Vice Presidential Pool Reports of January 27, 2023

VP In-Town Pool #1

Good afternoon from a sunny and cool White House. Pool has gathered and are holding for the VP's lead pipe replacement summit, which is being held in a small auditorium like room in the EEOB. (Will share a photo of the room once the pool is let inside.)

In the meantime, here is some information on background:

On Background from a White House Official

Today, January 27, 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris is hosting an Accelerating Lead Pipe Replacement Summit at the White House. She will be joined by EPA Administrator Michael Regan, along with other representatives from the Administration, state and local government, water utilities, labor leaders, NGOs, and the private sector. The Vice President will participate in a moderated conversation with Administrator Regan at 2:00 PM ET, which will be livestreamed on www.whitehouse.gov/live.

This summit is bringing leaders to highlight (1) best practices, (2) opportunities for technical assistance, and (3) building coalitions of leaders who are committed to removing and replacing lead pipes across America. As the Administration has delivered historic funding to states to remove and replace lead pipes, with more on the way, states and cities are looking for models for how to take action.

As part of this effort, the Vice President is sending a letter to every governor to join a partnership to support guiding principles to equitably distribute historic funding to ensure we can replace lead pipes in all communities. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Connecticut, along with dozens of cities, NGOs, labor unions, and private sector entities, will be announcing support for the partnership as part of the initial list of signatories.

EPA is also announcing a lead accelerator pilot program in 4 states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The accelerator program will partner federal expertise from the EPA and the Department of Labor alongside local leaders to accelerate the replacement of lead pipes.

This summit comes one year after the Vice President announced the Biden-Harris Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan. The summit will be accompanied by a fact sheet highlighting progress made over the last year.

President Biden and Vice President Harris secured more than $15 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to replace lead pipes. Combined with other federal funding sources, state and local efforts, and nongovernmental action, these investments will also create thousands of good-paying jobs for laborers, plumbers, and pipefitters.

The Vice President's Record

• As a Senator, Vice President Harris led the Water Justice Act, which treated lead pipes in homes and schools like the crisis they are. The Water Justice Act helped inform the clean water components of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
• In addition to announcing the Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan earlier this year, the Vice President has traveled the country to highlight the Administration's investments in water and lead, with visits to Oakland, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Milwaukee, WI, Newark, NJ, and Pittsburgh, PA.
  • As the Vice President has traveled the country, she has met with impacted families, labor leaders, and local officials who have developed models for removing and replacing lead pipes for other cities across the United States to follow.
  • One of the people she met – Deanna Branch – will be at the summit to introduce the Vice President. As the Vice President has said, our Administration has been able to achieve the progress that we have because of the work of mothers and activists like Deanna who have fought for years to make this happen.

VP In-Town Pool Report #2

Pool was brought into the room at 2:22 pm.

Event with the VP was scheduled to start at 2:00pm, but the program ahead was running about 30 mins behind schedule. About 90-100 seats in the room that your pooler was able to count.

Mitch Landrieu, infrastructure coordinator and senior advisor to the president, gave some remarks to introduce Deanna Branch. An aide came in and told Landrieu he needed to fill three more minutes, which Landrieu announced to the room, earning him a loud bout of laughter from the audience. Landrieu filled the time discussing what it's like to be mayor, telling a joke where a constituent mistook him for the local weather or sports guy, and ended with "my comedy routine is over," and introduced Branch.

Branch, a mother of two, met the VP on a trip according to Landrieu. She is a community organizer for coalition of lead emergency (COLE for short). One of her sons, Aiden, had dealt with lead poisoning when he was 2 years old.

Branch introduced EPA Administrator Regan and the VP at 2:34pm.

Convo started at 2:36pm after the VP gave some welcoming remarks.

Photo of the room: https://twitter.com/casssemyon/status/1619057475789156353?s=46&t=x6HSVvF...

Quotes and otter to come.

VP In-Town Pool Report #3

After about 36 minutes, the VP and EPA administrator wrapped up the conversation. Administrator Regan asked her why this was such a priority to the Biden Administration, the importance on public/private partnerships on this issue, and what keeps her going. Mr. Regan teased her about being a "self proclaimed water policy nerd." The VP broke in adding that she is "also a space geek," describing seeing the first time she saw the photos from the Webb telescope. "I had the most highly articulate response: wow!"

She wrapped up with closing remarks about Administrator Regan. "It really does matter who the leaders are at these moments and sitting in these chairs. And in Michael Regan, we have somebody who really gets it, who cares about it." She wrapped by thanking him, and the room rose to applaud the pair. They exited the room at 3:06pm. Look shouted a question about the Tyre Nichols tape release tonight - but it's unclear if the VP heard the question over the crowd.

Some fuller quotes from the conversation:

"Let us understand, because many may not be aware of [inaudible], that it is not a right that is guaranteed for all the occupants of our country. That in many communities, families, children, parents cannot take for granted that they will turn on a tap and that clean water will come out. And I think we would all agree there is nothing about this that should be considered a luxury or an option."

"It is essential to the sustenance of life and the well being of all of the people on our planet and I keep referring to the world and the planet because this is sadly not only true for here in the United States and for us as Americans but it is a global issue in terms of the proportion and then we will at some point talk about, I think the optimism and belief that we all have that our collective work will have a global impact because of the model we will set based on the work we do in our own country."

"It doesn't take much data or scientific opinion for us to realize and know that access to clean water is often a function of one's socioeconomic condition, geographic location, race, and ethnicity."

"The communities where lead pipes still exist and will be eradicated because of the administrators work because of our President's priority because of our collective priority will be eradicated in the next nine years. But then those communities that have led service lines and pipes are exactly those communities that are socio economically low income and are invariably communities of color poor communities."

"It is an environmental justice issue when we think about the overlay between this issue and so many others that compound the burden that specific communities then face because usually this will exist in the same areas where we are looking at food deserts, where we are looking at underfunded schools where we are looking at inadequate or or difficult access to public transportation."

"I think it's also just this clock on this issue. It is banging down the door. We think about this in terms of in the game of the environmental justice movement, the movement for smarter water policy as a function also of the climate movement, right. And in the last only couple of years maybe handful of years has, for example, the UN unambiguously said, this is a crisis for all of us who have been tracking this for years and years and years and well, you know, they are a little ambiguous about it. Maybe Maybe there are people who differ. And then finally, it was an exclamation point. No, it's real."

Full otter - as always, please check quotes against the transcript: https://otter.ai/u/kBqgILGhB36NDVz4nqpyr6hEb6w

That's all from me - feel free to reach out with any questions!

VP In-Town Pool Report 3a

Following up with a note from the VP's office with the spelling of the name of the woman who introduced the VP and her sons.

- Deanna Branch, activist (Milwaukee, WI)
- Jaden, son, 12-years-old
- Aiden, son, 9-year-old