Credentials Not Cosmetics: The Case for Kamala Harris for VP
Star Jones(StarJonesEsq) and Reecie Colbert (BlackWomenViews) came together for a substantive discussion on why the time is now for a Black woman Vice President pick. More importantly, we bring the receipts as to how one contender (Senator Kamala Harris) passes every day one readiness test with flying colors. We collaborated to come up with a list of 20 areas for 2020 that are crucial for the next woman to bring to the Biden administration and stepped through each category with how Senator Harris fits the bill. While this discussion focuses on Senator Harris, we invite you all to continue the conversation using our list for a different contender.
Conversation Index (Click the on the hyperlink to skip to the section covered in the video)
0:00- GATHER & WELCOME
5:00- INTRO AND HOW WE GOT TOGETHER AND DECIDED TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION
6:45- WHY IT’S TIME FOR A BLACK WOMAN AS A RUNNING MATE
10:20 20 FOR 2020 DAY ONE PRESIDENTIAL READINESS LIST
13:50- THE BLACK WOMEN IN THE VEEPSTAKES (STACEY ABRAMS, KAREN BASS, KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, SUSAN RICE, VAL DEMINGS KAMALA HARRIS)
SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS 20 FOR 2020
20:30- #1 EXECUTIVE ACUMEN
Senator Kamala Harris has been elected at all three levels: local, state, and federal. Harris is the first Black person to be elected as SF DA and CA AG and CA Senator. Harris is just the 2nd Black woman to have been elected to state AG (17 years after Pamela Carter was the 1st). Between Kamala Harris’ tenure as DA and AG she has 12 years of executive experience. She has held a seat won via a statewide election for the past 10 years. Harris is just the 2nd Black women to be elected to the US Senate out of 1,984 individuals who have served in the Senate since 1789. Harris is the only Black woman sitting US Senator since former Senator Carol Moseley Braun departed.
As the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco (population of 800K) Harris was the Chief Executive overseeing 260 employees and an operating budget of ~$40M/year. While the primary function of the office was felony and misdemeanor prosecutions, the District Attorney’s office also provided victim services to 4,000 victims annually helping them recover millions in reimbursements for medical expenses, funeral services, etc. The DAs office handled an average of 16K felony arrests (with 50% sustaining charges) 2K misdemeanor arrests annually. The average felony caseload was 116 cases per attorney.
As the Chief Executive Kamala Harris would not have had the capacity to be intimately involved in every arrest and case (she was not a case manager); instead her executive acumen was utilized to spearhead moving the DA’s office into the 21st century. As DA, Harris transformed operations in several significant ways: implemented an email system; created the LGBT Hate crimes unit, environmental justice unit, and child sexual assault unit. She also formed private/public partnerships in order to raise funds to launch a first in the nation re-entry program Back on Track.
As the 32nd Attorney General of California (population of 39M) Harris was the Chief Executive of the largest state DOJ overseeing 4,500 employees (1,000 lawyers) and an operating budget of $800M. As a point of reference that number of employees is almost as many employees as Hyundai USA employs and twice the number of YouTube employees.
While much of the (critical) emphasis on Harris’ tenure as AG has focused on the criminal appeals cases, the DOJ’s CA Legal Services Division covered 30 areas of law under the public rights, civil law, and criminal law areas. Contrary to the narratives, Kamala Harris was not a criminal appeals court case manager; she was the Chief Executive and focused her energy on transforming the DOJ. As AG, Harris created: the Bureau of Children’s Justice (BCJ); Division of Recidivism Reduction and Re-Entry (DR3); Mortgage Fraud Strike Force; Human Trafficking Work Group; Racial & Identity Profiling Advisory Board; 21st Century Policing Group; eCrime Unit; Privacy Enforcement & Protection Unit.
