FILE – Vice President Kamala Harris, left, sitting next to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, right, speaks during an event in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, on June 30, 2021, with cabinet officials and governors from Western states to discuss drought and wildfires. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
SRDTF News
UPDATED 1:45 PM PT – Monday, January 24, 2022
Kamala Harris traveled to Southern California, but seemingly ignored the nearby Tijuana border and other pressing issues.
During a press conference in San Bernardino Friday, Harris spoke about federal relief for wildfire recovery efforts. In typical fashion she shared her personal experiences and how she dealt with wildfires as well as droughts in her childhood before pandering to firefighters.
“The extraordinary courage of these firefighters is the kind of courage that includes them fighting fires while they are aware that their own home may be burning,” she stated. “I’ve met firefighters who are fighting fires while their own home was burning.”
This comes as Harris has supported coronavirus vaccine mandates for first responders, which for many firefighters has threatened to end their careers. This fact that was glossed over with an announcement of federal funding for the state.
“So today we are announcing, as the secretary mentioned, $48 million for an approach to the country that is really about making forest healthier and safer,” Kamala announced. “And it is focused on what we need to do to be resilient to wildfires and to deal with what we can do to support communities in terms of their resilience.”
While tens-of-millions of dollars are going to fire prevention, Northern California congressional members have said that there’s a delay from the federal government for the wildfire victims to get their financial claims because of issues deciphering tax codes.
Harris was also joined by Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom who politicized environmental issues by comparing his experiences with the Trump and Biden administration.
“It was a different place when we were battling it out with the White House that was cutting budgets, reducing investments in forest and vegetation management that was quite intent on having a public debate, a national debate,” said Newsom. “And I don’t mean this as a pejorative, I mean this quite sincerely around raking. Finger pointing. Not, you know, holding up the burden of responsibility.”
Welcome back to CA, @VP!
Grateful for the support of the federal government as we make historic investments to protect our communities and forests against the increasing threats of wildfires, drought, and climate change. pic.twitter.com/w7YBA4JooW
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 22, 2022
Harris will reportedly visit Los Angeles before traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Monday. Yet, while she has the time to fly zig-zag across the country, the so-called border czar failed to visit the border roughly 100-miles away. GOP lawmakers have been critical of Harris’ unwillingness to address the unprecedented flow of illegals allowing more than 2 million immigrants to breach the U.S. border in 2021.