Letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of Every House Committee - Tri-Caucus Chairs Announce New Initiative to Promote Diversity of House Committee Witness

Letter

Dear House Committee Chairman and Ranking Member,

As Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus -- composed of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) -- we write to inform you about a Tri-Caucus diversity initiative we are planning to roll out starting January 2, 2020 to track the diversity of the outside witnesses and experts testifying before House committees and subcommittees. The policy making process will only benefit from ensuring diverse voices are part of Committee and subcommittee hearings. This will help ensure that our policies and legislation are inclusive and work for Americans of all backgrounds.

The 116th Congress is the most diverse in our Nation's history. In the next few decades, the majority of the country will be composed of people of color. With an increasingly diverse population, a truly representative government must reflect the country's changing demographics to ensure fairness and legitimacy. This is especially critical for the U.S. House of Representatives, a chamber that was specifically designed to reflect the most direct will of the American people.

Unfortunately, for many years, diverse communities have been marginalized or ignored during important policy making processes. This 116th Congress, it is imperative that we work to embrace, promote, and advance diversity in our halls and Committee panels.

Starting January 2, 2020, the Tri-Caucus will launch a witness diversity survey that all Committees will be able to share with expert witnesses they invite to testify at Committee hearings. The initial survey will only count outside experts and advocates invited by Committees to provide testimony and will not count Administration or agency officials. On December 12, 2019, we will send a sample of the survey to all Committee staff directors and arrange meetings to brief staff about the survey and how we will be using the data collected. Between now and January 2, 2020 we welcome any feedback or comments you may have about this diversity initiative.

If you have any questions about this process or the survey, please contact Stephanie Palencia at stephanie.palencia@mail.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Source