27:00- #2 BIDEN SIMPATICO
Senator Kamala Harris has enjoyed a long friendship with Vice President Joe Biden spanning over a decade. Harris was a strong surrogate for the Obama/Biden campaign and as AG she developed a close relationship with Beau Biden who also AG at the time. When Beau tragically passed away she spoke at Beau’s funeral. Since the end of the campaign, Harris has been an enthusiastic supporter of Joe Biden drawing a large Michigan crowd before that key primary. Harris has hosted multiple fundraisers, calls, and townhalls on his behalf. During their joint fundraiser with over 1,400 enthusiastic donors the excellent rapport was evident as well as in other joint campaign appearances. Harris also has her first joint appearance with Dr. Jill Biden the week of June 22nd indicating a congenial relationship with her as well. In addition to a great personal rapport, Harris and Biden have near universal agreement on policy. In fact, Biden has incorporated Harris’ VoteSafe Act into his Black Agenda policy paper. It is obvious that she would trusted and invaluable ally be a as the last person in the Situation Room and right hand woman in his administration.
31:40- #3 CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS
CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS (VOTING RIGHTS, ETC.)
Senator Kamala Harris has decades of advocacy in the area of civil and human rights. In her campaign for CA Attorney General she ran pledging to oppose Proposition 8 (which outlawed gay marriage in CA) and she KEPT that promise once elected. Harris’ refusal to defend Prop 8 on behalf of the State of CA and her amicus brief in support of overturning the law forced the SCOTUS to rule that the defenders of Prop 8 did not “have standing” to defend the law on the state’s behalf. As a result Prop 8 was overturned effective legalizing gay marriage in the US in 2012. Harris personally called the city clerk to order him to proceed with issuing a marriage license to Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, the couple at the center of the SCOTUS case. She also officiated the marriage of Prop 8 plaintiffs Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier.
Senator Harris has led on ensuring the civil and human rights of immigrants are upheld throughout her career. While the unaccompanied minor crises has been exacerbated through the cruelty of the Trump administration, then AG Harris fought for their rights even under the Obama administration. In March 2016, Harris filed an amicus brief in J.E.F.M. v. Loretta Lynch supporting the right of children to have attorneys appointed in immigration removal proceedings. Years earlier, Harris enlisted law firms to provide pro-bono services and she raised millions to provide legal counsel for unaccompanied minors.
As Senator, Kamala Harris has been on the frontlines for civil rights battles such as opposing Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban; combating Trump’s child separation policy and cruel anti-refugee policies. She has introduced legislation to reunite children with their families and to halt the expansion of detention centers; championed protecting DACA; and much more. Senator Harris is on the Judiciary Committee Constitution Subcommittee which gives her an even more entrenched understanding of civil rights at the federal level. The Constitution Subcommittee jurisdiction includes: Constitutional amendments; enforcement and protection of constitutional rights; statutory guarantees of civil rights and civil liberties; separation of powers; Federal-State relations; interstate compacts; human rights laws and practices; and enforcement and implementation of human rights laws.
Voting rights is one of our most sacred civil rights and it has been increasingly under attack by the Supreme Court and the Trump administration. As Attorney General, Harris filed an amicus brief in Shelby v. Holder siding with the Voting Rights Act. As a Senate Judiciary committee member she has frequently sounded the alarm against judicial nominees hostile to voting rights. She supported bipartisan voting rights reforms and in response to COVID-19 introduced her own bicameral legislation, the Vote Safe Act. The Vote Safe Act would require states to provide no excuse mail in absentee ballots for the 2020 election; require a minimum of 20 days for early voting; improve the safety and accessibility of polling places across the country (including curbside voting; require states to take measures to ensure that polling sites don’t exceed maximum wait time standards or publish current wait times.
36:00- #4 INTERSECTIONALITY & COALITION BUILDING
Senator Kamala Harris, the daughter of two immigrant parents (a Black Jamaican father and Indian mother) has both lived and demonstrated a deep understanding of intersectionality that has informed her advocacy and policymaking. As a result, Joe Biden picking Harris would mean picking a right hand woman that does not have a learning curve in this area. Senator Harris understands that when it comes to policymaking a “rising tide does not lift all boats”; which is why her policy prescriptions are targeted in such a way to create equitable outcomes and not just equality. Understanding that when you are not starting from the same starting point, it is not enough to simply implement a one size fits all policy. Throughout Harris’ decades of public service she has been an ally and coalition builder with different communities. Whether an issue relates to the AAPI, Latinx, LGBTQ, Native, and/or Black community Senator Kamala Harris has been on the frontlines.
