Vice Presidential Pool Reports of May 11, 2021

VP pool report #1 — gathering

Happy Tuesday on what's turned into an ominously cloudy afternoon at the White House.

Pool is gathering ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris' meeting with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, scheduled for 4:00pm in her ceremonial office.

There is no stream, but pool will be present for VP's opening remarks and will pass along quotes/color asap.

VP pool report #2 — attendees

Passing along a list of attendees, per VP's office

Participants

• Chair Judy Chu (D-CA)
• Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA)
• Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-FL)
• Congressman Andy Kim (D-NJ), and
• Congressman Michael San Nicolas (Del.-D-Guam)

VP pool report #3 — in the room and opening remarks

VP's staff escorted pool over to EEOB at 3:51pm, where we camped outside VP's office.

Pool entered the room at 4:05pm. CAPAC members were situated around the conference room with VP at the head opposite pool.

VP opened by noting her prior membership at CAPAC

"For far too long" we've talked about anti-AAPI discrimination without finding solutions

She noted that while some AAPI members were saving lives during the pandemic, others were the victims of hate crimes.

"I want to say to every Asian American, every native Hawaiian, every Pacific Islander, our administration sees you, cares about you, and will never be alone"

Harris also noted that Asian American women have been disproportionately pushed out of the workforce throughout the pandemic

"Let me be clear, a harm against one of us is a harm against all of us" and this is a time for all Americans to unite against AAPI hate

"I want to applaud all of the leadership at this table..."

VP stated that passing the American Jobs and Families Plans would help immediately help AAPI community in addition to all Americans

Pool was ushered out at 4:10pm. She did not answer shouted questions from the pool about escalating violence between Israel and Gaza.

Fuller quotes to follow.

VP pool report #4 — full quotes

The Scene:
https://twitter.com/tocradio/status/1392218290538303488?s=21

"I am honored to welcome Chairwoman Judy Chu and the members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to my office. This is the Ceremonial Office of the Vice President of the United States, and I'm very happy to see them for an important discussion that we're going to have this afternoon."

"I was a member of CAPAC, a proud member of CAPAC, and I've seen firsthand how dedicated your organization is to all the teams, and the impact on all Americans, but their particular focus on the condition, the well being, and the future of the AAPI community. Far too often, I think we all know, instead of [inaudible], the AAPI and NHPI communities have been overlooked. That was true when Chinese Americans laid down the tracks for the Transcontinental Railroad while many were prohibited from owning property. I know its history in my home state of California and beyond. This was true when Japanese Americans defended our nation in World War II, as Japanese Americans were forced to live in internment camps."

"This was true in the early days of the pandemic. When the AA and NHPI frontline workers were saving lives, yet at the same time, members of the AA and NHPI community were targeted with hate. So there was a lot to do in both reminding all of us that the history of our country, but also acknowledging disparities that continue to exist, and injustice where it occurs, and as elected leaders of our nation, and having this conversation in a way that we can renew our commitment to working on all of these issues together."

"I want to say to every Asian American, every Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, our administration sees you, cares about you, and you will never be alone. And please don't ever let any situation and circumstance make you feel alone because we are all in this together. We've seen how Asian small businesses, Asian American small businesses have been impacted recently in particular, because of the COVID virus and what is done in terms of our economy. We have seen how Asian American women have been struggling with real money, many of whom have been frontline workers. We have seen how Asian American people in our country have been targeted by the vicious expressions of hate so much so that 6,600 cases of hate crimes again against Americans have been reported in just this last year."

"So let me be clear: harm against any one of us is harm against all of us, and we stand united in fighting against injustice. So today, we will discuss our collective focus on staffing environments, staffing [inaudible]. All of the leaders of this table, including our great Senator Mazie Hirono for the passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act that the president is prepared to sign. And our administration has also taken action recently in the Department of Justice to establish the agency wide initiative to address anti AAPI hate crimes. And of course, we are working to pass the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan understanding how it will impact, also, the Asian American small business owners in terms of access to capital and NHPI working parents and making sure that they have access to childcare."

"So in conclusion, I'll say that, you know, there has been a lot of attention, national attention to the injustices that have targeted our AA and NHPI community, and this is a moment for all Americans to stand together. To stand together unified in saying again, that harm against anyone is harm against all of us. And we will stand together in support all communities to protect and to honor who they are."

Have a great Tuesday!