Vice Presidential Pool Reports of October 13, 2021

VP Pool report #1 - gathering for meeting with PM of Barbados

Good afternoon,

I'll be your pooler for the VP's meeting with the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley. The event is scheduled for 4:20 PM at the Vice President's Ceremonial Office. There will be a pool spray at the top (no live-steam).

The meeting takes place less than three weeks before Barbados transitions from a constitutional monarchy to a Republic. On November 30, fifty-five years after gaining independence, Barbados will remove Queen Elizabeth as its head of state. The first president of the new republic will be current Governor-General Sandra Mason.

VP pool report #2 - participants

We are in the VP's Ceremonial Office and the event starts in 2 Minutes. .

The VP's office passes along the following list of participants in the bilat:

Barbados

• Mia Mottley, Prime Minister
• Noel Lynch, Ambassador of Barbados to the United States
• Mr. Ian Carrington, Director of Finance and Economic Affairs
• Ms. Alies Jordon, Permanent Secretary
• Commodore Arrington Shurland, Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defense Force
• Ms. Christobelle Reece, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Barbados
• Dr. Kevin Greenidge, Senior Economic Advisor

VP Pool report #3 - remarks

The pool was led to the Ceremonial Office at 4:15 PM. VP Harris and PM Mottley entered the room at 4:31 PM.

The VP Harris spoke first.

Welcoming PM Mottley, she called the relationship between the United States and Barbados „a very important one".

Harris said that during the bilateral meeting they will talk about a long term cooperation "to address these issues in a way that have positive outcome for the people in our two countries".

Since our diplomatic relations began 55 years ago the relationship between the United States and Barbados has continued to grow" – the VP said.

The Vice President emphasized that the US takes seriously it's membership "as neighbors, in the western hemisphere". Speaking about Covid-19 she reminded that the US already donated over a million doses of vaccine to the region "with a promise of 3 million more".

"Madam Prime Minister, I also applaud your commitment, and you've been an outspoken on the issue of human rights and LGBTQ rights. You're outspoken in leadership in terms of combating climate change, and also what you have done to highlight that" – the VP said.

Motley then spoke.

She thanked on behalf of the Caribbean community for the donations "made by the government and people of the United States of America".

Mottley also spoke about climate change. She said that there is a distinct risk that the world will not reach a goal needed for the region to survive. "If that happens, then the conversation has to change" – Mottley warned.

"We're in the same neighborhood. And anybody who lives in the same neighborhood well it isn't a village or city or state. We have to work together to keep each other safe. And safety is fundamentally what is about 100 years ago. We're facing the circumstances. And we're rose to the occasion" – said thr PM of Barbados.

The remarks concluded at 4:40 PM.

VP pool report #4 - US delegation

The VP's office passes along additional note – US participants in the VP's bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Barbados.

VPOTUS
- Nancy McEldowney, Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor to the Vice President
- Tina Flournoy, Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff to the VP
- Dr. Phil Gordon, SAP & Deputy NSA to the VP
- Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez
- Assistant Secretary of State for WHA Brian Nichols
- Hillary Quam, Special Advisor for the Western Hemisphere

VP pool report #5 - picture

Please follow this link of you are interested in a picture from the VP's event:

https://twitter.com/marekwalkuski/status/1448396841389809665?s=21

That's all from me.
Thank you.