40:15- #5 CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Senator Kamala Harris has over two decades of advocacy and accomplishments in criminal justice reform. Straight out of law school Harris resolved to work within the system so that someone is at the decision-making table that understood the need for reform. To this day elected prosecutors are still overwhelmingly white (95%) and mostly male (75%) so Harris was often one of the few Black people in the room and even fewer among those with executive DA authority. While Senator Harris’ record of advocacy and accomplishments is quite lengthy, for the purposes of this 20 for 2020 discussion, several of those are highlights are mentioned. For a list of 50 accomplishments click here.
As San Francisco District Attorney on day one Kamala Harris put an end to seeking a life sentence per the Three Strikes rule in CA for non-violent offenses. Harris also created the first in the national re-entry program called Back on Track that was later designated a model program by the Obama administration. The program provided vocational training, counseling, parenting classes, job placement, health care and more support for young adults (mostly Black and Latino) facing charges for low level drug sales. It is important to note that at the time in CA ALL drug sale cases were classified as felonies regardless of amount and just 2 grams of crack could result in a sentence of up to 20 years. The program was incredibly successful in reducing recidivism down to just 10% compared to the statewide average of 53%. More importantly it put its participants back on track with meaningful education and/or job opportunities. In addition to her Back on Track program, Harris spearheaded the San Francisco Reentry Council which worked to reduce recidivism from offenders re-entering into the community through a public/private partnership that included government, organized labor, business and community leaders.
An aspect of Kamala Harris’ record and of the criminal justice system that is not often discussed is the support needed for victims. In Harris’ first year as DA she recognized by the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Council as Child Advocate of the Year. As DA Harris launched the first onsite trauma therapy program for children and youth who are victims and witnesses of domestic violence or sexual assault in the state of California. She placed a special emphasis on recruiting minority counselors who would be best equipped to provide culturally appropriate services to youth clients, who were primarily African American and Latinx. Harris also spearheaded the yearslong efforts to open San Francisco’s first safe house for prostituted youth. In San Francisco over 100 minors were being arrested for prostitution each year, but through her non-profit organization the Coalition to End the Exploitation of Kids (CEEK) prior to becoming DA, Harris was integral in efforts to end the SF DA’s practice of charging minors for prostitution. Harris increased an emphasis on providing violent crime victims a wide range of services such as crisis intervention, access to grief and trauma counseling, crime scene clean up, emergency shelter, court accompaniment, and more. For families of homicide victims Harris’ office provided them up to $7,500 towards burial costs and under her tenure became the first county in the state of CA to provide burial assistance for victims who were barred by the state for assistance.
The notion that Kamala Harris used her position as DA to prey on poor people and people of color could not be farther from the truth. In fact Harris launched several initiatives that increased community engagement with the District Attorney’s office specifically to help those communities. Harris appointed a Community DA Liaison for each neighborhood that worked with locals and the police department to solicit community input on public safety concerns and implement crime preventative measures. Harris launched Immigrant Resource Fairs which informed communities of medical and legal services they are entitled to receive regardless of their immigration status. Harris launched the first Neighborhood Legal Fairs to engage the community on issues such as neighborhood safety, domestic violence, elder abuse and consumer fraud. These legal fairs also provided on-site services from various city and community agencies.
In the area of restorative justice, Kamala Harris opened three (3) additional Neighborhood Courts raising the total to 12. The Community Courts handled adults charged with misdemeanor crimes such as: petty gambling, graffiti, loitering, shoplifting, assault and battery, alcohol beverage control violations, lesser drug violations and other miscellaneous quality of life crimes. The cases referred to by the prosecutors were adjudicated through a panel of local residents (over 100 volunteers citywide). The panel hears each case, conveys the neighborhood impact of the crime to the offender and determines a mix of community service, direct restitution and/or fines, or other support services like counseling. Each year thousands of cases were diverted to Community courts under Harris’ two terms and the participants in the courts did not face formal charges as long as satisfied the panel’s mandate.
