What’s Biden’s VP Pick Kamala Harris’ Record on Consumer Rights?

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has chosen U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.

Biden had been narrowing his choice down for several weeks, naming Harris, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Ill. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and several others as possible candidates, the BBC reported. 

However, one thing was clear from the start: The Biden VP choice was going to be a woman.

And after Harris’ own unsuccessful run at the presidential nomination earlier this year, many say she was the logical choice for Biden.

As CNN points out, Harris has a background in politics and has already been vetted on the national stage thanks to her own campaign.

At 55, she is quite a bit younger than Biden, who will be 78 on Inauguration Day.

The fact that she is from California is seen to be a plus, as well, because of the number of Democratic votes and donors in the state.

And she has also emerged as someone who will speak out on racial issues and police reform following the May death of George Floyd at the hands of police and the wave of protests that have persisted since, according to CNN.

Personal Background

Kamala Harris was born Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, Calif., to Indian cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan and Jamaican economist Donald Harris, according to Politico.

She grew up in a predominantly Black, lower-middle-class neighborhood and was bused to an elementary school in a predominantly white district during its second year of integration.

She attended a Black Baptist church as well as a Hindu temple, honoring both of her parents’ cultures. 

Harris has been married to Doug Emhoff, a Los Angeles corporate lawyer, since 2014. The couple has two children from Emhoff’s previous marriage, according to Women’s Health.

Harris’ Career

Kamala Harris is the second Black woman and first South Asian American senator in U.S. history, according to her Senate web page. 

She serves on a number of committees: the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on the Budget.

Harris earned her undergraduate degree at Howard University and her law degree at the University of California-Hastings before beginning her career at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

She became the district attorney for the city and county of San Francisco in 2003. After two terms there, she became the first Black woman and first woman elected as California’s attorney general.

Harris’ Record on Consumer Rights & Protection

While Kamala Harris has been praised by consumer advocates, her record on consumer protection issues is mixed.

As California attorney general, Harris played a role in securing a $25 billion settlement for homeowners in the state who had been affected by the 2008 foreclosure crisis, cementing her status as a consumer advocate, Politico reported.

Consumer advocates praised Harris for demanding more money from banks and backing stronger homeowner protections, even though thousands of people still lost their homes, Reuters reported.

And later, Harris championed a Homeowners Bill of Rights intended to help protect California consumers following the foreclosure crisis.

Though her stance on the issue has evolved, Harris has also taken up the cause of student loan debt forgiveness.

As California attorney general, her office sued Corinthian Colleges and brought down the company, which had allegedly led thousands of student loan borrowers to take on huge amounts of debt, according to Forbes. Since then, Harris has been a strong proponent of the Borrower Defense to Repayment program, which provides relief to borrowers defrauded by schools.

She has supported initiatives for free college tuition and, as a presidential candidate, proposed canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt for borrowers who established successful businesses in underserved communities.

Harris recently touted Biden’s Build Back Better plan, voicing her support for $10,000 in student loan forgiveness as a form of economic stimulus during the coronavirus pandemic and recession.

Harris’ stance on healthcare has been somewhat inconsistent, saying during one town hall that she supported the abolition of private health care, then later denying the statement and claiming to have misheard the question, Politico reported.

The healthcare plan she eventually released included private health insurance.

In another move to provide financial relief during the pandemic, Harris, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Ed Markey introduced a bill in May that would provide monthly payments of $2,000 to individuals making less than $120,000 annually, Newsweek reported. Married couples filing joint tax returns would receive $4,000, with additional $2,000 payments each for up to three children.

Harris has a history of being tough on online consumer privacy issues.

She got tough with mobile app developers and companies in 2012 when they were not in compliance with the law, giving them 30 days to “conspicuously” post privacy policies in their app alerting consumers to what personal data of theirs was being collected and what was being done with the information.

In 2014, she issued a series of recommendations to help businesses write transparent privacy policies following changes to California privacy law. 

More recently, Harris has criticized social media companies’ handling of political speech, hate speech and misinformation. However, she has not proposed any plans to address the criticized practices.

