Vice Presidential Pool Reports of July 18, 2022

VP Pool Report 1

Greetings from the FAA operations center at Atlantic City International Airport, where we are awaiting the arrival of Vice President Kamala Harris.

I will be the print pooler today.

Harris will address the 113th NAACP national convention at 11:30 p.m. EDT and then hold a roundtable at 1:05 p.m. with several New Jersey officials, including Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver and NJ state Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, as well as other supporters of abortion rights.

Those are the only two events on her schedule.

The speech will be carried live on whitehouse.gov/live but I will send color.

She is scheduled to depart AC Airport at 2:50 pm EDT for Washington.

VP Pool Report 2 -- greeters

Greeters for arrival:

- Maj. Guy Evertson, Alternate Director Flight Line Protocol, C-32A Pilot

- Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

VP Pool Report 2A -- clarification

Those were the greeters at Andrews. We don't have the Atlantic City greeters yet.

VP Pool Report 3 - arrival

AF2 landed at the Atlantic City Airport. We are rolling to the Atlantic City convention center.

And the speech is at 11:30 a.m., not p.m.

VP Pool Report 3a- greeter

At the airport, the VP was greeted by Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small. They chatted for a few minutes before she got into the motorcade.

VP Pool Report 4 - background

On background from a White House Official

• Today, Vice President Harris will travel to Atlantic City, New Jersey to deliver remarks at the 113th NAACP National Convention.
  • The Vice President’s remarks at NAACP are part of an effort to highlight the Administration’s work across the country. Since the end of June, she has spoken at convenings by major organizations, including NALEO, NEA, and Essence Festival of Culture.
• After her remarks, she will convene more than 20 New Jersey state legislators and local leaders to discuss protecting reproductive rights.
  • During the meeting with state leaders, the Vice President will convey the Administration’s commitment to protecting access to reproductive health care, including abortion access, and the Vice President will encourage the legislators to continue fighting to protect reproductive rights.
  • The Vice President convened state legislators from across the country on July 8, 2022 at the White House, on July 14 in Orlando, Florida, and on July 16 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Vice President’s Record on Fighting for the Health, Safety, and Wellbeing of Women

• Vice President Harris has spent her career fighting for the health, safety, and wellbeing of women. She is playing a leading role championing and protecting reproductive rights. She forcefully spoke out about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and she will continue to make the case for protecting reproductive health care access and the right to privacy.
• The Vice President is a longtime champion of protecting reproductive rights.
  • As California Attorney General, the Vice President signed onto multiple amicus briefs to ensure women have full access to their reproductive health care.
  • Also as Attorney General of California, Vice President Harris created the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit to protect consumer and individual privacy through civil prosecution of those who violate state and federal privacy laws.
• The Biden-Harris Administration has made historic commitments to advancing gender equality, including standing up the White House’s first-ever Gender Policy Council, dedicated to driving a whole-of-government effort that is advancing gender equity and equality, from championing women’s access to high quality and equitable health care; to women’s rights, equal opportunities and pay, equal protection, and safety from gender-based harassment and violence. Last week the President signed an Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services, and the Administration is leading a whole of government approach to addressing this health care crisis.

Speakers at today’s meeting with NJ state legislators on reproductive rights:

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure
• New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver
• New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz
• New Jersey Assemblywoman Mila Jasey
• Roslyn Rogers Collins, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey
• Alejandra Sorto, Campaign Strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey

VP Pool Report 5 - arrival

We are in the convention center. Waiting for the VP to speak.

VP Pool Report 6

The vice president will be introduced by NAACP vice chair Karen Boykin-Towns.

We are in the convention center waiting for her speech.

VP pool report 7 - Harris speaks

She emerged to a long and sustained standing ovation. Lots of audience members snapping pictures and taking video on their phones.

Speech is being livestreamed.

VP pool report 8 - Harris finishes speaking

Ends to standing ovation. Largest applause lines were voting rights, getting two more Senate Democrats to end filibuster and Supreme Court Justice Jackson.

Some in the audience held up signs, "This is power."

Next up is the abortion rights roundtable. Pool will hold until then.

VP Pool Report 9 roundtable

Reporters were ushered into the room where the roundtable was being held. Two dozen people were arranged in a horseshoe shape, with the VP at the top.

Quotes later.

VP Pool Report 10

After hearing from the VP and others, the press was escorted out of the room.

Some quick Harris quotes with more to come. Some were similar to her address to the NAACP conference earlier.

"The Supreme Court took.an established constitutional right from the people."

"This is a national health care crisis. Every woman should be able to make decisions amount their bodies without government interference."

"What we are seeing are extremist so-called leaders who are passing laws with the intention of criminalizing health care providers and punishing women."

"Certain decisions are not the government's to make."

"We are demanding that the United States Congress codify Roe."

One other note: NJ Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver could not make the roundtable.

More to come. On the move again. We have boarded the press van for the trip back to Atlantic City airport.

VP Pool Report 11 - more quotes

From VP:

Harris said the fight for abortion rights was not only a national one but a state one as well. She said she was holding a roundtable in NJ because of its leadership on the issue. The state, she said, was doing "model work."

On the midterms, she said, "These elections will matter at every level."

She warned that the Dobbs decision meant the court would go after contraception and same-sex marriage later.

"It has wide-ranging impact," she said. "We must understand what is at stake for all of us."

Several New Jersey officials also spoke before the press was escorted out. I will send them later. We are in the motorcade driving to the airport.

VP Pool Report 12 - departure

The VP boarded Air Force Two and the plane taxied along the runway before taking off for the trip back to JBA, ending her third trip to New Jersey as vice president.

I will file one more pool report with the additional roundtable quotes before I call it a day.

VP Pool Report 13 - more quotes from roundtable

Other speakers who followed VP Harris at the abortion rights roundtable

Acting state Attorney General Matthew Platkin:

"The Dobbs decision was an egregiously wrong decision....It's also a decision that's going to disproportionately affect women of color."

Discussed New Jersey's new laws codifying abortion rights and the new state budget that included $50 million for reproductive health services, including additional security for abortion clinics.

He said the state has a strike force to go after those who would interfere with the right to abortion.

NJ State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz:

She described taking her daughter into the voting booth in 2016 but noted that since then "the trajectory of her life is changing as a woman in this country."

"It is unfathomable that she has less rights in this country than her grandmother."

Assemblywoman Mila Jasey:

"We thought this was settled 50 years ago. We marched on the street against the Vietnam War and for choice."

Roslyn Rogers Collins, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey:

Her clinics already are starting to see women from other states seeking abortions.

Alejandra Sorto, Campaign Strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey:

"This moment represents a resounding call to action."

VP Pool Report 15 - VP returns to DC

On background from a White House official:

Vice President Harris took the motorcade back to her residence due to a bad weather call.

And that's a wrap. We can do this again on Thursday when I am the print pool reporter for President Biden.