Remarks by Vice President Harris at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention

George R. Brown Convention Center

Houston, Texas

10:29 A.M. CDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  (Applause.)  Good morning, everyone.  Good morning.  Good morning, AFT.  (Applause.)  Good morning. 

Oh, my goodness.  It’s so good to be with everyone.  Please have a seat.  Please have a seat.  If you have a seat, please have a seat.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Harris!  Kamala!  Harris!  Kamala!  Harris! 
    
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  It is good to be in the house of labor.  (Laughs.)

AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Harris!  Kamala!  Harris!  Kamala!  Harris! 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)  My goodness.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you. 

Oh, thank you all.  Thank you so very much.  Thank y- — can we hear it for Brittany, please?  (Applause.)

Thank you all.  It’s so wonderful to be back with everyone here.  Thank you.  That means so m- — so, so much more than I can say.

Randi, thank you for your friendship — your long-standing friendship.  As we all know, Randi is a force.  And she has been an incredible friend and — and adviser to the president and me.  And I want to thank you on behalf of the president and me and our country for all that you are.  (Applause.) 

And I — I want to begin by saying a few words about our president, Joe Biden.  You know — (applause).  Right?  Yeah.  Yeah.

So, last night, our president addressed the nation.  And he showed, once again, what true leadership looks like.  (Applause.)  He really did.  His — his words were poignant.

You know, I — I’ll speak in a moment about the importance of reminding people of history, teaching America’s true history. 

He — he thinks and talks about his work and our country, understanding what it means in terms of what we do now and how that will impact the future.  He thinks about our history in the context of the importance of the work we do now.

And over the past three and a half years, and over his entire career, Joe has led with grace and strength and bold vision and deep compassion.  And as he said — (applause) — that’s right.  And as he said, in the next six months, he will continue to fight for the American people.  And I know we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his continued service to our nation.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  

And to the members of AFT, I thank you for your service to our nation.  (Applause.)

From the public service workers and higher education faculty to the school bus drivers — (applause) — and the custodians to the school nurses and our teachers — (applause) — you all do God’s work, educating our children — the whole ecosystem of who are AFT members.

It is you who have taken on the most noble of work, which is to concern yourself with the well-being of the children of America.  And I thank you for that.  I thank you for that.  (Applause.)  And I thank you, also, for your support over the years and for being the first union to endorse me this week.  (Applause.)

Thank you.  I thank you.  (Applause.)  I thank you.

And as you may know, I am a proud product of public education.  (Applause.)  Many of you know that my first grade teacher, Mrs. Frances Wilson, God rest her soul, taught me and educated me and encouraged me and inspired me. 

And years later, when I walked across the stage to receive my law school diploma, Mrs. Frances Wilson was in the audience.  (Applause.)  Yeah.  Yeah. 

And that’s who you are.  I know who you are.  I know who you are.  This work is personal and it is professional and it is so critically important.

And so, it is because of Mrs. Wilson and so many teachers like her that I stand before you as vice president of the United States of America — (applause) — and that I am running to be president of the United States of America.  (Applause.) 

What I know firsthand is that our teachers and all those who are here, all the members of AFT — I know that, by nature, you are visionaries.  You are focused on the future.  The work you do is about a focus on the future.  You see the potential in every child.  You foster it.  You encourage it.  And in so doing, you shape the future of our nation, which is why I say: We need you so desperately right now. 

Today, we face a choice between two very different visions for our nation: one focused on the future and the other focused on the past.  And we are fighting for the future.  (Applause.) 

And in our vision of the future, we see a place where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead — a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every senior can retire with dignity, and where every worker has the freedom to join a union.  (Applause.)

We see a future with affordable health care, affordable childcare, and paid leave — not for some, but for all.  (Applause.)

We see a future where every student has the support and the resources they need to thrive and a future where no teacher has to struggle with the burden of student loan debt.  (Applause.) 

So, as an example, our administration has forgiven student loan debt for nearly 5 million Americans — (applause) — and twice as much for our public servants, including our teachers.  (Applause.) 

Teachers like Tonya Cabeza, who I met recently in Philadelphia.  Tonya was first in her family to go to college.  And she had been, like many, paying off her student loans for 20 years. 

And she told me — she was like, “Look, I — I at many times wondered: Would I have to leave this profession I love to just be able to pay my bills?  But I did it — I didn’t leave because I love what I do and I understand the importance.”  But making decisions, then, about what she could afford in terms of her daily obligations and dealing with these loans.

And after 20 years, she still owed $40,000 in student loans.  And we forgave it all.  (Applause.)

When she learned, she told me — she said when she learned that her loans had been forgiven, she said, “Well, me and my children knew our lives had changed, and we were just dancing.  Dancing.”  (Laughter.)  So, there we go.

