Elected as Region II Democratic Whip for the 114th Congress

The 21 members of Region II of the Democratic Caucus re-elected me as a Regional Whip today. Region II covers Northern California, Hawai’i, and the Pacific islands and includes Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi among its members. The vote was unanimous. The role of the Whip is to count how Region members intend to vote on key legislation, so that our House leadership has an idea whether a bill will pass or fail before a vote is taken on the floor. I particularly appreciate being a part of this process even though I cannot vote on the floor; and I always include the Guam and American Samoan Members who have the same limit. Making sure that the leadership knows how we would vote is a good reminder that any new law will affect the people of the insular areas just as it does Americans living anywhere else in our nation.