As Attorney General Kamala Harris continued her advocacy and reforms in Criminal Justice on a broader scale. Harris took her successful Back on Track program statewide and created the Division of Recidivism Reduction and Re-Entry (DR3). Harris also convened the 21st Century Policing Working Group and the Racial Profiling Advisory Board. Harris created Open Justice, the first-of-its-kind criminal justice open data initiative that released unprecedented data in key criminal justice indicators (deaths in custody and arrests/bookings) over time and across jurisdictions. Harris created the first POST-certified course on Procedural Justice and Implicit Bias in the U.S. She also was the first state agency to require that its officers wear body cameras and keep them on. Harris also opened patterns and practice investigations into the two deadliest police departments in the United States. This is just a sampling of the reforms put in place by Senator Harris during her terms as CA Attorney General. Click here for more on the “50 Criminal Justice Reforms & Accomplishments by Kamala Harris” article linked to at the beginning of the section.
While Senator Kamala Harris spent 12 years on the Executive side of the Criminal Justice, she came to find that it was time to be on the legislative side to push for reforms. One of the first major areas Harris pushed for was ending cash bail by enlisting Senator Rand Paul for her bipartisan Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act. In this country more than 450,000 Americans sit in jail awaiting trial and many of them cannot afford money bail. As Harris has explained, the inability to post bail at times leads to defendants taking plea deals simply to get out of jail or in some cases leads to job losses and other adverse family impacts due to the inability to post bail. Unlike rich people who can post cash bail and get their money back, less affluent people who use bonds to post bail do not get their money returned. The reforms set forth in Harris’ bill would’ve prevented tragedies like the cases of Kalief Browder and Sandra Bland.
Senator Harris has been a staunch advocate for incarcerated women. Harris’ visit to the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California helped inform her contributions to the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act she co-sponsored. The bill included reforms such as: prohibit the solitary confinement for pregnant women; ban shackling of pregnant women during birth; make visitations more feasible and accessible for mothers; provide free telecommunications; provide feminine hygiene products free of charge; provide rehabilitation and re-entry programming; and more.
Senator Kamala Harris has also been credited by Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for working to make the FIRST STEP Act stronger in ways that allowed broader support for its passage. Harris has sponsored significant legislation addressing an array of issues in the criminal justice system. Her Fair Chance at Housing Act helps formerly incarcerated people secure government housing assistance. It also bans policies that lead to evictions for “1-strike” or for houseguests living with a person with a conviction. Harris’ EQUAL Defense Act levels the playing field between prosecutors and public defenders in terms of workload limits and pay disparities. Harris’ bicameral Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act) would: legalize marijuana; expunge prior convictions; require re-sentencing hearings for those still under supervision; and invest money in communities adversely impacted by the War on Drugs. Senator Harris has also throughout her public service fought for reforms for juvenile offenders.
Most recently and possibly most notably, Senator Kamala Harris has lead the charge on the landmark George Floyd Justice in Policing (JIP) Act. Harris’ “life’s work” as she described it has been to reform law enforcement issues and her decades of experience working on criminal justice reform has been put to impactful and effective use in the crafting of the JIP. The JIP which has already passed the House is a direct response to the Black Lives Matter protests galvanizing the nation over the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The Justice in Policing Act: bans no-knock warrants in drug cases (Breonna Taylor); bans chokeholds/carotid holds (George Floyd); ends qualified police immunity; mandates body cameras (using existing funds); creates national registry of police misconduct; establishes national use of force standard; and much more. The bottom line is the Justice in Policing Act introduces a level of accountability for police misconduct that is absent from the system.
