Blue Dog Leadership Statement on Meeting with Leader Pelosi

WASHINGTON—Today, the Co-Chairs of the Blue Dog Coalition—Reps. Jim Costa (CA-16), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), and Dan Lipinski (IL-03)—met with Leader Nancy Pelosi and released the following statement:

“Today, we had a conversation with Leader Pelosi regarding the anticipated increase in the Blue Dog Coalition’s membership and the need to ensure the Democratic Caucus is representative of the broad views of its membership going into the 116th Congress.

“The upcoming Democratic House majority would not be possible without the Blue Dog Coalition’s members-elect and other moderate Democrats. Most of the new members won their elections by small margins and will be in danger of losing in 2020 unless they can deliver real results for their districts. We are pleased that Leader Pelosi recognizes that in order to maintain the majority, we must ensure that incoming members-elect are able to advance the priorities of their districts in Congress.

“In our discussion, we talked about the importance of members reflecting their districts and including their voices within the larger voice of the Democratic Caucus. Specifically, we are pleased Leader Pelosi shares our priority that our members are represented proportionally on key policy committees. We also raised the importance of including members of the Blue Dog Coalition in key leadership committees that will set the agenda for the 116th Congress, including the Steering and Policy Committee.

“We are pleased that Leader Pelosi agrees that during the next Congress, it will be critical for a Democratic-led House to demonstrate to the American people that it can govern responsibly, unite the country, and seek real results rather than empty rhetoric. Specifically, House Democrats will work with the President and the Republican-led Senate to find commonsense, bipartisan solutions, including an infrastructure package and improving health care access and affordability.

“We look forward to continuing negotiations to ensure a successful 116th Congress for the American people.”

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