Harris On Social Justice Issues

Kamala Harris’ Senate web page touts her support for criminal justice reform, veterans and military families, marriage equality and other social justice issues.

However, once again, her record is mixed when it comes to social justice.

Harris generally has the support of the Democratic base when it comes to issues such as abortion rights, climate change initiatives, marriage equality, LGBTQ rights and citizenship for undocumented immigrants, Politico reported.

In 2004, Harris declined to pursue the death penalty for a man convicted of murdering San Francisco police officer Isaac Espinoza, according to Politico. Her decision was publicly criticized during Sen. Diane Feinstein’s eulogy at Espinoza’s funeral, which drew a standing ovation from the officers in attendance.

But Harris later declined to support two California ballot initiatives that would have banned the death penalty, leading to accusations of inconsistency on this major issue.

During her time as San Francisco district attorney, Harris came under fire for failing to inform defense attorneys after a technician stole cocaine from the DA crime lab. Her attempt to keep the transgression a secret resulted in about 1,000 drug-related cases being thrown out, according to Politico.

Harris was among the most vocal opponents speaking out against President Donald Trump’s policy of separating children and parents at the southern U.S. border, Politico reported. She participated in protests at immigration shelters and advocated for more detention center oversight, eventually calling for the resignation of then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen over the family separations and detainment of pregnant women.

Her record is also mixed when it comes to police brutality and accountability.

As attorney general, she created Open Justice, which is an online platform making criminal justice data publicly available, Politico reported. Open Justice led to improved police accountability through the collection of data on the number of deaths and injuries of those being held in police custody.

And during her presidential run, Harris said she would eliminate private prisons and mandatory minimum sentencing as a means of reaching the larger goal of ending mass incarceration.

But some people say Harris could have done more.

Harris reportedly refused to investigate the police shootings of two Black men in 2014 and 2015, Politico reported, and failed to support a 2015 California assembly bill that would have required the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor specializing in police departments’ use of  deadly force.

Harris has also been criticized for her stance on payments for the wrongfully convicted.

Jose Diaz, who was exonerated after serving almost nine years for two sexual assaults he didn’t commit, was prompted by Harris’ office to re-register as a sex offender, according to Yahoo! News. Her office also resisted Diaz’s claim for compensation after he was exonerated. 

Harris also played a role in the wrongful murder conviction of Jamal Trulove, The Appeal reported.

And according to Vox, Harris’s office fought to release fewer prisoners after the Supreme Court found that overcrowding in California’s prisons constituted cruel and unusual punishment. 

However, despite the uneven record, news of Harris’ selection as Biden’s vice presidential pick drew the praise of many social justice organizations and politicians.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted a statement on the announcement, calling the selection “an historic and proud milestone for our country.”

Former presidential hopeful Andrew Yang also tweeted his support for Biden’s pick: “Congratulations Kamala! You are set to make history – let’s win!!”

Equality California issued a statement on Harris’ selection, calling her “an exceptional choice to serve as the next vice president of the United States.” 

“… Equality California is proud to stand with her and Vice President Biden in their historic campaign to take back the White House and restore the soul of America. Throughout her career, Senator Harris has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to civil rights and social justice for all LGBTQ+ people. As vice president, we are confident she will continue Vice President Biden’s tradition of using the office to champion and advance full, lived LGBTQ+ equality — and equality for the diverse communities to which LGBTQ+ people belong.”

“This moment is long overdue,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said of Biden’s selection of Harris. “For far too long, we have undervalued Black women’s political power and their role in shaping our culture, communities, and country. The selection of Sen. Harris as a vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket is the culmination of the tireless work of Shirley Chisolm, Charlene Mitchell, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Barbara Jordan, Ida B. Wells, and Myrlie Evers in their fight for representation and equality. Their sacrifices, told and untold, made it possible for Sen. Harris to make political history today. Regardless of party affiliation, every American should be proud that this milestone was finally reached.”

What do you think of Kamala Harris as the Biden VP choice? Tell us in the comments.

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