Vice Presidential Pool Reports of May 21, 2024

VP travel pool report #1 -1 departure from JBA

Greetings all,

I will be your pooler today for the VP's quick trip to Philadelphia, where she will give the keynote address at the SEIU's quadrennial convention. We are tracking her remarks to begin around 12:00 pm and they will be streamed live at

https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

AF2 took off from JBA at around 10:37 am. The VP did not stop to chat with the pool as she boarded.

It's a busy day with POTUS traveling to New England so I will try to keep these updates light, news allowing.

On Background From a White House Official:
Today, Vice President Kamala Harris is returning to Philadelphia, PA to deliver the keynote speech at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Quadrennial Convention. This visit is a continuation of the Vice President's consistent efforts to fight for workers across America, including as Chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. Her 12:00 p.m. ET remarks will be livestreamed at WhiteHouse.gov/Live.

This will be the Vice President's fourth visit to Pennsylvania this year and her 14th since being sworn in. Earlier this month, she joined Sheryl Lee Ralph in Montgomery County for a conversation about reproductive freedoms. Last month, Vice President Harris was in Philadelphia for a roundtable conversation about the historic steps that she and President Biden have taken to forgive nearly $160 billion in student loan debt for more than 4.5 million Americans. In February, she returned to Pittsburgh to announce infrastructure funding that is helping to remove lead pipes and ensure more families have access to clean, safe drinking water.

Additional Background on the Vice President's Leadership on Uplifting Workers and Unions:
As the Chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, Vice President Harris has consistently convened workers, labor leaders, and economic experts on a variety of issues impacting working families.

• Last month, the Vice President joined SEIU and nursing home care workers in La Crosse, WI to make an announcement about two final rules to establish minimum staffing requirements for federally funded nursing homes, and help raise pay for home and community-based service workers.

• In April, she was also in Philadelphia, PA to convene union members who had their student loans forgiven thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration's unprecedented actions to cancel student debt.

• In March, she traveled to Madison, WI to uplift a new Executive Order to expand registered apprenticeship programs while creating good-paying union jobs.

• In January, she traveled to Las Vegas, NV to meet with hospitality workers of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and congratulate them on their successful new contracts, which led to historic pay increases and workplace safety improvements.

• In November, the Vice President also traveled to a Pipefitters Local 537 training center in Boston, MA to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week by participating in a moderated conversation with members of registered apprenticeship programs.

• In the fall of 2023, Vice President Harris met with members of an apprenticeship program at IBEW Local 743 in Reading, PA while on her nationwide Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour that engaged more than 15,000 students.

• Last August, she returned to Philadelphia, PA to announce actions to raise wage standards for more than one million construction workers across America.

• In June of 2023, she participated in a moderated conversation with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration's actions to invest in and protect American workers.

The Vice President has also traveled the country to engage with workers and labor leaders who are on the frontlines:

• In March, she visited Madison, WI to meet with workers who are building the new Metro Transit satellite bus facility that will help put more electric busses on the roads of Wisconsin.

• In February, she visited a construction site in Pittsburgh, PA where union workers were replacing lead pipes.

• Last year, she visited St. Cloud, MN to meet with workers and members of the Communications Workers of America who were going to help assemble electric vehicles.

• In January, she traveled to Tonopah, AZ to meet with IBEW workers who are helping to build a new transmission line that will deliver clean energy to AZ and CA.

• In November, she also visited Boston, MA to hear from sheet metal workers who will undertake some of the work to make homes energy efficient thanks investments in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Additional Background on the Vice President's History on Fighting for Workers:
The Vice President's work on behalf of working people is nothing new. She relentlessly fought for workers as District Attorney, Attorney General, and a U.S. Senator. For example:

• As AG, Vice President Harris took actions to expand community access to essential health care services and protect workers.

• As Senator, Vice President Harris co-sponsored the PRO Act and the Raise the Wage Act. She also partnered with the National Domestic Workers Alliance to introduce the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act.

VP travel pool report #2 - remarks starting soon in Philly

The VP will address the SEIU's quadrennial convention here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia in a few minutes. Her remarks will be streamed live by the White House: WhiteHouse.gov/Live.

Roughly 3,500 SEIU members are attending the convention, according to the union. Many attendees are wearing blue SEIU t-shirts that say "Win Worker Power" on the back.

We had an uneventful journey from DC. The VP came to the back of the plane to chat off the record for roughly three minutes. We did not see any protesters on the drive from Philadelphia International Airport but we drove into the convention center through the back.

VP Pool report #3 — Gaza protestors

In the massive Pennsylvania convention center, a group of about three dozen Gaza protesters in the very back is chanting "free, free Palestine" and other phrases in support of Gaza and holding up signs that say "workers rise up" and "free Palestine."

There are roughly 3,500 people here.

The VP is proceeding with her speech but the protests are audible throughout the convention center. SEIU staffers have formed a cordon around the protesters and some attendees are chanting four more years to drown out the protests.

VP travel pool #4 - Harris addresses "unified Reich" video

In her speech to SEIU members in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump for posting a video yesterday that referenced a "unified Reich."

"In this moment, extremists are trying to divide our nation, and we see them as they encourage xenophobia and hate," Harris said. She added: "This kind of rhetoric is unsurprising coming from the former president and it is appalling. And we've got to tell him who we are. And once again it shows that our freedom and our very democracy are at stake."

Re, the previous pool note, the VP did not address the protesters during her speech. It's not clear if she could see or hear them from the stage.

VP travel pool report #5 - stop at a cheesesteak shop

After delivering her speech to the SEIU, the vice president made an unannounced stop at Jim's West, an iconic cheesesteak shop in West Philadelphia.

After she ordered, pool asked if enough aid was getting into Gaza.

The VP replied: "the President and I have been very clear that more aid needs to get into Gaza and that we have concerns and we have been obviously doing work to make sure that we can increase the opportunity and possibility of aid getting in, such as the construction of that dock."

Asked her response to the Gaza protest during her speech, she said that protesting was "part of the tradition" of this country.

The VP tried to order two steaks with provolone (one for her and one for the Second Gentleman) but was talked into ordering one with Whiz, a classic local delicacy.

She also walked away with a container of banana pudding, paying for her order with cash.

She was accompanied by State Senator Vincent Hughes and U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle.

We are now rolling back to the airport.

VP travel pool report #6 - arrival at JBA

The VP stepped off AF2 at 3:53 pm at JBA and boarded M2.

Nothing to report from our drive back to Philly airport or the flight.

That's all from your VP travel pool today. See below from the WH

Readout of Vice President Kamala Harris's Meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada

Vice President Kamala Harris today met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on the margins of the 2024 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) International Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They discussed U.S.-Canada cooperation on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues. On Haiti, they discussed the humanitarian situation on the ground and the importance of the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission to support the people of Haiti and restore security and democratic order. They discussed their commitment to a peaceful, stable, and cooperative Arctic. The Vice President and Prime Minister also reaffirmed their support for Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.