Vice President Kamala Harris — Resources
Updated Tuesday 9/10/24 at 8:50 pm EST
President Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him. Below is a list of VP Harris’ qualifications and accomplishments.
Kamala Harris’ qualifications:
Vice President of the United States (2021 - Present)
President of the US Senate (2021 - Present)
United States Senator (2017 - 2021)
Attorney General of California (2011 - 2017)
District Attorney of San Francisco (2004 - 2011)
Family and Children's Services Division Lead at San Francisco City Hall (2000 - 2003)
Assistant District Attorney — San Francisco (1998 - 2000)
Deputy District Attorney — Alameda County
Law degree — University of California Hastings College of Law
Undergraduate degree — Economics & Political Science — Howard University
Click each section to see some of VP Harris’ accomplishments:
Taking on Big Banks
Kamala Harris won a massive $20 Billion settle for California homeowners
Kamala Harris fought for homeowners during the mortgage crisis — and won
As Senator, Kamala Harris fought against Trump’s questionable banking practices
Kamala Harris has a long history of standing up to big banks that try to take advantage of Americans
Safe and Affordable Housing
Senator Kamala Harris teamed up with Rep Waters to fight for affordable housing
Senator Kamala Harris repeatedly introduced bills to help Americans with the rising cost of rent
Vice President Kamala Harris is actively helping to expand and increase affordable housing
Kamala Harris has consistently worked to improve housing safety
Immigration Policy
“I’ve worked with many elected officials and heard many promises, but this was the first time I heard an elected official show up and be there and not shy away after their race was over. [Kamala Harris] has been checking in with immigrant rights groups regularly.”
-Polo Morales, political director for The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Senator Kamala Harris was the first Senate Democrat to announce she would vote against any spending deal that did not include a DACA fix, setting the bar for other Democrats
Senator Kamala Harris kept DACA recipients front and center and successfully pushed the Democratic Party to do the same
The first bill Kamala Harris introduced in Congress was the Access to Counsel Act, to ensure basic legal and human rights protections for people detained at the border
Senator Kamala Harris led the fight to prevent John Kelly from becoming Trump’s Department of Homeland Security Director
In 2017, the membership director at United We Dream (the biggest DREAMer advocacy organization) said that Senator Kamala Harris “is modeling the kind of leadership we should expect from other Democrats…I see her as our new emerging champion in the Senate.”
Attorney General Kamala Harris regularly connected legislators with immigrants and immigration nonprofits
Attorney General Kamala Harris crafted legislation that put millions of dollars into legal services for the refugees of the child migrant crisis
Attorney General Kamala Harris personally met with many immigrants to learn about their experiences and their struggles
Attorney General Kamala Harris “personally helped write California’s brief in US vs. Texas, the case over the constitutionality of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program that made it to the Supreme Court”
Attorney General Kamala Harris made clear to California law enforcement “that they could not hold immigrants indefinitely”
As district attorney of San Francisco, Kamala Harris created free legal clinics in immigrant-heavy parts of the city
Kamala Harris “has a real-world understanding of how immigration policy intersects [with] criminal justice policy on the ground. This stuff is personal to her. She is an expert on the issue.”
-Daniel Suvor, who served for three years as Harris’s chief of policy in the AG’s office
“There’s been no new voice on this issue more electrifying than hers…Harris was the first Senate Democrat to say exactly what activists and those terrified by the threat of deportation for DACA recipients have been waiting to hear.”
