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FRESHMAN ORIENTATION RECAP: The newly elected members of Congress are set to be sworn into office in January. Here’s a round-up of what they got up to during their congressional orientation in D.C.—and some of the items on their radar.
Rep.-elect Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai‘i) joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), where she’ll serve as vice chair for communications during the next legislative session. Among her first-term priorities are affordable housing, access to the care economy, and campaign finance reform, Tokuda told The Hill’s Amee Latour and Elizabeth Crisp.
- Tokuda also joined CAPAC as the leadership team’s freshman representative, replacing outgoing Rep. Kai Kahele (D-Hawai‘i).
- The former Hawai‘i state senator was part of a group of incoming lawmakers urging the current Congress to expand funding for childcare and undocumented students by extending child tax credit and advancing the Dream and Promise Act.
- While in Washington, Tokuda shared her tips on getting a good office on Capitol Hill. “My team and I, we literally went through every available room and ranked it 1 to 74,” Tokuda told Bloomberg Government. “We’re very hopeful we get number 1, but if we get 74, we know what we’re going into.”
Del.-elect James Moylan (R-Guam) said he plans on joining several caucuses and committees once he is sworn in.
- “I think it’s very important at this time, with the threat to our nation and the strategic location of our island and the military buildup that we see, that your representatives should be part of the Armed Services Committee and then some subcommittees within that,” Moylan said recently in a speech at the Rotary Club of Tumon Bay.
- Moylan is the first Republican elected to represent Guam as a non-voting member of Congress in 30 years. He has said he intends to combat ignorance about the territory—what he called “selling Guam”—so that Guam is actively included in federal programs.
- Most recently, in one of his final acts as a senator in the Guam legislature, Moylan voted in favor of the Guam Heartbeat Act, which bans abortions after six weeks and is modeled after a similar law in Texas. It contains no exceptions for rape or incest.
Rep.-elect Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan) also joined the over 100 member-strong CPC, which makes up nearly half of Democrats in the House and is led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington).
- “My passion to be a progressive comes from the life that I've lived—the stigma of poverty and dealing with the mental health of a family member,” he said during a November visit to Capitol Hill following his election. “That’s why I’m here.”
- Thanedar noted that his priority will be on closing the wealth gap in his district, where roughly 30% of people live at or below the poverty line. He also said he’s intent on passing single-payer health care on the Hill.
- Thanedar’s historic election ended nearly 70 years of Black representation in Congress for Detroit, which has remained a point of concern for the city’s Black leaders. He told Michigan Radio that he is already discussing policy with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and plans to back Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s (D-Texas) reparations bill.
This story appeared in The Yappie's Dec. 19, 2022 newsletter.
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