Vice Presidential Pool Reports of September 20, 2022

VP pool report 1

Greetings from Columbia, SC. AF2 is wheels down at 10:26 am

VP print pool report 2

Vice President Harris and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona we’re greeted at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport by Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler. Harris did not make any comments to gathered press. We are on our way now to Claflin University. About a 40 min. drive.

VP Print pool #3

Some background info from today’s stops in Orangeburg. We’ll be first going to Claflin then SC State.

Some background on today’s visit below!

On Background from a White House Official

Today, to mark HBCU Week and National Voter Registration Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to Orangeburg, South Carolina. Vice President and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will meet with student leaders at Claflin University for a roundtable discussion on a number of issues that matter to young Americans, including mental health, entrepreneurship, and access to capital. At 1:55PM ET, the Vice President will deliver remarks at South Carolina State University's Fall Convocation, which will be livestreamed on whitehouse.gov/live. She will encourage the students to keep fighting for equity, justice, freedom, and democracy – noting that democracy is one of the most powerful tools for driving change.

Additional Background:
Today marks National Voter Registration Day. The Vice President has worked alongside the President to lead the Administration’s efforts protecting voting rights. They believe that our democracy is stronger when everyone can participate, and it is weaker when anyone is left out. Throughout her career – first working as the District Attorney in San Francisco, then Attorney General of California, U.S. Senator from California, and now as Vice President – the Vice President has worked to defend and protect the rights of all people, including by protecting and expanding access to the ballot box. The Vice President continues to work with a broad, national coalition – that includes national and state voting rights groups, business leaders, the faith community, tribal leaders, young people, and more — to advocate, educate and organize to protect the right to vote. The Vice President is focused on protecting the right to vote by advancing pro-voter federal legislation, combatting anti-voter state legislation, and mobilizing so that Americans vote no matter the obstacle.

VP Print pool report #4

We’ve arrived at Claflin about 1125 am. On the way in Some people were standing outside watching the motorcade come outside of the Bojangles, a few gas stations, and Howard Middle school shooting video with phones. Otherwise uneventful.

VP pool report 5

VP Harris discussion at Claflin University started about 1150 am. She is joined by Sec. Cardona and 9 students.

VP print pool report 6

The pool was ushered out the discussion with Claflin students about 1210 pm after hearing from VP Harris, Sec. Cardona and three of the students. We’re now in the van waiting to move to SC State.

VP print pool report #7

Some fuller quotes from Harris' remarks at Claflin at the round table discussion with Sec. Cardona and the nine students, as we wait to move to SC State

Harris touched on the importance of registering to vote, mental health, entrepreneurship, student loan debt forgiveness, Climate change
She said more than half of 18-24 year olds voted in the 2020 election.

"These young voters at the time told us what they wanted. They put in an order of what they wanted to see in their country. They said they wanted to see college be more affordable, which includes knowing they could graduate from college, that they could leave college not being unduly burdened by student loan debt."

She said when young people voted in 2020, they said "This crisis that is called climate change is real. That the leaders from the years before have probably sold us short in terms of taking it seriously, understanding the urgency of it and we want leadership that will accelerate the resources we've put into saving this precious planet."

Harris noted $12 billion investment into community banks.

"Young people said, 'we're entrepreneurial, we've got ideas. We are innovators,' but we know that there is a real divide, in particular racial wealth gap in America on many levels, including when it comes to access to capital."

"We know community banks are in the community and understand the needs and desires of that community as well as the talents and capacity and the access to capital should not be a barrier to innovation and creativity."

Re: Mental health coming out of the pandemic when people were told to isolate:

"I have long believed that when it comes to the health care costs in our country we have so much more and we still must do so much better when it comes to mental health and we must realize its healthcare. We've got to stop acting that the body starts from the neck down. We also need health care from the neck up and there should be no stigma about that. People should not be made to silently suffer."

Vp print pool report 8

At 101 pm. Just arrived at SC State university after waiting in van for about 30 minutes.