-Ben Wikler, Washington director at MoveOn.org
Criminal Justice & Justice System Reform
Kamala Harris helped lead Senate Dems’ work to pass sweeping police reform bills after George Floyd's death
Kamala Harris has consistently pushed for transparency in policing, and led the first statewide agency in the country to use a policy body camera program
Kamala Harris introduced a bill to require the Department of Homeland Security to create pilot body camera programs for border patrol and immigration enforcement agents
Kamala Harris launched Back on Track, a reentry initiative aimed at reducing individuals returning to jail/prison
Attorney General Kamala Harris worked to stop people from ending up back in jail/prison
Kamala Harris developed the Bureau of Children’s Justice (BCJ) to support the legal rights of children
Kamala Harris worked with Rand Paul on a bipartisan bail reform bill
Kamala Harris teamed up with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Richard Durbin to introduce the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act
Kamala Harris joint sponsored a bill to make lynching a federal crime
As California Attorney General, Kamala Harris fought to increase transparency and decrease racial bias in the justice system
Kamala Harris launched and later expanded implicit bias police trainings
Prosecuting Human Trafficking & Drug Trafficking
Maternal Health
Vice President Kamala Harris launched the first-ever Maternal Health Day of Action
VP Harris has regularly worked to decrease maternal death rates and save mothers’ lives
Kamala Harris is fighting to end maternal health disparities and save Black moms’ lives
Abortion Rights & Reproductive Freedom
VP Kamala Harris leads the White House push for abortion rights and reproductive freedom
Kamala Harris fought for abortion rights in the US Senate
As Senator, Kamala Harris worked to oppose anti-abortion bills and judges
Lowering Prescription Drug Costs
As attorney general, Kamala Harris won several fights with big pharma over unlawful drug pricing and marketing practices.
Kamala Harris has a plan to lower national drug prices by authorizing the federal government to set the rates for certain prescription drugs.
Kamala Harris has stated that, if Congress fails to act to lower drug prices, she could use executive actions as president to launch an investigation into drug makers who sell medications at lower prices in comparable developed countries or increase their prices faster than inflation.
Harris Cosponsored the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act
“The Biden-Harris administration has been by far the strongest yet in challenging outrageous drug prices and starting the country down a long road toward medicine affordability.” -Peter Maybarduk, director of the access to medicines program at Public Citizen
Health Care
As California Attorney General, Kamala Harris fought to lower medical costs
Attorney General Kamala Harris shut down scam health care websites
Kamala Harris has consistently fought to tackle the Opioid Crisis
Kamala Harris works to address health disparities
Kamala Harris fights for accessible, affordable health care
Kamala Harris is supports 6 months paid family & medical leave
Mental Health Care
Lowering Costs for Workers & Families
VP Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act
VP Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to expand the child tax credit through the American Rescue Plan, and has advocated for it across the country ever since
As Senator, Kamala Harris consistently fought for tax credits for low and middle-income workers
VP Harris recently announced a new rule to prohibit medical bills from being included on credit reports
See also: Lowering Prescription Drug Costs
Good Jobs & a Living Wage
In the Senate, Kamala introduced the 21st Century SKILLS Act to connect unemployed, dislocated, or underemployed workers with skills training, union apprenticeships, and other educational opportunities.
For years, Kamala Harris has actively supported raising the federal minimum wage
Standing with Workers & Unions
As Attorney General, Kamala Harris won settlements with companies that mistreated workers
As Senator, Kamala Harris introduced and fought to create a “domestic workers’ bill of rights”
VP Kamala Harris helped lead the push for more unionized federal workers
Kamala Harris fights for farm workers and food service workers
Senator Harris repeatedly introduced legislation to provide overtime pay for farmworkers
Kamala Harris consistently shows up to labor protests, stands with workers, and supports efforts to unionize
VP Kamala Harris chairs the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
As Attorney General, Kamala Harris worked with the U.S. Department of Labor to combat wage theft
Kamala Harris has a clear, longstanding record of standing with unions and workers
Combating Hunger & Supporting Farm Workers
Senator Kamala Harris fought to feed low-income kids and seniors
Senator Kamala Harris worked to feed American families impacted by the pandemic
Senator Kamala Harris has consistently worked to feed students
Kamala fights to support the people who provide our food
Senator Harris repeatedly introduced legislation to provide overtime pay for farmworkers
Environment, Energy, & Climate Justice
As California AG, Kamala Harris Took a Political Risk to Fight Climate Change
Attorney General Kamala Harris prosecuted polluters in California
Kamala Harris helped secure funds for clean and renewable energy
Kamala Harris helped secure funding to fix wildfire damage and prevent future wildfires
Kamala Harris helped secure funding for drought resistance
Kamala Harris teamed up with Cory Booker & Tammy Duckworth to fight for climate justice
Kamala Harris is working to address climate change
Clean Water
“[Harris] has introduced water legislation that emphasizes racial and economic justice and would provide…federal funding that will be necessary to provide safe, affordable drinking water for all.” -Mary Grant, Food & Water Watch’s Public Water for All campaign director
Kamala Harris has consistently championed lead pipe removal projects
Kamala Harris pushed for a comprehensive investment to keep water affordable as part of the coronavirus relief package
Kamala Harris worked with experts to introduce and champion several water quality bills
Broadband Internet
VP Harris helped secure high-speed broadband internet access for millions of American households
VP Harris helped expand high-speed broadband internet access for rural Americans
Elder Care & Support for Seniors
Kamala Harris fought hard against Trump’s Plans To Slash Medicare and Medicaid
Senator Kamala Harris joint sponsored legislation to expand Social Security benefits and “strengthen the retirement program for generations to come.”
