WASHINGTON – On Dec. 6, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) held its leadership elections for the 118th Congress and announced the following results:
CAPAC Chair: Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena)
CAPAC First Vice-Chair: Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.)
CAPAC Second Vice-Chair: Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside)
CAPAC Whip: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance)
Freshman Representative: Rep.-elect Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii)
Following the election, Chu issued the following statement:
“I am honored to have been re-elected by my colleagues to serve as the chair of CAPAC and work alongside such a wonderful new leadership team. Since its establishment nearly 30 years ago, CAPAC has always strived to ensure that the voices of our communities are represented in the halls of Congress.
“In the 117th Congress, CAPAC addressed health, education, housing, and economic disparities among communities of color, combatted anti-Asian hate, advocated for improved language access and data disaggregation for AANHPIs, and protected immigrant families.
“We passed key legislation into law that protect and support our communities, including the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, the AAPI Museum Study Bill, American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.
“We met with President Biden, Vice President Harris, Cabinet secretaries, and many other senior officials to advance our communities’ interests, successfully advocated to end the Department of Justice’s discriminatory ‘China Initiative,’ and ensured that the CHIPS and Science Act would bolster American competitiveness without harming Asian American communities.
“I am grateful that Reps. Meng, Takano, and Lieu will reprise their role in CAPAC’s leadership to continue our work into the 118th Congress. I am also thrilled that Rep.-elect Tokuda will serve as our freshman representative, and will bring her strong advocacy and experience in AANHPI issues to our caucus.
“I look forward to working together with this leadership team on moving AANHPI communities forward in the new Congress.”