Kamala Harris in Democratic Primary Debates and news
On Jobs:
Require "equal pay certification" for government contracts
Harris is vowing to "flip the script and finally hold corporations accountable for pay inequality in America." To narrow gender pay disparities, she says she wants to leverage the power of the public purse by
requiring corporations to obtain an "equal pay certification" before they can gain lucrative government contracts.
Source: The Nation magazine on 2019 Democratic primary
Nov 19, 2019
On Tax Reform:
Higher tax on wealthy to fund Medicare-for-All & teacher pay
The Harris version of Medicare for All would rest on much the same tax-the-rich moves the Sanders plan suggests. But she would limit her plan's premium fee to households making over $100,000 a year.
To fund a $315 billion plan to raise teacher salaries, she calls for strengthening the estate tax and cracking down on loopholes that let our wealthy avoid taxes on "estates worth multiple millions or billions."
Source: The Nation magazine on 2019 Democratic primary
Nov 19, 2019
On Education:
Files bill to keep schools open until 6 pm to help parents
Harris has introduced legislation meant to keep many U.S. schools open until 6 p.m. In most public schools around the country, the school day starts around 8 a.m. and ends at about 3 p.m. This poses a problem for parents who work 9-to-5 jobs and can't
afford to pay for childcare between the time their kids get off school and they get off work. The Family Friendly Schools Act would create a pilot program in 500 elementary schools -- mainly those in low-income areas -- across the country.
Source: WorldNetDaily on 2019 Democratic primary
Nov 6, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Shouldn't sell/lease public land for drilling
Q: How do you plan to support already at-risk and marginalized people who are experiencing the impact of climate change now? HARRIS: Ultimately, it's about empowering communities that are often ignored. All of those communities have been
disproportionately impacted by the change that we are seeing in our climate, not to mention the kind of behaviors by the fossil fuel industry that have been about pollution, about dumping and all that.
It should be our responsibility to make sure that we leverage the incredible power we have in a way that is about empowering the communities that have been long overlooked and ignored.
Q: What about public lands?
HARRIS: We should not be selling or leasing public land for the purposes of drilling. One of my greatest priorities on this subject will be about preservation of public lands.
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Environment:
Take on interests with profit motive to pollute
Leaders have to lead. I'm prepared to do it, because, on this issue, it's not a question of debating the science. It's a question of taking on powerful interests, taking on the polluters, understanding that they have a profit motive to pollute.
Let's take them to court. Let's require that, if they don't change their behaviors, they will pay those fines and there will be accountability and consequences.
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Crime:
FactCheck: Denied DNA evidence in 1980s; backtracked in 2018
The attack: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Kamala Harris "blocked evidence from being revealed that would have freed an innocent man from Death Row until the courts forced her to do so."The context: Gabbard is referring to the case of
Kevin Cooper, a Death Row inmate convicted of quadruple murder in 1983. Harris, during her tenure as attorney general, declined to use advanced DNA testing in the widely publicized case.
Last year, after the New York Times published an investigative piece on Cooper's case, then-Sen. Harris backtracked, saying, "I feel awful about this," and that she
hoped the governor would order the testing. In February, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered new tests. The results are pending.
Source: S.F.Chronicle FactCheck: July 2019 Democratic Primary debate
Jul 31, 2019
On Crime:
I chose the unpopular thing to NOT seek the death penalty
[Harris said during the debate]: "My entire career I have been personally opposed to the death penalty and that has never changed. And I dare anybody who is in a position to make that decision, to face the people I have faced to say I will not seek the
death penalty. That is my background; that is my work. When I was in the position of having to decide whether or not to seek a death penalty on cases I prosecuted, I made a very difficult decision that was not popular to not seek the death penalty."
[Is that true? FactCheck by Vox.com:]
In 2004, as district attorney of San Francisco, she refused to seek the death penalty against a man convicted of shooting police officer Isaac Espinoza. She faced opposition from fellow Democrats; Sen. Dianne
Feinstein called for the death penalty at the officer's funeral. But Harris didn't budge--an act of principle that cost her key political allies (as she received almost no support from police groups during her first run for attorney general in 2010).
