VP Kamala Harris, Gov. Cooper discuss reproductive rights in Charlotte

I learned that it was an opportunity with Queens University

with Queens University I became a digital navigator to help

out the Center of Digital Equity

Yeah

in that in that role I received tickets from community

members that call 311 Looking for assistance for their digital

needs

Not only do I assist them I am also a

recipient of that as well so that so when assisting

customers

thank you thank you

So when assistant community members I also let them know

that I received the service as well and that we

are in this together

being able to receive the A

C

P

Benefit has allowed me to work from home like a

lot of us do

It's also allowed me to pay my bills go to

school online banking and to have video conferencing with family

and friends

Okay

I'm also able to get information from the internet within

seconds all of the all of those things would have

been much harder without the benefit

Thanks to the recent push by the federal government promoting

the affordable connectivity program

Our digital navigator service has seen an increase in the

residence researching and looking out for help

I know firsthand that those residents are able to sign

up it will now be able to benefit and have

a better opportunity fully participating in our modern day society

I'm grateful to you madam

Vice president for coming to charlotte today and driving the

increased attention on this issue myself and our digital navigator

team stand ready to help each residence from across the

community to connect with the incredible program

Ladies and gentlemen

it is now my pleasure to present to you Vice

president of the United States kamala Harris

alright can we hear from Miss Tiffany

Well good afternoon charlotte it's so good to be back

Good afternoon you know Miss Tiffany and I were talking

in the back and I said you know the president

who I'm going to speak of in a moment the

president I talked to him this morning I told him

I was on my way here and he said tell

everybody hello and and he knew why I was here

which is to talk about what we are doing to

connect folks to high speed internet and the work that

we're doing in Washington D

C

The work that we are doing in terms of the

policy work it's not real until it hits the streets

it's not real until real people have the ability to

take advantage of what we hope will help them and

uplift their lives and the connectivity if you will between

what we do in Washington D

C

And it hitting the streets of charlotte are people like

Miss Tiffany so she makes all the difference so again

can we please applaud her please applaud her And before

I begin I do want to speak about our incredible

president joe biden um this morning he and i spoke

by phone he is in good spirits he is feeling

well he is doing well he is fully vaccinated and

twice boosted and of course he is and um as

everyone we we who would encourage who was eligible would

do the same and um he was working from the

White House residents and when we spoke he was very

pleased as I said that we were all here together

today talking about the work our administration is doing on

behalf of parents and working families and all who deserve

to be seen and heard

So with that it is good to be with everyone

today

The great Governor Roy Cooper where is Roy He was

here earlier he's been with me all that

He's been with me all morning

Met me on the tarmac

I have to tell you Roy Cooper is extraordinary because

there's so much about we are doing that is about

getting these resources to folks but we cannot do it

if there's not a governor in place who takes seriously

the importance of the partnership to make sure that they

don't let anything get in the way of the services

and resources getting to the people of the state

So I really do think Governor Roy Cooper for all

that he has done if we can applaud him please

And Governor Cooper and I were most recently together at

the White House highlighting the jobs that have been created

under his leadership here in north Carolina through the american

rescue plan

So I thank him of course for all the action

he has taken to get folks online

Um I also want to recognize the leaders of the

National Telecommunications and Information Administration for your work advancing our