While there is a lot of consternation in the public dialogue around issues gaining traction such as “defund the police”, Senator Kamala Harris is a skilled messenger in articulating the objectives in a way that resonates with a broad spectrum of the public. As Senator Kamala Harris puts it, the objective should be on healthy communities and that means “reimagining public safety”. As Harris explains, affluent communities don’t have nor need a third of their budget for policing because they have invested in the economy, school system, and jobs; which should be the spending objectives for all communities. Harris has been making the argument since her Back on Track program that it is a better investment for society to direct resources towards crime prevention and getting people jobs, mental health treatment, and education rather than spending exponentially more to incarcerate people. Harris’ ability to articulate these public safety and healthy community objectives has won her praise from even her biggest critics.
47:35- #6 COVID-19 & AFTERMATH
Throughout the Coronavirus (COVDID-19) pandemic, Senator Kamala Harris has shown invaluable leadership tackling all fronts: economic, health care, systemic racism, and criminal justice. Harris was one of the first (if not first) Senators to draw attention to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community and communities of color. She understands the environmental and systemic racism factors that led to higher prevalence of pre-existing conditions that COVID-19 exploits; and that these factors are not a matter of lack of personal responsibility. More importantly, Harris didn’t just identify the problem she has proposed reforms to tackle the issues.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Harris introduced the Pandemic Disaster Assistance Act which would expand the ability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide financial assistance directly to individuals during a pandemic. Senator Harris introduced the Racial & Ethnic Disparities Task Force bill brings health care and other policy experts, community-based organizations, and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders to one table to tackle the racial and ethnic disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic. The taskforce not only increases the COVID-19 demographic data collection, but it ensures that the data is used to drive policy recommendations and resource allocation to combat the racial and ethnic disparities. It would ensure that communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 are properly allocated vaccinations, personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, testing kits, and funding.
Senator Harris understands that the one-time CARES Act payment is not adequate, so she introduced the Monthly Economic Crisis Support bill with Senator Sanders to propose a $2,000 month Universal Basic Income (UBI) during and three months post COVID-19 (subject to income limits). Families would be eligible for $2,000 per child for up to 3 children. With many Americans struggling to pay bills (Black and Latino people at an even higher rate), 20 million people on unemployment, and the economy shrinking, the country needs a drastic change that starts from the bottom up not trickles down. Senator Harris has those solutions.
Speaking of bottoms up, Harris introduced bicameral legislation with Rep. Ayanna Pressley called the Save Our Street Act. While the Trump administration’s relief was skewed towards large corporations and saving Wall Street, Harris’ solutions were aimed at saving the local businesses that power our communities. Her legislation is supports small businesses (particularly minority owned) during the COVID-19 crisis by providing them with grants of up to $250,000. Over 90% of minority owned businesses did not receive any funding from the CARES Paycheck Protection Program, but Harris’ SOS Act ensures that historically underrepresented businesses, including minority-owned businesses.
Senator Harris has also been on the forefront of addressing the food insecurity issue we face in this country both introducing legislation and pressuring the USDA and other government agencies to increase SNAP (food stamps) benefits. The Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2020 increases benefits by 30%, eliminates time limits for eligibility requirements, and expands benefits for territories such as Puerto Rico.
Our nation’s health care system has been pushed to the brink as a result of COVID-19 and Senator Kamala Harris has been pushing to ensure that frontline medical workers have the protections they need and for expanded health care coverage. Harris co-sponsors the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act which eliminates all out-of-pocket health costs for every person in America during the COVID-19 crisis. Other health care related measures Harris has pushed for through legislative bills co-sponsored, Senate negotiations, and pressure on the Trump administration are: paid sick leave, free COVID-19 testing, securing additional funding for HBCUs, status of the national stockpile and its replenishment, and much more.
Senator Harris has also been a staunch advocate for Criminal Justice Reforms to tackle the unique vulnerabilities that arise from the pandemic. She was the first to call for the Bureau of Prisons to release offenders most susceptible to COVID-19 that were low risk to society. She pressured the Department of Justice to implement protocols to protect the incarcerated population and to expedite release for qualifying offenders. Furthermore, Harris advocated for immigrant detainees and for the release of immigrants (particularly children) who were being held and completely exposed to COVID-19 through Trump’s cruel and incompetent policies. Senator Harris’ record and advocacy demonstrates her commitment to even the groups that are often overlooked and cast aside by those in power.
