In front a crowded room at the Civic Center on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered remarks as a part of her scheduled visit to the City of Savannah. 

The Vice President was joined in the private event by Melanie Fontes Rainer, the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Jordan Grossman, the Deputy Administrator for the Health Resources and Services Administration at HSS, and Mayor Van R. Johnson, II. 

“We could not have been more excited to welcome the Vice President to Savannah,” Mayor Van R. Johnson, II said. “Savannah is turning heads in Georgia, nationally, and around the world and we are attracting big time leaders to learn about the special ingredients that have made Savannah the leading city we are.”

After the event, Vice President Harris joined the Mayor to visit with local business owners, stopping in at Diaspora Marketplace. The Vice President also visited with the family of recently fallen U.S. Army Sgt. Breonna A. Moffett to pay special condolences. 

U.S. Army Reservist Sgt. Moffett, a Savannah native, was killed in Jordan on Jan. 28 in the line of duty while assigned to the 718^th Engineer Company, out of Fort Moore, Georgia during Operation Inherent Resolve. 

The Vice President’s visit on Tuesday marked the second time in two weeks that a U.S. Government official scheduled a public visit to Savannah. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge visited on Monday, Jan. 29 to present the City with a check for funds to combat homelessness.