Transcript - Weekly Address: Kamala Harris on 'A Weekly Conversation: On the Line' with Eldraen - May 1, 2021 | Factba.se

Kamala Harris

00:00:00 - 00:00:01 ()

Eldraen, can you see me?

Eldraen Pharr

00:00:01 - 00:00:02 ()

Kamala Harris

00:00:02 - 00:00:05 ()

I want to talk with you about you, and your family.

Eldraen Pharr

00:00:05 - 00:00:23 ()

I have the best jobs in the world. I'm a letter carrier and a National Guardsman, but I'm most proud of being a father. My wife and I work full-time. So, when COVID forced our daughter's daycare to close, we had to make a choice. Who would stay home and take care of her? My wife is a frontline nurse, so we decided that I'd stay home on daddy duty.

Eldraen Pharr

00:00:23 - 00:00:33 ()

That was possible, only because I had paid leave. Everyone should have paid leave. My wife included. I told her that, and today, I told the Vice President of the United States that, too.

Kamala Harris

00:00:33 - 00:00:47 ()

It is good to see you again and I'm looking forward to our conversation. You guys have been giving so much of your lives and yourselves to the service of other people. You were able to stay at home with the kids, right? And, and while your wife was working?

Eldraen Pharr

00:00:47 - 00:00:49 ()

I knew Krystal was doing the frontline nursing --

Kamala Harris

00:00:49 - 00:00:50 ()

Eldraen Pharr

00:00:50 - 00:01:02 ()

So, that was like a critical position to have, so, I was like, I just think that in our situation, what's best for the group would be for me to be home with the daddy daycare.

Kamala Harris

00:01:02 - 00:01:06 ()

But you were also able to do it because you had paid family leave, right?

Eldraen Pharr

00:01:06 - 00:01:09 ()

That was the oil that greased it all, cause if --

Kamala Harris

00:01:09 - 00:01:09 ()

Eldraen Pharr

00:01:09 - 00:01:13 ()

I was going without a paycheck, it would have been completely different.

Kamala Harris

00:01:13 - 00:01:30 ()

I mean, I think that your story speaks so much to the importance of paid family leave. For, for family members to be able to take care of their family, in a moment of crisis in particular, and not have to worry about whether you'd be able to do that and also pay the rent and put food on the table.

Eldraen Pharr

00:01:30 - 00:01:38 ()

You love [Crosstalk] your kids and you never really want them to think that you can't afford something, so you just kind of -- you -- you'll do it if you can.

Kamala Harris

00:01:38 - 00:02:05 ()

We are also investing in what we call, and what I call, human infrastructure. So, the human infrastructure is about caregivers, and our caregiving economy and making sure that we have affordable childcare, that we have accessible childcare. And you are a perfect example of why that is necessary, because you were not able to work full-time as a National Guardsman or a postal worker while you were taking care of your children.

Eldraen Pharr

00:02:05 - 00:02:10 ()

I think that's spot on, bu -- I think just the administration as a whole has really [Crosstalk]

Kamala Harris

00:02:10 - 00:02:10 ()

Eldraen Pharr

00:02:10 - 00:02:14 ()

-- dedicated themselves to saying, This is the mission, and let's see it through.

Kamala Harris

00:02:14 - 00:02:21 ()

Let's see it through.