51:55- #7 CRISIS MANAGEMENT
While the United States is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat from other crisis haven’t stopped. As a result, it is going to take an all hands on deck situation should VP Joe Biden take office next year. Senator Kamala Harris’ leadership throughout the coronavirus has already been highlighted, but her experience does not begin there. In fact, one of her biggest tests of crisis management came as she took office as the California Attorney General in the midst of a massive housing market crisis. California has several of the hardest hit cities in the country by the foreclosure crisis and Harris led in several significant ways. Harris negotiated a record breaking $18 Billion settlement against major lenders including $12 Billion in principal reductions. This was not an inevitable outcome or a product of luck, Harris played hardball. Harris walked away from a $2 billion offer which angered the Obama administration; yet her strategy paid off for California homeowners. Importantly she did not just secure $16 million more than the original offer, she also ensured that banks were not immunized from further legal liability. Also, Kamala Harris lead the charge on creating a Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, a landmark package of homeowner and borrower protections via the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, prosecuted mortgage fraud schemes; and secured 10s of millions of dollars in additional settlements.
Senator Kamala Harris has also demonstrated exceptional leadership in crisis caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires. Harris understands that leadership isn’t just about reacting in the moment, it is about taking lessons learned from these occurrences to create proactive and preventative policies to mitigate disasters. Harris introduced the Wildfire Defense Act; which is comprehensive legislation to help communities implement science-based methods for mitigating wildfire damage and defending life and property. Harris also repeatedly presses the Trump administration on its preparations for wildfire season. As Puerto Rico was struggling with the Trump administrations incompetent and indifferent response, Senator Harris pressed Acting DHS Secretary Duke on DHS’ unresponsiveness. Harris secured a commitment from Duke in providing Congress with a DHS lead for Puerto Rico response. With reports of Puerto Rico’s death toll being vastly under-counted, Harris introduced the COUNT Act which was adopted via amendment to ensure accurate death counts following natural disasters.
53:35- #8 CULTURAL COMPETENCY
The phrase “identity politics” is often used to marginalize and deride the priorities of certain populations or the way in which politicians appeal to different demographics. However, the fact is in this day and age it is important that a candidate the ability to credibly court different demographics. That is where cultural competency comes in and it is something that cannot be replicated by memorizing talking points or by having a cultural tour guide. With the campaign going virtual, townhalls and forums that involve engaging in an in-depth level of question and answers are playing a larger role. The Biden campaign cannot afford a VP candidate who has to fake it until she makes it in these spaces who could create a culturally or racially insensitive gaffe that could damage the ticket’s standing. Senator Kamala Harris has the life experiences that allow her to be just as compelling on Revolt’s State of the Nation podcast with Joe Budden and Remy Ma as she is on Netflix’s Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.
Harris also has deep ties with two critical groups in the Democratic base: the AAPI community with her South Asian roots and with the Latino community through her years of advocacy. In fact on July 2, 2020 Senator Kamala Harris was endorsed by the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the country for Vice President, La Opinion. Read the unprecedented and full-throated endorsement here.
Beyond the campaign when it comes to governing, it is critically important that the VP is a person who not only has a culturally and racially different perspective; but is actually willing to speak truth even if it is uncomfortable for the listener. Senator Kamala Harris has demonstrated repeatedly that she will speak truth to power, particularly when it comes to our countries ugly history with race. All one has to do is watch her speech on the Senate floor after Rand Paul blocked the Anti-Lynching bill that she spent years working on its passage to see that she will not sit idly by or quietly while Black people in this country are once again denied justice and equality.
