VP HARRIS ANSWERS CRITICS ABOUT HER FAITH AND POSITIONS SUPPORT FOR ABORTION IN SPEECH TO BLACK CHRISTIANS

At the National Baptist Convention recently, Vice President Kamala Harris publicly identified as a Christian more openly than she has in past appearances. The vice president frequently used the words "we" and "our" when speaking to Black protestant voters at the largest Black church conference in the country, answering critics wo have doubted er relationship with God. Promoting faith in action she cited several examples (many of which were a apart of the Biden Administration's American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act legislation) of how she has continued the tradition of the Black church in practicing God's word in her duties as a political servant.

She beckoned conveners to hold on to the ideals of democracy in their Christian walk. Said Harris: "There's so much about what we have always stood for that has not been a fight against something, it has been a fight for something, fueled by our faith, fueled by optimism, and also fueled by empathy and enlightenment, driven by our love of country and a belief in the promise of our nation.

So let us, people of faith, continue to defend our democracy, continue to defend our liberty and our freedoms. Let us continue to fight to build a better future. And let us continue to have faith in God, in our country, and in each other, because together we will continue to usher in the dawn."

Mrs. Harris also took the opportunity to address the religiously delicate abortion issue saying women should be free to "make decisions about their own bodies" without interference from the government in lit of the reversal of Roe V. Wade.

Below arris describes how she has put her faith into practice in her professional life:

And there I learned — as so many of us did, I learned in the Bible of the many teachings about the ever-present tension between darkness and light, and I learned, in those moments, how important it is to recognize the power of faith.

Through the darkness, faith and our faith reminds us that we are not alone. Faith teaches us that a brighter future is always ahead and we must keep moving forward to realize that future and to move forward, simply put, I also learned and we all know: Faith requires action. So I was raised to live my faith. Marching for civil rights, my parents pushed me in a stroller.

That was faith in action. So was running for office for the very first time I ran, standing up in the name of the people as the first Black woman to be elected District Attorney of San Francisco and the first Black woman in the state of California to run for Attorney General and become the first Black woman to be elected Attorney General of California, where I ran the second-largest Department of Justice in the United States — second only to the United States Department of Justice.

Standing up as the second Black woman in the history of the United States Senate to be elected to the United States Senate, and then placing my hand, yes, on Justice Thurgood Marshall’s bible when I was sworn in as Vice President of the United States.

These were all, for me, acts of faith born out of being taught to believe in what is possible and what can be, unburdened by what has been.

For me and Pres. Biden, fait guides our work everyday."

Below are examples of ow the Biden adminstration is puttin fait into action according to Vice President Harris:

ON TAX CUTS/CREDITS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS

"Just think: In 2020, you lifted your voices. We said there must be better care for our children. And so, together, we extended the Child Tax Credit, which lifted nearly 40 percent of Black children out of poverty last year alone. (Applause.) We lifted our voices in 2020 and said we must support the families of our nation. And so, together, we passed a tax cut to give parents up to $8,000 for the cost of raising a child, more money to be able to buy food and medicine and school supplies for their children. (Applause.)

Together, remembering the lesson of Proverbs that “an intelligent heart acquires knowledge.” So we dedicated -- and I say this as a proud graduate of an HBCU -- we dedicated over $5.5 billion -- (applause) -- so that HBCUs remain centers of academic excellence in our nation.

And inspired by the aspiration in the Book of John that we all may prosper, we have invested billions more in community banks, understanding that our small businesses are leaders in our community, are the ones who are leaders in our churches, are the ones who are supporting the small league baseball and softball teams, are the mentors, are the ones that are hiring locally. And so we did that knowing we must invest in our Black and brown small-business owners so that they have more access to capital so they may thrive.


ON "HEALING THE SICK"
"Another issue: We are going to cap the cost of insulin for seniors to $35 a month. (Applause.) Black people in America are 60 percent more likely to have diabetes. And far too many of our seniors, in particular, with diabetes who cannot afford the insulin that a doctor has prescribed to help save their life are cutting their dosage, are getting sicker simply because they cannot afford lifesaving medication.

If we talk about what we must all do to help heal the sick, shouldn't we then agree that access to healthcare should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it? (Applause.)

And I'll share with you one of the background issues that's at play here that we are addressing: For years, the big pharmaceutical companies have been standing in the way. They've been putting profit as a priority and not allowing Medicare to negotiate on behalf of the millions of people that it represents.

Well, we finally gave Medicare the power to negotiate the price of prescription drugs on behalf of our seniors. (Applause.) And this will bring down costs of medication for millions of Americans.'

LOWERING THE TAX BURDEN ON WORKING CLASS AMERICANS

"When President Biden and I ran for office, we promised that we would not raise taxes on families making less than $400,000 a year. And we have kept that promise."

ON SAVING ON MDEICAL BILLS AND MEDICATION

"When people cannot afford their medical bills, they are less likely to seek the care they need. And we know what our churches do then to try and fill in the gaps, when Sunday morning we read about who needs support and help, what -- which of our elders might need a little extra something.

Well, the church has a role to play, but so does our government. Because we all here know God calls on us -- God calls on us to help heal the sick.

So, from our end, what we have done to reduce the cost of healthcare is to reduce the cost of health insurance by an average of $800 a year for millions of small-business owners, seniors, and middle-class Americans. (Applause.) Because when we are called to help heal the sick, this is the work we must do."