But we are clear-eyed: As we work to build a brighter future and to move our nation forward, there are those who are really trying to take us backward. 

And you, I’m sure, have seen their agenda: Project 2025.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Randi, can you believe they put that thing in writing?  (Laughter.)  Nine hundred pages in writing.

So, Project 2025 is a plan to return America to a dark past.  Donald Trump and his extreme allies want to take our nation back to failed trickle-down economic policies —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — back to union busting —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — back to tax breaks for billionaires. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Donald Trump and his allies want to cut Medicare and Social Security —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — to stop student loan forgiveness for teachers and other public servants.  

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And I say to AFT: They even want to eliminate the Department of Education —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — and end Head Start —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — which, of course, would take away preschool from hundreds of thousands of our children. 

He intends to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill. 

And he intends to end the Affordable Care Act.  Now, think about that — to take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions.  Remember what that was like?  Children with asthma, women who survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes.

You know, America has tried these failed economic policies before.  But we are not going back.  We are not going back.  (Applause.) 

No, we will move forward.  And one of the best ways to keep our nation moving forward is to give workers a voice: to protect the freedom to organize — (applause); to defend the freedom to collectively bargain — (applause); to end union busting.  (Applause.)

As head of the White House Labor Task Force, I have led our work to eliminate barriers to organizing in both public and private sectors, including for teachers.  But there is more that we must do. 

President Joe Biden and I promised to sign the PRO Act into law, and I promise you I will keep that promise.  (Applause.)  Because when workers join together and demand what is fair, everyone is better off. 

Understand — and I — I say this everywhere I go — understand: You may not be in a union member, but you should thank unions — and I’m looking to the cameras in the back of the room — (laughter) — not them, but the people who might be watching.  You may not be a union member, but thank unions for the five-day workweek — (applause); for the eight-hour workday.    Thank unions for sick leave and paid family leave and vacation time.  (Applause.)

Because the fact is unions helped build America’s middle class.  (Applause.)  And when unions are strong, America is strong.  (Applause.)

So, AFT, ours is a fight for the future.  And ours is a fight for freedom. 

In this moment, across our nation, we witness a full-on attack on hard-won, hard-fought freedoms. 

While you teach students about democracy and representative government, extremists attack the sacred freedom to vote. 

While you try to create safe and welcoming places where our children can learn, extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence.  They have the nerve to tell teachers to strap on a gun in the classroom — 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — while they refuse to pass commonsense gun safety laws.  (Applause.)

And while you to teach students about our nation’s past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation’s true and full history — (applause) — including book bans.  Book bans in this year of our Lord 2024. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  You tell them, President Harris!  (Applause.) 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And on these last two issues — on these a- — last two issues, just think about it.  So, we want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Can you imagine?

All the while, these extremists also attack the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.  (Applause.)  They pass so-called “Don’t Say Gay” laws. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Now, I have to tell you, so many of you may know, in 2004, on Valentine’s Day weekend, I was one of the first elected officials in the country to perform same-sex marriages.  (Applause.) 

So, here’s the thing: It pains me so to think 20 years later that there are some young teachers in their 20s who are afraid to put up a photograph of themselves and their partner for fear they could lose their job. 

And what is their job?  The most noble of work, teaching other people’s children.  And God knows we don’t pay you enough as it is.  (Applause.)  

In this moment, we are in a fight for our most fundamental freedoms.  And to this room of leaders, I say: Bring it on.  (Applause.)  Bring it on.  Bring it on. 

AUDIENCE:  Bring it on!  Bring it on!  Bring it on!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Bring it on.  That’s right. 

Because here is the thing.  Here is the thing.  Here is the thing.  We believe in our country, we believe in its promise of freedom, and the American people believe in the promise of freedom.  So, we are in the fight. 

We who believe in the freedom to vote will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.  (Applause.)  

We who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence will pass an assault weapons ban.  (Applause.)

We who believe that every American should be free from bigotry and hate will fight to protect our teachers and our students from discrimination — (applause) — and make sure every student can learn America’s history.  (Applause.) 

And we who believe in reproductive freedom will restore the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not to have her government telling her what to do.  (Applause.)

So, AFT —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Bring it on!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That’s right.  Bring it on.  (Laughs.)

So, ultimately, in this moment, I know we all know, we each in our country face a question.  That question being: What kind of country do we want to live in — a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?

The beauty of our democracy is that we each have the power to answer that question when we vote.  And when we vote, we make our voices heard.  (Applause.)  

So, today I ask you, AFT: 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 —

AUDIENCE:  We win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — we win. 

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

END                10:50 A.M. CDT