Reps. Bera, Jayapal and Krishnamoorthi Appointed to Key Congressional Committees

The House Foreign Affairs Committee re-elected veteran Indian American and four-term Congressman Dr. Amerish Babulal ‘Ami’ Bera (D-Calif), to serve as chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation on January 28, 2021. 

“I am honored to be elected again to Chair the House Foreign Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation,” Bera said in a statement.

“There are many pressing challenges that Congress must work to address, from an authoritarian China and a provocative North Korea, to the receding of democracy and human rights across the region,” the congressman further added.

He pledged, as chair that, “I will work to ensure that the U.S. is utilizing all of its political, military, cultural and economic tools to support American interests, and maintain and enhance the U.S. commitments in Asia and the Pacific.”

Bera also said in a press release that, “The subcommittee will explore how effectively those tools are being used, including how to strengthen our allies and partners within the region.”

Bera is looking forward to working with his colleagues on the subcommittee and the newly appointed Biden Administration to tackle the problems, restore American global leadership and rebuild U.S. alliances in Asia and the Pacific.

Known as the dean of the ‘Samosa Caucus’ of Indian American lawmakers that include Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D.-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D.-Calif.), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D.-Ill.), Congressman Bera, 55, replaces Rep. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.) as the new chair of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation.

Bera was also selected to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights for the 117th Congress. He also serves as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea and previously chaired the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

Pramila Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorthi have been also named to key congressional committees. Rep. Jayapal (D-Wash), 55, in her third term, was named to the powerful House Budget Committee.

Jayapal, who is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, is also leading the effort on $15 per hour as minimum wage, and reintroduced the ‘Raise the Wage Act.’

“You can’t feed your family and pay rent on $15,000 a year — not to mention so many other expenses or even thinking about saving up,” the congresswoman said in a press release.

Jayapal also introduced her Roadmap to Freedom Resolution, this week, which will “establish a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people while protecting and strengthening a fair process centered on family unity, promoting and preserving diversity and establishing a just, humane immigration system”.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill), who is also in his third term was appointed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to serve on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis which was established to provide oversight of the federal COVID-19 pandemic response. The Select Subcommittee is modeled after former Senator Harry Truman’s Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program.

 “I am honored to join Chairman Clyburn and our colleagues on this panel to provide vital oversight of the federal coronavirus response to protect the health and safety of the American people as we defeat the pandemic and rebuild our economy,” said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, in a press release. “I look forward to working with members of both parties as we ensure that the trillions of dollars in taxpayer funds dedicated to our country’s response to this pandemic and its economic impacts are used as efficiently, transparently, and effectively as possible,” added Krishnamoorthi, who is serving as the U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 8th congressional district since 2017.

Congressman Ro Khanna, (D-Calif.), has been named a member of the House Agriculture Committee in the 117th Congress.