Harris says busing should be considered, not mandated

Sen Kamala Harris said Wednesday that busing students should be considered by school districts trying to desegregate their locations not the federal mandate she appeared to support in pointedly criticising rival Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden last week.

Harris had a breakthrough moment at the candidates' first debate when she criticized Biden for his opposition to mandatory school busing when he was a senator in the 1970s. Harris said she benefited from busing as an elementary school student in Berkley, California, in the early 1970s.

"That's where the federal government must step in," Harris said, looking at Biden and winning a burst of applause from the auditorium in Miami.

On Wednesday, though, Harris characterized busing as a choice local school districts have, not the responsibility of the federal government.

Busing, while not central to the Democratic primary, has become a proxy issue for the debate between Biden and Harris over race as well as broader questions about the 76-year-old former vice president is out of step with his party.

After a Democratic Party picnic Wednesday in West Des Moines, Harris was asked by reporters whether she supports federally mandated busing.

"I think of busing as being in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating America's schools," she responded.

Asked to clarify whether she supports federally mandated busing, she replied, "I believe that any tool that is in the toolbox should be considered by a school district."
In a tweet Wednesday, Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield knocked Harris for her response, writing, "It's disappointing that Senator Harris chose to distort Vice President Biden's position on busing particularly now that she is tying herself in knots trying not to answer the very question she posed to him!"
During an appearance at a conference last week in Chicago, Biden told the audience he "never, never, never, ever opposed voluntary busing."