VP Harris returning to Pittsburgh to tout Biden administration’s record
She will focus on water quality improvement
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is coming to Pittsburgh Tuesday, her third trip since taking office to the second-largest city in a state that could determine the winner of the 2024 presidential election.
Ms. Harris will be accompanied by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on what is being billed as the fourth Investing in America tour. They’ll discuss the administration’s efforts to improve water quality.
The visits are designed to highlight President Joe Biden’s record in office, which includes bipartisan bills to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and encourage new investments in manufacturing, and legislation passed solely with Democratic votes to pull the economy out of its pandemic-induced recession, lower health care costs and spur the development of clean energy.
The infrastructure law provided funding for improving water quality, including removing lead water pipes, and Ms. Harris is to talk about those efforts to provide clean water to all communities. Ms. Harris talked about replacing lead pipes during a June 2022 visit to Pittsburgh. Mr. Regan accompanied her on that trip as well, along with Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.
Ms. Harris also came to Pittsburgh in June 2021, where she pushed for an expanded Child Tax Credit. The enhanced credit, part of the president’s 2021 stimulus law, had expired but the U.S. House last month approved a less-generous tax break for families with children. About 500,000 low-income Pennsylvania children under 18 would be helped by the legislation.
Biden administration officials have been traveling around the country touting the president’s first-term record in advance of this fall’s presidential election. Pennsylvania, the most populous battleground state, already is seeing a lot of attention; both Mr. Biden and his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, already have visited the Keystone State this year.
The race between the two men is considered a dead heat, with Mr. Biden holding a lead of just three-tenths of a percentage point in the Real Clear Politics poll average.