Remarks by Vice President Harris After Air Force Two Arrival

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THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, about the hearings, I --

Q I wanted to ask you about January 6th --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yeah. So, here's what I'll say, that -- when we look at what happened that day, and then we've seen -- I've seen bits and pieces of the hearings in the last few days -- there -- without question, there was a clear erosion of some of the foundational aspects of our government and, therefore, our democracy.

You know, regardless of what party you register to vote with, regardless of who you voted for, I think we should all agree that there are certain rules and norms and standards that we, as Americans, should hold ourselves and leaders to -- and they were broken, at least for that moment, in that moment in time in the history of our con- -- of our country.

I think it should require all of us to be concerned about the fragility of our democracy, but also it should hopefully reinvigorate us to understand that the democracy of our country and our government is going to be as strong as we, the people, will be in demanding that we maintain its integrity.

That's how I feel about it.

Q Was there anything about the hearings that just -- that surprised you?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: You know, I -- I mean, I haven't been watching them closely. I will say that it seems that -- that most of what the hearings have covered, we have known but perhaps not at the degree or with the level of detail that the hearings have disclosed. So --

Q Can I ask you about abortion? Do you have --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Okay. One more, and then I'm going to --

Q I know you've been doing a lot of work with activists --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q What should American people expect from the administration, in terms of executive action, if Roe is overturned?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, let's first wait and see exactly what the Court does, because that'll give us a good idea of, frankly, what harm is going to result and -- but I have been convening folks around many sectors of just who we are as a society.

Most recently, I brought together some constitutional scholars around privacy issues, because we are very concerned that the privacy right that -- from which Roe v. Wade flows can also put at risk the right to contraception, the right to same-sex marriage.

We're -- we're very concerned about what a degradation of the right to privacy will mean, beyond the right to have access to an abortion.

So we're going to see. I've been convening -- I've convened faith leaders. And, you know, for those of us of faith, I think that we -- we agree, many of us, that there's nothing about this issue that will require anyone to abandon their faith or change their faith.

It's simply saying that the government should not have the ability to decide what an individual does with her own body. Let her make that decision with her pastor or her rabbi or whoever she consults. But it should not be the government making that decision.

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