56:15- #9 FOREIGN POLICY
Senator Kamala Harris has extensive foreign policy experience. Senator Harris is highly regarded as an “incisive interrogator” as a member of the one of the most critical and trusted committees in the Senate, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. As a member of the Senate Intelligence committee, which meets twice a week normally in closed (classified) session, Senator Harris has oversight and is kept up to date on geographic issues like stability in the Middle East, Iran’s nuclear program, terrorism threats, and other national security/intelligence committee matters. Harris’ work on the committee has earned her praise from both her Democratic and Republican colleagues. A Buzzfeed article profiled Harris’ work on the committee and detailed how Harris has been “influential at key times”, particularly during the Russian interference investigation (click here to read more). Most recently Senator Harris was briefed on the Russian bounties on American soldiers. Unlike President Trump who does not read his Presidential Daily Briefings and sides with our foreign adversaries, Senator Harris takes her commitment to seeking and making informed decisions as it relates to our foreign policy and national security.
Senator Kamala Harris’ foreign policy work goes beyond hearings and behind closed doors. As a Senator, Harris traveled to the Middle East meeting with military service members in Iraq. Also, Senator Harris has been a staunch supporter of our military, particularly in ensuring service members receive fair treatment. Harris is co-author of the Ensuring Safe Housing for Our Military Act; parts of which were included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill addressed hazardous living conditions in privatized military housing affecting service members and their families around the country. Senator Harris offered an amendment to the 2021 defense bill to create a Special Inspector General for Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Military. The new Special Inspector General would investigate and make recommendations to eliminate over-representation of minority service members in the military justice system, under-representation in senior officer and enlisted ranks, as well as white supremacy in the military. In contrast Donald Trump who tried to end the deployments of the National Guard to deny them benefits, Senator Harris led her colleagues in pushing to secure funding and benefits for members of the National Guard responding to COVID-19. Trump reversed course after being pressured from Harris and others.
In Senator Harris’ travels to the Middle East she also met refugees from the war in Syria. Senator Kamala Harris has led on addressing the international refugee crisis and counteracting Trump’s cruel and white nationalist policies. Senator Harris co-authored the Refugee Protection Act of 2019, which would undo the Trump Administration’s attack on our refugee program and restores due process to asylum seekers. Senator Harris has also pushed the Trump administration to extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of Somalis as well as to invoke TPS for Bahamians and Venezuelans. Harris has been a staunch advocate for refugees even as Attorney General.
The biggest foreign policy issue impacting our country is not aggression from Iran or North Korea, it is the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Donald Trump’s steering, the US has completely abdicated its role as a leader in the global health response to coronavirus. Senator Kamala Harris has introduced legislation to restore our place in the world and ensure that overseas outbreaks do not reach our shores. Senator Harris’ Improving Pandemic Preparedness and Response Through Diplomacy Act would create a Special Presidential Envoy to develop and implement a diplomatic strategy to prepare for, detect, respond to, and recover from pandemics and other global outbreaks of infectious disease. Rather than retreating from the world stage as Trump has, Harris’ foreign policy vision sees our country as returning to the days of proactive diplomacy led by science and shared purpose. If Trump had lead the same way Harris envisions we would not be faced with 25% of the world’s deaths from Coronavirus despite having just 4% of the world’s population.
As Attorney General Kamala Harris lead a delegation of state attorneys general to Mexico to strengthen working relationships between government officials in both countries and enhance efforts to combat transnational crime.
