On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a moderated conversation at the Economic Opportunity tour in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Without further ado, it is my distinct honor to introduce the first woman to be
00:06elected as Vice President for the United States, Ms. Kamala Harris.
00:30Good afternoon, everyone. Indeed. Can we please applaud Desmond as he walks off
00:53the stage? I have to say, Desmond, you are just, you are just an absolute model of
01:02what this tour is about and everything that you said about yourself, your
01:07upbringing, but also what you have done in terms of the young leaders that are
01:14leading in this effort, combining things like technology with long-standing needs
01:19of communities. You really are doing an extraordinary job. Thank you for being
01:23such a big part of this. And thank you. Please give the Vice President of the
01:31United States of America another round of applause. We always love having you
01:37down south with us. And before I begin, I'm from the big city of Denmark, South
01:42Carolina, where we have three stoplights and a blinking light, and I always tell
01:47people my mom and dad say the two most important words in the English language
01:49are the words, thank you, and they're not nearly said enough. And there are two
01:52people I have to acknowledge before we begin. One is one of the greatest mayors
01:58in the United States of America, Vi Louse. Please give her a round of applause.
02:06And the governor of North Carolina, but give him a round of applause anyway. I
02:13think he might have slid out.
02:18And so one of the things that I enjoy about just being in your space, Madam
02:23Vice President, is that you're very intentional, and you're very purposeful,
02:26and you've traveled across the country and met voters and met students in
02:30particular where they were, and meeting people where they are, and you've led
02:34the fight for productive rights. You've challenged and talked about ending gun
02:39violence, and now you're on this Economic Opportunity Tour. I think the first
02:42question we have to ask is why this tour? Why now? Thank you, Bakari, and thank you
02:47for your leadership, and always using your voice in such a courageous and
02:50important way. And Michael, thank you. He's just been on the road with me
02:55for different events. Why this tour? Well, most importantly, it's because I feel
03:03very strongly that we need to be in the community, listening, and giving people
03:11information about the work that we have done that will help folks, because I'm
03:16very aware that, you know, we can do all this good stuff in Washington, D.C., but
03:20if it doesn't hit the streets, it doesn't matter. So I'm on this tour to travel our
03:25country and describe what we have done with the full intention that the
03:31opinion leaders, the civic leaders, the community leaders that are here will
03:36help us get the word out so that people can take advantage of what is available
03:41to help them, and in particular, on the issue of, for this tour, economic
03:47opportunity. So the tour is designed, and what I've been talking about, are two
03:52things in particular. The obstacles that exist, that get in the way of people
03:59achieving their dreams around their economic future, intergenerational wealth,
04:05Desmond talked about that, to talk about the obstacles that exist that often are
04:10no fault of the individual, but that are systemic and that we are working to
04:15bypass, and then also to explain to folks the opportunities that are available. So
04:20today we'll talk about obstacles like debt, a big issue that holds people back.
04:26We're going to talk about the opportunities that are available, such as
04:30access to capital, federal government contracts that can infuse communities
04:35and entrepreneurs and individuals with the resources that they need, and that
04:40they rightly earn, but don't have access to otherwise. So that's the purpose of
04:45the tour. I believe very strongly that the accomplishments of our
04:50administration, such as creating 15 million new jobs, creating over 800,000
04:55new manufacturing jobs, historic low unemployment, in particular for the
05:00black community, are very important, critically important. And that is not to
05:07the exclusion of also understanding we have extraordinary capacity and leaders
05:13in the community, who have incredible ideas, who are entrepreneurial, who are
05:18ambitious, who have aspirations that, yes, are about making sure that everyone is
05:25employed, but also the creation of wealth. To aspire to create wealth is a
05:31good thing, as far as I'm concerned. If that is what one chooses. I, on the other
05:38hand, have chosen to live a life of public service. But I am all for any of you. Get
05:45yours if that's what you want. We're trying. And so that's what this tour is about.
05:51You know, Madam Vice President, the greatest accomplishment in my life is
05:54getting Ellen Rucker Sellers to say yes, and I do. And she is here. Where is she?
