Kamala Harris visited her hometown of Oakland for the first time since becoming vice president. While love was in the air at speeches made across the Bay Area on Monday, Harris used the backdrop of the working-class East Bay to tout President Biden's $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, the administration's latest "go big" package before Congress.
But the trip was also a homecoming — the sense of hometown pride was everywhere, starting with Oakland Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee, one of three state officials who greeted Harris at Oakland International Airport when Air Force Two touched down Monday morning.
“This is a historic day,” Lee said at a visit later in the morning at Red Door Catering, a woman-owned catering business in Oakland. “It is so exciting for all of us, and I'm so proud and excited to welcome our vice president back home."
Harris returned the love saying several times, "It is great to be in Oakland and to be home." Speaking at the East Bay Municipal Utility District's Upper San Leandro Water Treatment Plant, Harris noted that she and her mother had lived not too far from the plant when she was growing up.
Harris was joined at the water treatment plant by Gov. Gavin Newsom. "He and I have worked together for a long time,” Harris said. The governor, not usually known for his brevity, made only short remarks in deference to Harris.
"This Recovery Act, this American Recovery Act, this infrastructure effort is ... a game-changer to complement the efforts that are happening at the local level to address the needs here in the East Bay, a system that was designed in the 1930s that needs investment, needs an upgrade,” Newsom said.