1:00:50- #10 ECONOMICS
● Economics Degree from Howard
● Small Business Support
● Consumer Protections (work as AG)
● Supports $15 minimum wage, universal child care
● Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
Fairness for Farm Workers Act
1:05:50- #11 EDUCATION
● Proposal to close the teacher pay gap was lauded and adopted by others during the campaign
● Receipts in supporting HBCU, STEM education for women & POC
● Urged Comcast to open all of its public Wi-Fi networks to the approximately 12 million American students who lack internet access at home (COVID19)
● Fought predatory for profit college industry as AG and secured multi-million $ settlement
● Senate advocacy on discriminatory lending practices (i.e. higher interest rates)
1:07:55- #12 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Created Environmental Justice Unit as DA (tackled illegal dumping in minority neighborhoods)
● Supports Green New Deal but importantly Climate Equity
● Climate Equity Act: Establishes accountability for justice and equity impacts of federal climate and environmental actions; gives frontline communities seat at the table. Recent reporting shows impact of environmental racism on Black maternal and newborn mortality as well COVID19
● Water Justice Act: $250 billion in “critical upgrades” to the nation’s water infrastructure, to ensure safe water (testing for and remediating toxic water), affordable water (subsidies for households), and sustainable water. That Water Justice Act is aimed at giving new water infrastructure to places that don’t have clean drinking water which we all know is predominantly black and brown communities
1:11:50- #13 HEALTHCARE
● Black maternal health to tackle to disparities in mortality
● Lead on telemedicine before COVID
● Co-sponsor Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act to eliminate all out-of-pocket health costs for every person in America during the COVID-19 crisis.
● Protected Obamacare (Amicus brief to Supreme Court as AG)
● Pushed for Paid Sick Leave before and during COVID-19
Committed to providing affordable, comprehensive health care with choices of public or private options
1:14:25- #14 INFRASTRUCTURE
● Broadband
● Water Justice Act
● Cybersecurity at ports (Strengthening Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Coordination in Our Ports Act of 2017)
#15 INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION
● AG coordination with different agencies
● Bicameral legislation
Senate Committees: Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Budget; Judiciary; Intelligence. Oversight of Trump administration
1:18:50- #16 IT FACTOR
● High ratings, largest campaign launch, compelling biography (memoir Truths We Hold is a NY times bestseller); viral cross examinations of Barr & Kavanaugh; most requested surrogate 2018; Biden fundraiser attracted largest Veepstakes audience with 1,400 attendees
● She has had these big moments over the years where men are trying to intimidate her and she ALWAYS stands up to them (John Cornyn on police reform just yesterday, Chair of the Intelligence Committee Richard Burr tried to silence her, Homeland Security Committee Sec John Kelly has talked disrespectfully to her) and she’s never backed down. That’s very powerful for women, particularly young women to watch — that you don’t have to be “agreeable” or back down when you know what’s right.
1:21:30- #17 PIPELINE BUILDING
● Most diverse Senate staff of 2020 POTUS candidates and last year (2019) she had the most diverse office in the entire Senate with 70% people of color.
Cultivates Black electeds- mentors progressive prosecutors like Kim Foxx (serving on her transition team); endorses Black folks in the primary (i.e. Stacey Abrams); fundraises for Black candidates who are historically disadvantaged (Monday 6/22 led a fundraising job for Desiree Tims in Ohio); campaigns in tough races (i.e. Keisha Lance Bottoms, Marilyn Mosby re-election).
● Places value on local leaders (i.e. Lateefah Simon) and in many proposals includes requirements for local stakeholders to be part of the decision making
1:25:00- #18 POVERTY
● Currently have 44 Million living in poverty
● LIFT Act lifts 9.6M out of poverty (per Columbia Center on Service and Policy)
● Rent Relief Act lifts 7.8M out of poverty (per Columbia Center on Service and Policy)
● Kamala had 2 of the 5 plans analyzed and hers was the 1st and 3rd most impactful (vs Brown, Bennett, Khanna, Booker plans)
● Ending Homelessness Act of 2019: 500K homeless people. $14B investment leads to 410K new affordable housing units via vouchers and new construction. Effectively ends chronic homelessness (bicameral with Maxine Waters)
1:27:10- #19 TEMPERAMENT
● Grace under pressure and rises to the occasion
● Won plaudits for her work on the Senate intelligence committee
● Subject of the most attacks yet presses on (i.e. 181,795 attacks out of 200,000 after the first debate)
1:30:40- #20 WOMEN’S EQUALITY
● Proposal to close the pay gap (penalty for wage gap, shifting the burden on companies to prove non-discrimination)
● Reproductive rights pre-clearance proposal
1:35:15- CLOSING