majority of America's buses run on diesel fuel, contributing to pollution and health issues, the VP said. "Diesel exhaust is a poison," she said.

"That solution is parked right over there, over there and over there," she said, pointing to the three electric buses behind her.

The VP closed her remarks by quoting something Biden mentioned in a past visit to New Flyer. "This company is still an example of America's future," she said. "Here in St. Cloud, you are not just building better buses; you are building a better America."

On background from a White House official:

As the VP got on the podium, she was met with applause from over 500 people.