06:01There you are, a saint. Oh, now she's a saint. She's a saint. But she's also a small
06:08business owner, and I see what she goes through with Rucker Roots and trying to
06:11make sure that her business excels. And one of the things that we talk about
06:14often is access to capital for entrepreneurship and small businesses.
06:19And that's something that's been very important to you and the President of
06:22the United States. Tell us more about this work, and why is it so important to
06:27be able to get these small businesses their access to capital? So let's start
06:33with the point that Ellen knows well, which is that not everyone has access to
06:40the capital that is necessary to start up a business. But it is not for lack of
06:44a good idea. It is not for lack of an incredible work ethic. It is not for lack
06:50of the ambition to actually create something that will not only benefit
06:54oneself or their family, but also the community at large. And so the focus of
07:00my work since my days in the Senate has been to expand access to capital, and in
07:06particular to do that through community banks. Because community banks are
07:13self-defined. They are situated in the community. They are run by folks
07:19who know the community, know the capacity of the community, know the
07:22mores of the community, know the needs of the community, and are then able to
07:28give the kind of assistance that is about loans, but also about helping folks
07:34with financial literacy, helping folks learn how to run a payroll, how to deal
07:40with business taxes. Because many of us, we didn't grow up learning that in our
07:46household, and we don't really teach that in school. And so, but it's not for
07:52lack of anyone's ability to learn it if there are resources that can teach it. So
07:57community banks have been my focus. When I was in the Senate, we got over 12
08:00billion dollars more into community banks. And since I've been vice president,
08:04we have partnered with the big banks and also technology companies to, as of now,
08:09it's a, I created a thing called the Economic Opportunity Council, partnering
08:13with tech companies, foundations, and big banks, and now we're getting over three
08:18billion more dollars into our community banks to create access to capital.
08:25And what that means is that we also then, working out of these community banks, get
08:33the word out on the street. Bakari, Michael, one of the things that's really
08:37interesting, the numbers I have are that black entrepreneurs are three times less
08:43likely to apply for small business loans. And one of the main reasons why is because
08:51folks don't want to be disappointed. We know what that's like. It's, it takes a
08:57lot to put yourself out there and to believe that you will be taken seriously
09:02and treated fairly. And so that's another issue that we are addressing with this
09:08tour and the work we're doing through community banks, is knowing you are
09:12welcome and you have a place where you can go that will treat you fairly and
09:16with respect and with the dignity that you so rightly deserve.
09:19Madam Vice President, it's an honor to be here with you today. I think this tour is
09:31such a great idea and I think just it's working, one, and two, I think it's always
09:37great for the people to hear directly from you what is happening, what is being
09:41done. I know an important issue for you is housing. And I know it's been an
09:47important issue for you throughout your career, being in California the last 20
09:53plus years. I know how much work you've done there. I know it's at the forefront
09:57for you. It was, it was at the forefront for you there. It's at the forefront for
10:02you now in this administration. The question I have is, it's a priority. So
10:08what is the administration doing to help ease the burden of home ownership right
10:13now?
10:14So, let's start, as you know, Michael, and we've talked about this before, home
10:20ownership is one of the best ways to achieve intergenerational wealth.
10:27Correct.
10:28Right? So, and let's think about it this way. When you are able to buy a home,
10:37obviously for most of us with a mortgage, but when you are able to have a home
10:40that is yours, that you own, you accrue capital, right? And that means that when
10:49your child says, you know, okay, now everybody just, I think everybody in North
10:54Carolina can handle this. When your child says you want to go to Howard
10:57University, I couldn't help myself.
11:03We know.
11:06When their child says, I want to go to HBCU, such as the one that we are so
11:11privileged to be in right now, you can say, honey, you don't have to take out
11:16that loan. I'll take some equity out my, out of the home. You don't have to take
11:20out a loan. I'll take some equity out of the house to help you pay that tuition.
11:25Or if your child says, I want to start a business, you can say, honey, I can take
11:30some equity and out of the home and help you with some startup capital.
11:34Home ownership is one of the best ways that we achieve intergenerational wealth.
