Kamala Harris Says ‘Our Democracy’ Is The Biggest National Security Challenge America Faces

Vice President Kamala Harris said in a Sunday interview with CBS that one of the biggest security challenges facing the U.S. is the nation’s democracy.

During an episode of “Face The Nation” that aired Sunday, Harris and CBS News’ Margaret Brennan discussed the many policy challenges facing President Joe Biden’s administration toward the end of 2021. The topics included the rise in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, Biden’s bid to get Americans vaccinated, Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better Act and election policies.

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The duo also discussed national security, with Brennan asking Harris, “What do you see is the biggest national security challenge confronting the U.S.? What is the thing that worries you and keeps you up at night?” — to which Harris replied, “Frankly, one of them is our democracy. And that I can talk about because that’s not classified.”

“I think no question in the minds of people who are foreign policy experts that the year 2021 is not the year 2000,” the Vice President went on to say. “[W]e are embarking on a — a new era where the threats to our nation take many forms, including the threat of autocracies taking over and having outsized influence around the world. And so I go back to our — our point about the need to fight for the integrity of our democracy,” Harris said.

Earlier in the conversation, Harris had argued that 33 state laws were “making it difficult for the American people to vote,” allegedly representing a threat to “one of the most important pillars of a democracy, which is a free and fair election.”

Harris also championed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which she believes would ensure that citizens have “unfettered access to their right to vote” and safeguard “the integrity of our democracy.” (RELATED: McConnell Blasts Manchin’s Voting Compromise, Alleging It Has The Same ‘Rotten Core’ As Democrats’ Bill)

The two bills, facing opposition from Congressional Republicans, seek to bring into effect automatic registration provisions for voting and make Election Day a national holiday, among other things.

Harris also said that “climate crisis” is another security issue the Biden administration prioritizes and is working on by seeking to “to re-enter … the Paris Agreement” and working with the U.S. allies in Europe.