administration's efforts to ensure internet for all and thank you

to all of the leaders who are here today including

of course the advocates and the organizers who have fought

so long to connect our communities

So I will begin with a simple and obvious truth

In the 21st century high speed internet is not a

luxury

It is a necessity

It's as basic as is what we have come to

accept over generations how electricity is a necessity

Same point students use the internet for so many reasons

that are in pursuit of their education including to attend

virtual classes workers use the internet to find jobs and

receive training

Seniors use the internet to see a doctor without leaving

their home for so many of us

The internet is an essential part of our daily lives

And yet More than 30 million people in our country

still do not have access to high speed internet

Think about that

It's a lot of folks and millions more cannot afford

the cost of a high speed plan

Every person in our nation no matter how much they

earn should be able to afford a high speed internet

plan

So last year our administration invested $65 billion dollars through

the bipartisan infrastructure law to help connect every household in

our country with affordable high speed internet and to lower

monthly internet bills For 10s of Americans through an initiative

that we're here to talk about today called the affordable

connectivity program

So this program provides working families with up to $30

a month off of their Internet bill Or $75 a

month for those living on tribal lands

And it also gives families a one time discount of

up to $100 to purchase a laptop a desktop computer

or a tablet

Because an internet connection is not much good if you

don't have a way to get online if you don't

actually have the technology that allows you to take advantage

of the service

So we have been working with Internet service providers to

make sure they offer plans for $30 or less a

month which means the vast majority of households eligible for

the affordable connectivity program can receive high speed internet without

paying a dime

So if you are eligible or even think you might

be eligible I'm gonna give you a website

Everybody get ready writing on your smartphone or pull out

a pen and paper please visit

The website is get internet dot gov

Get internet dot gov

And when you log on there you can check to

see if you qualify you can find a plan and

you can sign up the affordable connectivity program has already

done so much good Today

About 13 million people are enrolled and these are students

who can now study at their kitchen table instead of

in the parking lot of a local fast food restaurant

which is what so many of our students did especially

during the height of the pandemic because you see they

would take advantage of the internet accessibility from the fast

food restaurant by sitting in the parking lot

Think about it

The people who will benefit include parents who used to

rely on their cell phone data plan to connect the

whole family which can be incredibly expensive

And now those families can stream and search and study

on wifi for free

This includes women who need access to health care because

as many of you know this is an issue that

has been a priority of mine for a long time

The issue of maternal health and our nation is facing

a maternal mortality crisis

In fact black women are three times as likely to

die in our country from pregnancy related causes

Native american women are twice as likely to die

Rural women women who live in rural America are 1.5

times more likely to die and think about it For

many of the women who live in rural communities they

also live in maternal care deserts which means they lack

access to help providers and facilities but with high speed

internet connection and through telehealth

These women can access lifesaving maternal care

Among the other 13 million people who have benefited from

our program

They're also folks who are the entrepreneurs in our communities

folks who always wanted to start a business online and

and work from home but could never afford internet access

to do so until now here's what it comes down

to

We created this program because we know when we connect

folks with high speed internet it is also a connection

to opportunity the opportunity to live a healthier happier and

more prosperous life and importantly more affordable lives every month

The affordable connectivity program saves working families over a quarter

billion dollars

And it is important for so many reasons including including

our larger fight to make sure that we do everything

and the president and I feel very strongly about this

to bring down the cost for lower and lower the

cost for working families

So we expanded the child tax credit which lifted millions

of Children out of poverty last year and we passed

a tax cut To give parents up to $8000 for

child care so they will have more room in their

pockets to buy food and medication and school supplies for

their Children

And we are fighting to pass legislation to lower the

price of prescription drugs and health care and child care

and so much more

Today we are in charlotte because we need your help

We know that when we hold events like this more

people sign up but it takes the support of leaders

like you in this room to sustain that momentum

So we need your help

And that's why I'm here to ask you like Miss

Tiffany we're gonna look at her as a role model

for this to help us spread the word

Think about it

Talk to everybody who comes over for sunday dinner at

little League games at work at school in your neighborhood

Talk with folks about what is available to them that

they may not otherwise know but can be a huge

help for everything that is about their daily lives and

obligations

And we need community and faith based organizations to help

people fill out their applications

There is an application

It's not too detailed

It's not too complicated but folks might need an extra

hand

So please offer to help them fill out the application

as well

And we need state and local governments to drive enrollment

every way they know how I know that Governor cooper

is already hard at work on this front

The partnership between the leaders here today is essential

So again I'm here to ask you to help spread

the word to let people know what is available to

them and like Tiffany's story

When we see people take advantage of it

We see so much good that is not only about

that individual but truly is about their family and the

community as a whole

So thank you all of you for all that you

have done to help connect the people of our nation

with a better future

And I'd look forward to seeing you all again soon

God bless you and God bless the United States of

America

Thank you

Yeah

Mhm

Yeah

Yeah