11:39We also know that it is one of the, the, one of the many issues where we have
11:46seen incredible obstacles for black families. We don't even need to go as far
11:54back as nobody got the 20 acres and a mule. Let's go to the fact that we
11:59recently celebrated D-Day and we rightly celebrated what we have called the
12:05greatest generation. Well, there was a public policy, rightly in our country,
12:10that said about that greatest generation, you have brought stability to the world.
12:16You, as American military members, most of whom are men, you have served your
12:23country and the world with such dignity to such great result. So we want to
12:29invest and reward you. And the federal policy then was to give them loans to
12:39help them buy homes. And as we know, we had plenty of black servicemen who
12:47served in World War II, but because of discriminatory practices in terms of how
12:54those loans were given out, did not receive the benefit of that boost that
13:00occurred in our country to help people achieve wealth. So there were
13:04pre-existing disparities and then you had this boost. You think about it in
13:08terms of the history of redlining. You think about it in the history of
13:13what was called a whole federal policy around urban renewal, which basically
13:19resulted in freeways cutting through black communities and other communities
13:23of color, thereby dividing up communities around what otherwise were thriving
13:29commerce communities. So what we have been doing as an administration to deal
13:36with this issue is to, one, acknowledge the truth about the disparities and to
13:45seek out and identify the disparities and the built-in systems that still
13:51exist that create those obstacles to home ownership. And I'm going to talk
13:55about one in particular, racial bias and home appraisals. So we decided to take
14:03that on. Many of you may know the stories about a black family that wants
14:09to sell their home and then has the appraiser come in and the house is
14:14appraised for what they know is less than its value. And you probably know
14:20the stories about how they'll then reach out to family friends who are white and
14:25say, hey, we all come over, bring your family pictures. We're going to take
14:30down ours and you invite the appraiser. And the home appraises for higher value.
14:37So one of the issues that we are taking on is this issue and are now requiring
14:42that appraisers have racial bias training before they are able to do this work.
14:49We are also giving for people who are the first generation in their family to
15:00seek to buy a home, $25,000 grants for startup capital to actually be able to
15:07pay down on home ownership. $25,000 if you are first or you are the generation
15:16that is the first in your family to be able to buy a home. The other thing we
15:22are doing is for a certain tranche of folks, helping them first-time homeowners,
15:27$400 a month in credits toward paying your mortgage. And these issues are
15:35exactly the kind of issues that when you address them, make a huge difference in
15:40terms of who is able to buy a home. And that matters. And, you know, listen,
15:47you probably are sensing from the things that I'm describing, we have been taking
15:51a critical look at those specific pieces of the system that have long gone overlooked.
15:59That are, you know, the story about the princess and the pea, that seemingly small
16:04thing that makes all the difference. These specific aspects of the system that
16:10have kept people from achieving their dreams. Another issue that we have been
16:15dealing with is federal contracts. So if you get a federal contract, being very
16:21frank, unless you mess it up, it's yours for life. But what we know is that when
16:27you're talking about black entrepreneurs, black small business owners, less likely
16:32to have the relationships or know the process for applying for a federal
16:37contract. When President Biden and I came in, we committed to increase federal
16:43contracts to minority owned businesses by 50%. And we're on track to get that done
16:48by the end of 2025. Part of this tour is to create information and available to
16:56everyone here to know how you go about applying for federal contracts and which
17:00federal contracts are up. Because remember, we also came in and are finally
17:05fixing the infrastructure problem in America. You know, somebody talked about
17:12infrastructure week, which never happened. We actually got it done. That
17:16think about the number of contracts, federal contracts based on the money we
17:21are putting literally on the streets of America to upgrade our sidewalks and our
17:25bridges and our freeways. Do you know that the 90% of construction companies
17:32employ 20 or fewer people? Those are small businesses. And then we have all
17:39this federal work that is happening around construction work. We passed the
17:44Inflation Reduction Act. We're putting, by my estimate, a trillion dollars on the
17:48streets of America in the next 10 years to deal with the extreme climate
17:52occurrences, adaptation, resilience, investing in a clean energy economy.
