'We just have to get rid of the lead': Kamala Harris visits Milwaukee to highlight push to replace lead pipes

Deanna Branch had something she wanted to tell Vice President Kamala Harris.

The mother and activist from Milwaukee spoke Monday of her journey of overcoming physical ailments. But there was more. She discussed her son's battle with lead poisoning, how he was hospitalized twice.

And from that experience they put together a picture book, featuring a lead-free super hero taking the fight to the "lead monster."

"It means a lot to me and my community that I am hearing and talking to you on their behalf," Branch told the vice president.

And Harris responded: "You put the call out and it was heard."

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Harris landed in cold, snowy Wisconsin Monday to promote the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law and focus on the push to replace lead pipes in Milwaukee and across the country.

"This is an issue that we should as a nation commit to ending." Harris said of lead pipes that course through the nation.

She went to the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership/ BIG STEP program on the city's near west side, where she met with community and health leaders as well as union workers.

A plumber, Reshawn Spivey showed Harris a lead lateral and spoke of the importance of the work, not just for the community but also for laborers.

"We do a lateral a day," Spivey told the vice president.

Heather Paradis, a pediatrician, said: "Any amount of lead in the water is too much," and she said it was critical to address the problems created by lead "once and for all."

"We just have to get rid of the lead," Harris replied.

Harris was joined by Michael Regan, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and two top Wisconsin Democrats, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore.

"We want to make sure to invite you back when we replace the last lead lateral," Moore told the vice president.

"There is no, no amount of lead poisoning that is safe for our children," Moore added.

Harris reaffirmed the Biden administration's ambitious plan to remove lead pipes and lead paint in the next decade.

"It's simply the right thing to do," Harris said, adding "we are long overdue to get this done."

The infrastructure law includes $15 billion to remove and replace lead service lines across the country. To ignite the effort, the EPA announced plans to send $3 billion to the states this year, including $48 million for Wisconsin.

That $48 million is part of a $142.7 million package is expected to receive in the coming weeks for water projects made available through EPA loan programs.

The scale of the lead problem is immense. In Milwaukee alone, current estimates put the cost of replacing all the lead service lines on both public and private property at nearly $800 million.

During an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Harris said the work to get rid of lead pipes is about "a bipartisan approach to a longstanding issue that has impacted generations."

"The money is there because the need is there. It's beyond time that we take the time, act, and actually do something about it. Our plan is to do it over 10 years."

"The work is already happening here in Milwaukee," she added of a partnership between parents and government.

"A day in a life of a child is a long time and ingesting water through lead pipes can have severe damage in terms of their brain, their cognitive ability, their ability to learn," Harris said. "Same for our seniors."

Harris on Ukraine: 'we're prepared to take serious measures'

Even while pushing a key part of President Biden's domestic agenda, Harris said she was being briefed on a constant basis by her national security team on the situation in Ukraine.

On Monday, the Defense Department put 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment in Eastern Europe amid concerns Russia may be preparing to invade Ukraine.

"If Russia and Vladimir Putin violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine there's going to be serious consequences, and we're very clear about that," Harris told the Journal Sentinel.

"We want to work in a way that might see some resolution with our allies, in terms of a diplomatic effort and de-escalation," Harris said. "But if there's aggressive action then we're prepared to take serious measures."

While Harris focused on infrastructure and lead, her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. There, the attention was on the shuttered venue operators grants that helped arts organizations through the worst of the pandemic.

Representatives of two organizations that received the grants were there, First Stage theater group, which got $1.02 million and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, which received $395,000.

“Throughout the pandemic, everything shut down. … I couldn’t go to school,” MYSO student Zindzi Frederick said to Emhoff. “This was the one thing that stayed constant and I’m really grateful for that.”

The pandemic remains a concern and the group was distanced, with individuals standing on taped X marks.

Emhoff joked: "This isn’t awkward at all.”

Emhoff then met with leaders of the Milwaukee Jewish community. Media were not invited. Emhoff said he expected they would speak about combatting antisemitism.

“There's a real epidemic of hate going on in our country, if not our world right now,” Emhoff said. “And antisemitism is a part of that.”

Republicans were unimpressed by the Harris visit, with a top GOP official claiming she was "trying to do damage control for Joe Biden’s disastrous first year in office."

Paul Farrow, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin said in a statement: "If Harris spent more time addressing the border crisis, working to lower prices, or fixing the crippled supply chain and less time on photo opps, perhaps the Biden administration’s approval rating would be better than 33%.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kamala Harris was in Milwaukee to tout bipartisan infrastructure law