Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Political Event

Philadelphia Convention Center

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

3:48 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Can we hear it for Judy Chu?  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.  Please have a seat.  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon. 

I wanted — let me thank Representative Chu before she leaves the stage entirely.  I want to thank you, Judy.  She talked about when I was in her district.  And many of us have worked with her over the years.  She’s an extraordinary leader and a powerful leader, a compassionate leader, and extraordinarily effective.  And I’ve seen her in the halls of Congress when the cameras are on and when the cameras are off, and she is always fighting for the people.

So, Judy, thank you for that beautiful introduction.  Can we please applaud Judy Chu?  (Applause.)  Thank you.

And greetings to all of the members of the United States Congress who are here and the members of CAPAC.  As Judy said, I am a former and very proud former member of CAPAC.  And I know the leaders who are a part of that incredible organization are a force for progress always in our country.

And to all of the other leaders who are assembled here, I thank you.

In 2020, it was the leaders here who helped to energize, organize, and mobilize.  It is you who helped elect Joe Biden to become president of the United States and me to become vice president of the United States.  (Applause.)

And in 2024, we are counting on your leadership once again.  President Biden and I know this is a community that is a force and must always be recognized and must always be recognized for the leadership that has provided for so much progress throughout the history of our country.  And your work is essential to our victory in November.

In fact, earlier this week, I was in Las Vegas to launch the AANHPI Voters for Biden-Harris.  (Applause.)  And I will tell you, folks are fired up and ready to fight. 

Today, we are 115 days out from the election.  And while many of us have been involved with these elections every four years, and, nearly every time, we say, “This is the one,” well, this here is the one.  (Laughter.)  This is the one — the most existential, consequential, and important election of our lifetime.

And we always knew this election would be tough.  And the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy, nor should it be.  But one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden: He is a fighter.  And he is the first to say: When you get knocked down, you get right back up. 

So — (applause) — we will continue to fight.  We will continue to organize.  And in November, we will win.  We will win.  (Applause.)

Fundamentally, this election will come down to this.  President Biden and I fight for the American people.  Donald Trump does not. 

I have discussed a few examples of our fight with some of the leaders here today.  It’s an ongoing discussion we’ve been having.  Let’s start, for example, with the issue of affordable health care.  When he was in the White House, Donald Trump tried more than 60 times to end the Affordable Care Act — more than 60 times — and give insurance companies, then, back the power to deny people with preexisting conditions.

Remember what that was like?  Remember, before our successful fight to pass the Affordable Care Act, what that meant for people with preexisting conditions, children with asthma, women who survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes?  We cannot forget what that was like and the fact that he is trying to roll us backward.

President Biden and I, on the other hand, have defended the Affordable Care Act and made it stronger because we believe health care should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it.  (Applause.)

And today, more AANHPI Americans have health insurance than ever before.  We also took on Big Pharma and lowered the cost of prescription drugs.  And we capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for our seniors to the benefit of more than 2 million AANHPI seniors.  (Applause.)

We are also finally making it so that medical debt — medical debt, which is most often the result of a medical emergency — you don’t plan for that — that medical debt can no longer be used against your credit score.  (Applause.)  This is going to have a direct impact on so many people — a credit score being the determining factor on whether you can get a small business loan, a car loan, or even a lease for an apartment.

To create opportunity, President Biden and I have also addressed many long-standing inequities, including inequities like the lasting effect of so-called urban renewal projects, including right here in Philadelphia, the Vine Street Expressway.  Decades ago, that expressway was built to cut right through Chinatown.  It displaced families and devastated neighborhoods, and it continues to cut off residents of Chinatown from jobs and opportunities in other communities.

So, to address this inequity, President Biden and I have invested nearly $160 million to build parks, bike paths, and walking paths over the Vine Street Expressway, which will make the neighborhood — (applause) — will make the neighborhood, then, more beautiful, more walkable, more bikeable, and, most importantly, make it easier for the residents of that community to get to work, to get to school, to get to church.

And we are doing the same kind of work that we are doing here in places from Detroit to Atlanta to Birmingham, dealing with long-standing inequities.

Whereas the former president incites hate, we are working to combat hate.  With the support of CAPAC, as Judy mentioned, we passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, making it easier for members of the AANHPI community to report acts of hate. 

And while I will not repeat the vile, vile language that Trump has used, I will say, someone who vilifies immigrants, who promotes xenophobia, who stokes hate, and who incites fear should never again have the chance to stand behind a microphone — (applause) — and never again have the chance to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States of America.

There is so much at stake in this moment.  And last week, we were again reminded of that fact when —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we will have those four more years.  And we will have those four more years.  (Applause.)

And, of course, we respect everyone’s right to voice their concerns.  I am speaking right now, however, and I’m going to continue with the topic at hand.  (Applause.)

So, last week —

AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  Free, free Palestine!  Free, free Palestine!  Free, free Palestine! 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We are fighting for a democracy and democratic values, which includes the right of everyone to speak.  And I will then — (applause).  We are going to have four more years also.

So, listen, there is so much at stake in this moment.  And last week, we were again reminded of that fact.  Let us please take note when the Supreme Court recently basically told this individual, who has been convicted of fraud, that, going forward, he will be immune for activity we know he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House.

Consider: Donald Trump openly vowed, if reelected, that he will be a dictator on day one, that he will weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies, that he will round up peaceful protesters and throw them out of our country, and even, quote, “terminate” the United States Constitution.

Well, not on our watch.  President Biden and I will always fight to protect our Constitution.  (Applause.)

And Trump’s advisors have created a 900-page blueprint of their agenda for a second term.  They call it “Project 2025.”   And it includes a plan —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  It includes a plan to cut Social Security, to repeal our $35 cap on insulin, to eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start.

And if Donald Trump wins a second term, he will continue his full-on assault on reproductive freedom.  Remember, then-President Donald Trump handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to undo the protections of Roe v. Wade.  And as he intended, they did.

Now, over 20 states have an abortion ban — a Trump abortion ban.  Today, in America, one in three women of reproductive age lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban, many with no exception even for rape and incest.  And Trump says he is, quote, “proudly” the person responsible for overturning Roe. 

We all know one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.  (Applause.)

And make no mistake, if he gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state.  But we are not going to let that happen.  We have worked — we have all together worked too hard and fought too long to see our daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than our mothers.  (Applause.)

We trust women.  And when Congress passes a law that restores the reproductive freedoms of Roe, our president, Joe Biden, will sign it.  Yes.  (Applause.)

So, ultimately, in this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?  And here’s the beauty of this moment.  We have the power to answer that question, each one of us, and the question being: Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?  We each have the power to answer this question.

If the Supreme Court says the laws do not apply to Donald Trump, if extremists in Congress continue to bow down to him, if people like Mike Pence are not around to stand up to him, our last line of defense is the ballot box, your vote, your voice.

So, today, I ask the leaders here: Are you ready to make your voices heard?  (Applause.) 

Do we believe in freedom?  (Applause.)

Do we believe in opportunity?  (Applause.)

Do we believe in the promise of America?  (Applause.)

And are we ready to fight for it?  (Applause.)

And when we fight, we win!

God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  Thank you, all.  (Applause.)

END                     4:04 P.M. EDT