17:56Those are federal contracts. So when we make a commitment to increase by 50%,
18:02federal contracts going to minority owned businesses. Think about what that
18:07can mean in terms of a boost to communities around the creation and
18:12sustaining of wealth and wealth generating businesses.
18:19Wow.
18:24It's amazing to hear it directly from her, isn't it? It's just, it's just
18:28amazing. One of the things you brought up when we first sat down was you talked
18:32about how debt is affecting people, whether it be student loans or medical
18:39debt. How do you feel like the administration is, what is the
18:44administration doing to help kind of address these obstacles? And how can we
18:50move forward?
18:52Right. So debt is probably one of the biggest issues that holds people back in
18:59our country. And we decided to take it on because our philosophy is that we
19:08want people to not just be able to get by, but get ahead. And debt is one of
19:12those things that holds people back from getting ahead. So we decided to take on,
19:17for example, the issue of student loan debt. I will say that here at this
19:23incredible HBCU, one of the things we know is that black students are more
19:27likely to be Pell Grant recipients and take out student loans and endure for
19:33years, if not decades, student loan debt. And what that does to then hold back
19:39their ability to aspire to have a family, buy a home. So we decided to
19:44take it on and not without great opposition from people in Washington, D.
19:48C. Let's be clear about that. They didn't want this. They said, Well, I
19:51got mine. You should be able to do yours instead of taking into account
19:56again what we have already discussed in terms of the where people start. Not
20:00everybody starts out on the same base, right? And that's part of our mentality
20:05and thinking about this. So we have now forgiven over $160 billion in student
20:11loan debt,
20:16benefiting about five million people. I have met just today people who have had
20:23their student loan debt forgiven. Please testify.
20:31And what it has meant for example, we've also doubled the amount of student loan
20:38debt that we have forgiven for public servants, such as firefighters, nurses,
20:43teachers. God knows we don't pay him enough as it is.
20:47So this has been a game changer for something I've met. I mean, I've met now
20:54a number of teachers, for example, who who came up to me with tears about how
21:00for decades they've been living with tens, if not as much as hundreds of
21:06thousands of student loan debt. But they love teaching so much that they would
21:11not leave the profession. But they would tell me about other teachers who just
21:15couldn't afford, with those salaries being so low and that debt, to get by.
21:21So again, it's not only about our accomplishments on the issue of the
21:26creation of wealth. It's equally important, Bakari and Michael, to
21:30understand why. You gotta see people
21:34and understand that people have many facets to their life. And when people
21:41work hard and do good work, the system should reward that, right? Medical
21:48debt. So medical debt,
21:52medical debt for the most part comes about because of a medical emergency
21:57for the majority of people, which means what wasn't planned.
22:03Nobody asks to be sick or experience a medical debt. It's not something people
22:08bring upon themselves.
22:10And it can result in, again, tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of
22:16debt as a result of that medical emergency.
22:21And forever until now,
22:25that could count against your credit score.
22:29Your credit score is supposed to be a measure of are you financially
22:32responsible? Why would we
22:35say that medical debt is a measure of whether you're financially responsible?
22:40That doesn't make any sense. And it's not right. So we have now made it so
22:46that medical debt cannot be a part in calculating your credit score.
22:56And, you know, now, because there's so many apps, most people know their
23:00credit score, like, you know how much you weigh, right?
23:03And you know what that number means in terms of your eligibility for a car
23:10loan, home loan, or even just to get an apartment lease.
23:15So this is going to be a game changer for so many people. And again, it's
23:20about debt is not just about a financial number. It's about how it
23:26weighs on people to keep them back when they're working hard and want to
23:31move forward. And so I'm particularly proud of what we've done on medical
23:35debt. I must say, as a point of emphasis, because again to the opinion
23:39leaders, I need your help on the student loan debt piece. Please remind
23:43people to apply for it
23:46and not think that all if I apply, I'm not gonna get it. I've met a lot of
23:50people who have told me that I didn't apply for it because I didn't think I'd
23:53get, I'd be eligible. One, two, please help get the word out. You are
23:59entitled to student loan forgiveness even if you did not graduate.
24:06Help us get the word out because again,
24:11it's about creating public policies that are just logical. So what's the
24:16logic in that? Okay.
