Remarks by Vice President Harris on Historic Investments in Economic Development in Underserved Communities
APRIL 01, 2022
Location: Greenville, Mississippi

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon.  (Applause.)  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon.  Please have a seat.  Good — it’s so good to be with you all.  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon.

Ms. Joyce, I want to thank you for that introduction.  You know, I had the honor of visiting her shop earlier today.  And it took me back.  I shared with her — you know, my mother would make our clothes often.  She would make — I remember in particular a couple of very fancy dresses she made.  And going to the shop, I saw those fancy dresses that Ms. Joyce was making, and I thought — it really took me back. 

And I know what it means to have a place like that in the community where you can go and where families go and where it is intergenerational, in terms of the families that are impacted by the work that happens in places like that.

So, I want to thank you for allowing me to visit with you today and to visit your store.

Mayor Errick Simmons, where are you?  I know you’re here.  There you are.  I want to thank you for welcoming us — so warmly welcoming us.  The mayor met me on the tarmac as I landed, and I thank you for the warm welcome and your role of leadership.

 It is good to be in this beautiful place.  And so good to be here, of course, with Chairman Bennie Thompson — where is he?  (Applause.)  I will tell you, he is a true champion for the people of this state.  And I didn’t dare make this trip plan without checking in with Bennie Thompson — (laughter) — to seek his advice and approval.  (Laughter.)

But I will tell you, in all seriousness, I have seen him, over the years, during the time that we have worked together, in the halls of the Capital, in these very ornate rooms in our United States Capital — sometimes when the camera is on, sometimes when the cameras are off — and he is the same person always.  He is always fighting for the people of Mississippi.  Always.  (Applause.)

And I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him twice this week because — or last week, actually — because we were at the White House when the Pre- — together when the President signed into law the Emmett Till Antilynching Act — (applause) — yes — which was a step toward finishing some unfinished business.

Also here with us today is the great Bill Bynum, the CEO of Hope Credit Union.  (Applause.)  And Mr. Bynum, as you know, has helped connect so many people in Mississippi and across the South with opportunity and, yes, with hope to be all they can be. 

And I shared with a couple of folks earlier — I did check in with him actually after we first came into office, because this has been a very longstanding area of focus and priority for me, which is to support our small businesses.  And I’d been hearing for years about work of Bill Bynum and so checked in with him at the very beginning. 

And he told me at the very beginning, during the height of the restriction — COVID — so we couldn’t really travel — and he said, “Well, Madam Vice President, if you really want to see what’s going on, you come to the Mississippi Delta.”  So here I am.  (Applause.)  So here I am.

  And so, Greenville is a city that knows so much and, in particular, knows resilience.  In 1927, the waters of the Mississippi rose and covered every square foot of this city for three months.  And when the water receded, the people of Greenville cleaned up and moved back in. 

Over the past two years, like so many communities around our nation, you have faced incredible challenges.  And you have met those incredible challenges with incredible strength.