Harris tells Navy graduates US is entering a 'new era' after COVID-19

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Vice President Kamala Harris told Navy graduates on Friday that the U.S. and the world are entering a "new age" after COVID-19 as she also touched on topics including climate change and cybersecurity.

"Well, Midshipmen, we are now entering the next era," she told graduates at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. "A new age, a new epoch, with its own tests, with its own challenges, and with its own opportunities."

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"The global pandemic has accelerated what was happening before, and it has accelerated our world into a new era," she said. "It has forever influenced our perspective."

Harris pointed to the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, which snarled up gas supplies on the East Coast, as a "warning shot" for what the graduates will face in their careers.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the graduation and commission ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Friday, May 28, 2021.  (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

"Just think, a deadly pandemic can spread throughout the globe in just a matter of months.  A gang of hackers can disrupt the fuel supply of a whole seaboard.  One country's carbon emissions can threaten the sustainability of the whole Earth," she said.

She went on to describe climate change as "a very real threat to our national security."

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"And I look at you and I know you are among the experts who will navigate and mitigate this threat. You are ocean engineers who will help navigate ships through thinning ice," she said. "You are mechanical engineers who will help reinforce sinking bases.  You are electrical engineers who will soon help convert solar and wind energy into power, convert solar and wind energy into combat power." 

Most of the 1,084 graduates were commissioned as officers in the Navy and Marine Corps, including 784 Navy ensigns and 274 Marines as second lieutenants. 

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The ceremony was held in person at the Navy-Marine Corps stadium in Annapolis. Last year it was held virtually due to precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harris became the first woman to give the keynote address at the ceremony. The academy also has its first Black female brigade commander, who represents more than 4,000 midshipmen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.