Attorney General Kamala Harris fought to stop elder abuse
Kamala Harris Cosponsored Legislation To Block The Expansion Of “Junk” Insurance Plans
“Senator Harris has supported expanding Medicare and doing so in a way that maintains choice for beneficiaries among plan options, which resonates with Vice President Biden’s proposal to give individuals age 60 and above the option of enrolling in Medicare and offering a public option more broadly.”-Dr. Zirui Song of the department of health care policy at Harvard Medical School in Boston
Video: Caregivers for Kamala
Kamala Harris: A Tireless Champion For Health Care
LGBTQ+ Rights
Kamala Harris led the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in California
Kamala Harris fought to stop hate crimes against LGBTQ+ youth
Kamala Harris abolished gay & transgender “panic defenses in criminal trials
Attorney General Kamala Harris officiated the first same-sex marriages in California after Prop 8 fell
Kamala Harris has taken a lead role in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights as Vice President
President Biden has honored Kamala Harris’ work on marriage equality
Gun Safety
Education
Kamala Harris held predatory for-profit schools accountable
Kamala Harris secured funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
Kamala Harris fought to expand access to STEM
Kamala Harris helped secure funding for new and improved school buses
Kamala Harris is working to stop banks from taking advantage of student borrowers
Kamala Harris fights for low-income students
Kamala Harris supported educator strikes in Los Angeles and in Oakland, California
Kamala Harris has consistently fought for students
Kamala Harris has consistently fought for teachers
Democracy & Functioning Government
VP Kamala Harris has cast 33 tie-breaking votes in the US Senate, often to confirm key judicial and commission nominees to keep government systems functioning smoothly
California Attorney General Kamala Harris fought for transparency in politics by attempting to make the Koch brothers reveal the names of donors who contributed more than $5,000 to their Americans for Prosperity Foundation.
Kamala Harris regularly speaks out for women in government
As Vice President, Kamala Harris has stood up for democracy “at home and abroad”
Voting Rights
Kamala Harris fought for voting rights as a US Senator
VP Kamala Harris is leading the White House fight for voting rights
Kamala Harris is working to ensure all Americans can exercise their right to vote
Supporting Military Veterans
Foreign Policy
Kamala Harris has repeatedly called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza
Kamala Harris has been working behind the scenes and publicly to demand more humanitarian aid in Gaza
Kamala Harris has consistently been critical of Israeli government while supportive of Israeli citizens
VP Kamala Harris has repeatedly met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and consistently pushes for continued US support of Ukraine
Kamala Harris launched and ran the “Central America Forward” Initiative
Kamala Harris traveled to Singapore and Vietnam in 2021 to strengthen relationships and expand economic cooperation
See also: Kamala Harris’ extensive policy experience on immigration
Marijuana Policy
Kamala is working to decriminalize and legalize marijuana
Transportation
Kamala Harris recognized California’s transportation struggles and fought to fund improvements
Kamala Harris understood before many politicians that mobility is a human rights issue — and leaders must be bold in addressing it
Additional Work & Wins
Kamala Harris works to support Indigenous communities
VP Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass COVID relief for Americans
Kamala Harris chaired the National Space Council