Statement on Inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris

The Bay Area Council today (Jan. 20) issued the following statement on the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The Bay Area Council extends its warmest congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on their inauguration. We hold particular pride for Vice President Harris, whose Oakland and Bay Area roots helped shape the leader she is today as she becomes the first woman, first African American and first South Asian American to serve in our nation’s second highest office,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “We applaud their message of unity and their promise to work with all Americans to end the divisions that have roiled our public discourse, set us against each other and distracted us from addressing our biggest challenges. California’s challenges are the nation’s challenges, from halting COVID to addressing our housing and homelessness crises and combatting climate change, wildfires and drought; from investing in our transportation and other key infrastructure to expanding access to affordable, quality healthcare; working to end hundreds of years of racial division and inequity; and re-establishing our important global connections. We also must prioritize making tax reforms, including reestablishing state and local tax (SALT) deductions, that recognize California’s outsized contributions and the important role our state’s world-leading innovation economy can play in achieving our shared objectives. On these and many other issues, the Bay Area Council is eager to work with the Biden-Harris administration to move our region, our state and our nation forward.”