VP print pool report 9

We're now waiting for the VP's remarks to begin At 1:55PM ET, at South Carolina State University's Fall Convocation, which will be livestreamed on whitehouse.gov/live

While we wait the SC State marching band is entertaining the crowd, and people are dancing in their seats.

VP pool report 10

Program Participants at SC State Convocation.

- The Vice President
- Secretary Miguel Cardona, U.S. Department of Education
- President Alexander Conyers, South Carolina State University
- Matthew Wade, Director of Alumni Relations, SCSU
- Zyah Cephus, Student Government Association President, SCSU

VP pool report 11

some student remarks from Claflin roundtable

Daa'iyah Fogle is a senior at Claflin and from Greenville who also has a small business called Day's Design.

"All of us have the opportunity and deserve the opportunity in the investment, both financially and relationally, that our white counterparts are more likely to receive," Fogle said.

Arteria Gibson is a senior communications major at Claflin University.

"As we continue to recover and recalibrate from the COVID-19 pandemic I feel it's even more vital now to bring attention to our community's physical, mental and social well-being, especially those of students."

VP Print Pool report 12

VP Harris remarks have started at 1:55 pm, which will be livestreamed on whitehouse.gov/live

She is greeted with cheers from the SC State convocation.

VP pool report 13

VP Harris' remarks ended at 2:15 pm

i'll provide some quotes in a follow up email

They lasted 20 minutes.

VP pool print report 14

As we're waiting for the motorcade to start back for Columbia, here are some quotes from Vice President Harris' speech at SC State University

During Harris' 20-minute speech at South Carolina State University's Fall convocation, she encouraged the students to register to vote for the election that is coming up in 49 days.

"Our nation needs your leadership, today we live in uncertain times. The ideals that we thought were long established, such as overseas, what we're seeing the sovereignty and democratic nations about this concept."

"Domestically, we thought long-settled would be the freedom of voters to decide elections, Long settled we thought we the freedom of women to make decisions about their own future. We thought we could take for granted what constitutes the truth. But these ideals now hang in the balance and in moments of great crisis, our nation has almost every time turned to our young leaders to help guide us forward."

"Your nation turns to you, because to move America forward, we need you, we need your passion, your purpose and your excellence. We need your leadership."

Harris said the country needs to make community college free for all people and pass the John Lewis voting rights advancement act "to protect voting rights in every state, especially in those states that have passed laws that intentionally make it more difficult for people to vote. Laws that, not far from here, ban drop boxes and restrict early voting, laws that states are passing making it illegal to give folks who stand in line to vote, food and water."

"So, there is more work to be done, and the work includes something that affects the students here and young people across our country. We still have to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation because all communities have a right and should be able to live free from the fear and the terror of gun violence."

VP pool report 15

at 2:49 pm VP motorcade moving for 40 minute drive to Columbia Metropolitan Airport

VP Print pool report 16

At 3:28 pm Motorcade is back at AF2 After uneventful drive back on I-26 to Columbia metropolitan airport.

VP pool report 17

Earlier on the tarmac,VP Harris spoke briefly about her trip to Orangeburg and discussed attempts to enact an abortion ban on a national level.

"In Washington, DC, you have senators who are attempting to pass a national ban on abortion, attempting to criminalize health care providers, doctors, for simply doing the job that they were trained and want to do, which is to deliver health care, including reproductive health care. So, there's a clear disconnect between the priorities of everyday Americans, and a push to attempt to put a national ban on abortion and we're going to have to keep doing what we know is responsible and right, which is addressing the everyday needs of folks, but also respecting a woman's right to make decisions about her own body."

Harris didn't take any questions.

VP print pool report 18

Update from the tarmac, AF2 did not take off on schedule. VP Harris disembarked from the plane used to fly to Columbia because of technical difficulties, according to a White House official.

The VP walked over from the regular plane to a C17, which is now AF2, to fly back to Washington.

AF2 was wheels up at 4:45 pm