24:19A lot of people drop out because they can't afford to pay tuition. Yeah.
24:24And before they dropped out, they were taking out student loans.
24:29The student loan company ain't saying, well, since you didn't graduate, you
24:32don't owe us.
24:34So people who had to drop out still owe that debt.
24:39So that's why we created the policy to be intentional, Bakari, to be
24:44intentional even if you didn't graduate, you're eligible. You know, I'm gonna
24:49use just a slight bit of personal privilege because you talked about
24:52being intentional for this last question. And I think that the White
24:57House and yourself have been very intentional about having Michael and I
25:00lead this conversation. And why I say that is because having black men a part
25:06of this conversation is so very important.
25:10And we need, we need the individuals who are under the sound of our voice to go
25:15out and be apostles of the good news. And so when people ask, what is the
25:19White House doing about black men? You can say that we had a conversation about
25:24economic mobility, um, and, and was very diverse in our thought. And also we, I
25:30saw some Jack and Jillers earlier today. I know they're having their convention
25:33this week, but this is a room full of, of, and I hate the word future leaders. I
25:38hate that because they're really the leaders of right now. Um, and you're,
25:42you're also intentional about doing this at an HBCU. And this institution is one
25:46of the greatest HBCUs.
25:49Now, now Michael, Michael may not know this, but the greatest HBCU is Morehouse
25:55college, but I digress. But what would your advice be?
26:01Howard's in the top 10 ish. So, um, what advice would you give this room full of
26:07the leaders of right now? Not future leaders, but these young people who are
26:10the leaders of this moment that we're in?
26:13Mhm.
26:15The first piece of advice I have is dream with ambition
26:21and never apologize for your ambition. Never apologize for that. It is a good
26:27thing to have ambition. I will also say this.
26:33I eat no for breakfast. I don't hear no.
26:39And many times in your life you're going to hear no.
26:42Someone is gonna maybe even many people say to you, Oh, it's not your time. Oh,
26:50nobody like you has done that before. Oh, they're not ready for you. And then
26:56I love this next one. Oh, that's gonna be hard work.
27:01Really? Don't hear that. Don't ever hear that.
27:07And I've got a whole lot of advice. The other piece of advice I would offer you
27:12just open that up.
27:14Many times you're going to find you are whether you are in a boardroom, a
27:21meeting room in a room where you need to pitch.
27:25Were you gonna be the only one that looks like you in that room?
27:30And what you must remember, and I'd ask you to look around this room right now.
27:35What you must remember is you are never in that room alone. We are all in that
27:40room with you, expecting that when you walk in that room, you walk in chin up,
27:46shoulders back, understanding the voice and the voices that you carry that are
27:55so proud of you being in that room and are applauding your presence in that
28:00room.
28:01That is critically important.
28:05That is critically important. You gotta be able to see what can be unburdened by
28:12what has been
28:14and never allow yourself to put any barriers on yourself based on other
28:21people's limited ability to see who can do what.
28:26That's their problem, not yours.
28:29Yes, ma'am. Before you do the before you do the rope line, may I ask you for a
28:34favor? Yes. It's Michael's favor. Can we take a selfie? All right. Thank you so
28:39much.
28:40Oh, but I do have one more thing. A week from today's Juneteenth.
28:46And I would. So we have decided and I have issued a call to action. It's our
28:53newest federal holiday. I was proud as a member of the United States Senate to
28:58sponsor a piece of legislation to make it a holiday. And a lot of people have
29:02been wondering of the various ways that traditionally Juneteenth has been
29:05celebrated. As now it is a national holiday. How do we do it going forward?
29:10And what I'd ask is everyone to consider, in addition to your normal
29:13tradition for Juneteenth, think of it as a day of action to register people to
29:17vote.
29:19Please. Thank you.
29:27Everybody.
29:32Yeah.
30:03Mhm.
30:05Mhm.
30:26Mhm.
30:28Mhm.
31:29I'm going to power down, I'm powering down, not yet, I'm going to power down, I'm powering
31:59down, not yet, I'm powering down, not yet, I'm powering down, not yet, I'm powering