The meteoric rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Joe Biden, 81, as the Democratic presidential nominee in the Nov. 5 election marks the most significant seismic shift in presidential politics in recent memory.
We examine some of Harris’ most significant accomplishments and policy initiatives as she prepares to win the Democratic presidential nomination in Chicago this August.
more:Biden Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Election: What America Needs to Know Heading Into the Election
Immigration
In response to the migration crisis, Harris called for the work of a public-private partnership called Central America Forward (CAF). The idea behind CAF is to support local job creation and other measures to slow the flow of mass migration.
CAF has generated more than $5.2 billion since its inception in 2021, and its partners include more than 50 companies and organizations committed to supporting economic growth in the Central American region. According to the White House, these organizations represent financial services, textiles, apparel, agriculture, technology, communications and nonprofit sectors, among others.
Voting Rights
According to White House records, Ms. Harris spearheaded the administration’s efforts to enact voting rights protections across the country. She lobbied Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which expanded protections in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and sought federal approval for changes to some local election laws.
In 2021, the bill failed to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, preventing it from beginning debate in the full Senate, where Harris would have cast the deciding vote in a balanced Senate.
abortion
As previously reported by USA Today, Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic on March 14, marking the first such visit by a president or vice president in history.
The vice president toured the clinic in Minnesota and spoke with staff and health care workers as part of his “Fight for Reproductive Freedom” tour across the country earlier this year.
Gun violence
In September 2023, Biden will establish the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, under Vice President Harris’s oversight, to reduce gun violence, according to a White House announcement.
The Office of Gun Violence Prevention was established based on steps taken by the Biden-Harris Administration to end gun violence, including the signing of the bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
The new law, hailed by the White House as the most impactful gun violence prevention measure in nearly three decades, would ban anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing firearms, give the Justice Department additional powers to prosecute gun traffickers, provide mental health services in schools to help young people suffering from the trauma and grief caused by gun violence, and fund community-based violence intervention programs.
Maternal health
As a California Senator, Harris previously introduced the Maternal and Child Care Act and the Black Maternal and Child Health Monibus Act, which would direct a multi-agency effort to improve maternal and child health, particularly among racial and ethnic minority groups, veterans, and other vulnerable populations, as well as address maternal and child health issues related to COVID-19.
The Vice President’s previous work on maternal and child health care was a key component of the Build Back Better Act passed in 2022, which makes new investments to expand access to maternal and child health care and reduce mortality and morbidity.
Broadband expansion
In 2023, Harris and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to celebrate the announcement of new electronics manufacturing made possible by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Invest in America policy and bipartisan infrastructure legislation.
The bipartisan infrastructure legislation aims to require federally funded infrastructure projects to use American-made materials and products, bringing hundreds of new jobs to the U.S. The legislation also includes a historic $65 billion investment to expand affordable, reliable, high-speed internet access in communities across the United States.
“Investments in broadband infrastructure create jobs in Wisconsin and across the nation, increase access to reliable, high-speed internet and ensure all Americans have the tools they need to thrive in the 21st century,” Harris said.
Juneteenth
In 2021, President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday. Often referred to as “Second Independence Day,” the day commemorates June 19, 1865, when 2,000 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and announced that enslaved African Americans were freed by presidential decree, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“As a United States Senator, I am proud to cosponsor legislation to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday,” Harris said at the White House Juneteenth Concert. [day]”We’re going to hold a national day of action on voting, and we’re going to call on all the leaders here to join us in helping more Americans register to vote.”
Reuters contributed to this story.
