A quick, and growing, list of achievements from President Biden and Vice President Harris. A more detailed and wordy version of this list, with sources, is to be found here.

First year of Biden/Harris administration

– Invoked Defense Production Act for COVID vaccines and distribution
– Passed American Rescue Plan, which cut child poverty in half
– Established Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force
– Rejoined the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords
– Convened the first virtual Summit for Democracy (including 110 countries)
– Largest human airlift in US history (100,000 people) in Afghanistan
– Worked with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to counter aggression from Russia, even before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
– Executive orders in Biden’s first 100 days as President, including reversals of Trump policies. (Here’s an up-to-date list.)

Major Legislation

American Rescue Plan — signed March 2021
– White House Fact Sheet (pdf)
– May, 2022: Detailed one-year report, “Advancing Equity through the American Rescue Plan” (pdf, 300 pp.)

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law / Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (BIL or IIJA, Public Law 117-58) — signed November 15, 2021

Lists and Maps for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:
– A sampling of BIL-funded infrastructure projects from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT)
– BIL State Fact Sheets (also linked within the USDOT sampler), including links for US territories and Tribal lands
– General map with BIL project examples from all 50 states plus US territories

CHIPS and Science Act — signed August 9, 2022
– White House Fact Sheet
– One-year anniversary article from the Department of Energy
– ALL the BIL and CHiPS projects

Inflation Reduction Act — signed August 16, 2022
– White House statement of the ways the Inflation Reduction Act impacts Americans “by the numbers”

Vice President Kamala Harris

– Harris has met with 150+ world leaders, including diplomatic work in the IndoPacific, Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.
– Diplomacy with Central American leaders and with Mexican president about border issues
– Commitment to support economic opportunity and growth in Central America
– Point person for gun safety legislation
– Point person for reproductive rights, including 2024 “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
– Point person for Maternal health
– Long history of support for LGBTQ+ issues
– Ongoing support for Civil Rights and racial equity
– Point person for protecting the vote
– Strong focus on young people, including Nationwide “Fight for Our Freedoms” College Tour

Remarks by Vice President Harris at the Annual Retreat of the Women’s Missionary Society of the 7th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/6/24

Some articles about Harris:
HCBU Pulse, March 3, 2023: “Kamala Harris’s Accomplishments As The 49th Vice President Of The United States”
Daily Beast, August 12, 2023: “It’s Time to Give Kamala Harris Her Due”
American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara, August 21, 2023: “In Case You Missed It: She’s been Everywhere”
DAME Magazine, October 12, 2023: “The Media Has a Real Thing Against VP Kamala Harris”

Economy

Some numbers
Minimum wage increased in nearly half of U.S. states (by 1/2/24)
Unemployment fell yet again, to 3.4%, matching a rate not seen since 1969. (May 2023)
Inflation continues to fall, gas prices coming down (12/22/23)

Workers’ Rights
– Supported successful autoworkers’ strike, joining a picket line in Detroit, MI.
– Visited auto plant in Belvidere, IL, which had reopened as part of the strike settlement.

Inflation vs. corporate profits
– Pushed back on corporate profiteering, including cracking down on the practice of so-called junk fees: unexpected hidden costs for air travel, car rentals, credit cards, cable television, ticket sales, and so on.

Student loans
Sweeping student loan relief was blocked by the Supreme Court.
However, Biden continued to work for relief for thousands by enforcing existing laws.

Supply Chains
– Signed supply chain agreement with 13 countries in the Indo-Pacific to anticipate bottlenecks.
– Announced nearly 30 new actions to strengthen the country’s supply chains.

Diplomacy Within our Borders

Biden has hosted three Tribal Nations Summits at the White House, announcing new Native American Initiatives.
Tribal interests have also been specifically included in multiple other policies.

Foreign Policy

US Border policies
– Investment in Central American Countries to reduce need to flee (See above under Harris)
– Bipartisan proposals to improve the situation at the border blocked by extremists in Congress.

Diplomacy abroad
– Responded to Russian invasion of Ukraine in military, diplomatic, and financial ways.
– Helped to end the war in Yemen
– Responded to Hamas’ attack on Israel on 10/7/23 and Israel’s retaliation on Gaza with some unbalanced messaging, but worked pragmatically and consistently to urge restraint, allow for humanitarian aid and pauses, and limit the engagement of surrounding nations.
– Improved economic relationships with China and other Pacific Rim nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco.

Meanwhile…Republican plans for the country

In contrast, here are some of the Republicans’ explicit, actually stated plans if they win the presidency (some general, some specifically for Trump):
– Project 2025 (Wikipedia, not official project link)
– Climate and Environmental Policy
– Immigration
– Dictatorship
– Revenge
– Criminalization of Queer/Trans people by “declaring any and all LGBTQ content to be pornographic in nature”.

Getting out the Vote!

So. We have a lot of work to do. And we can do that work! As Vice President Kamala Harris said to members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on January 6, 2024, “at this moment in history, I say: Let us not throw up our hands when it’s time to roll up our sleeves. Because we were born for a time such as this.”

Again, here’s the longer version of this post.