Source: Vox.com FactCheck on July 2019 Democratic Primary debate
Jul 31, 2019
On Education:
FactCheck: Did not desegregate LA and SF school districts
The attack: V.P. Joe Biden said that when Harris was attorney general "there were two of the most segregated school districts in the country, in Los Angeles and in San Francisco. And I didn't see a single solitary time she brought a case against them to
desegregate them."The context: Yes, both districts have struggled to better integrate. But it was difficult -- and highly unusual -- for a state attorney general at that time to file suit to desegregate a school, said [a California schools expert].
A series of federal court decisions in the mid-1990s made it much tougher to bring desegregation lawsuits. Few state attorneys general even try. "There was nothing she could really do in San Francisco to force the district to use race-conscious
efforts to desegregate the schools. The legal standard would be very difficult to prove," the expert said. "San Francisco has tried a lot of different things to make less segregated schools -- it's just a very difficult thing to do."
Source: S.F.Chronicle FactCheck: July 2019 Democratic Primary debate
Jul 31, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for
African-Americans. "When I am elected president, I will sign that bill." Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told Sharpton.
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Domestic terrorism as national security priority
Harris pledged to double the size of the civil rights division of the Justice Department: "Justice means recognizing
domestic terrorism, including white nationalist extremism," which Harris said "should be considered a national security priority."
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
On Abortion:
Investigated of anti-choice activist for violating law
United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council released the following statement as anti-choice groups increased their attacks on Harris for investigating potentially criminal acts by anti-choice agitator David Daleiden:"Harris is doing
her job to ensure those who break the law in their efforts to take away women's reproductive freedom are brought to justice. The hypocrisy from anti-choice groups who are protesting this investigation is astounding."
Source: UFCW Union press release on 2019 Democratic Primary
Apr 13, 2016
On Technology:
Warns mobile app companies to protect privacy or face fines
Harris has started to warn scores of companies that their mobile applications or "apps" violate California privacy law and could face fines of up to $2,500 each time one is downloaded. Harris announced an agreement with the apps platforms that
allows consumers the opportunity to review an app's privacy policy before they download the app rather than after, and offers consumers a consistent location for an app's privacy policy on the application-download screen in the platform store.
Source: Consumer Watchdog blog on 2019 Democratic Primary
Jul 2, 2013
On Immigration:
Rejected Secure Communities program against undocumented
Harris recently announced that local and state police agencies are no longer obligated to follow the federal program known as Secure Communities. Secure Communities forces local police to double as federal authorities when they come into contact with
undocumented immigrants, requiring them to collect fingerprints and then hold immigrants until federal agents can pick them up. The program is only supposed to net serious criminals--but in reality casts a much wider net.
Source: AmericasVoice.org blog on 2019 Democratic Primary
Dec 11, 2012
On Technology:
Unit to prevent misuse of technology to invade privacy
On privacy: "The Privacy Unit will police the privacy practices of individuals and organizations to hold accountable those who misuse technology to invade the privacy of others," according to Harris. The Department's press release explained, "The
Privacy Unit's mission to enforce and protect privacy is broad. It will enforce laws regulating the collection, retention, disclosure, and destruction of private or sensitive information by individuals, organizations, and the government.
Source: Marketing Research blog on 2019 Democratic Primary
Jul 23, 2012
On Crime:
Learn from public health model and focus on prevention
On prevention: "There seem to be two positions for DAs and AGs to take: tough on crime and soft on crime. I believe there's a third way forward: smart on crime," Harris told the audience about her efforts to address the state's revolving-door
prison system--a system so dysfunctional that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the prison population be drastically reduced by 2013. "We need to learn from the public health model and focus on prevention," Harris said.
Source: Stanford Law School press release on 2019 Democratic Primary
Oct 31, 2011
Page last updated: Mar 14, 2021