Chair & Co-Chairs

Congressman David Cicilline is the Chair of the DPCC. He is currently serving his fifth term representing Rhode Island’s First Congressional District. In addition to serving as Co-Chair of the DPCC, he is Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus and Vice Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Cicilline has worked hard to ensure that Rhode Islanders who work hard and play by the rules are able to buy a home, send their kids to college, and save for retirement. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Cicilline has been a strong advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and common sense gun safety legislation. He currently serves as the Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law (RRCAL) where he oversees an expansive portfolio of ensuring access to affordable health care, keeping the courts open to consumers and workers, and promoting innovation and economic opportunity through open and competitive markets.

In Congress, Cicilline has become one of the leading advocates for the Make it in America agenda to help rebuild and strengthen America’s manufacturing sector. Cicilline has introduced legislation to help create jobs, promote American-made goods, and stimulate economic growth, including his Make it in America Manufacturing Communities Act and the 21st Century Buy American Act. In 2015, following the Supreme Court’s historic decision on marriage equality, Cicilline introduced the Equality Act to extend comprehensive anti-discrimination protections to the LGBT community.

Cicilline served two terms as Mayor of Providence and four terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

 

Congressman Matt Cartwright is Co-Chair of the DPCC. He represents Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District and was first sworn into Congress on January 3, 2013.  In Congress, Matt is committed to working across the aisle to advocate for working families.  Matt’s priorities include strengthening the middle class, creating jobs, ensuring quality health care, protecting seniors, and supporting veterans and military families.  Matt has introduced over 60 pieces of legislation and more bipartisan bills than any other House Democrat.

Matt serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and is on the Appropriations Subcommittees for Commerce—Justice—Science and Financial Services & General Government.  He is also a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  Matt sits on the House Steering and Policy Committee, which advises House Democratic Leadership on policy and Committee appointments, and is a Regional Whip.

Prior to coming to Congress, Matt worked as an attorney with Munley, Munley & Cartwright for 25 years.  He spent his time at the firm fighting for working families, and served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice.

Matt graduated magna cum laude with a history degree from Hamilton College in 1983.  He earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986, where he was a member of law review.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell is Co-Chair of the DPCC. She represents the 12th District of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Before being elected to Congress, Debbie was the Chair of the Wayne State University (WSU) Board of Governors.  An active civic and community leader, she is a recognized national advocate for women and children.
For more than 30 years Debbie served one of Michigan’s largest employers, the General Motors (GM) Corporation, where she was President of the GM Foundation and a senior executive responsible for public affairs.   In her commitment to job creation, Debbie led the effort to bring the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, a $20 million partnership designed to help create jobs and economic growth, to southeast Michigan. She is a past chair of the Manufacturing Initiative at the American Automotive Policy Council.
With values instilled by her Catholic education, Debbie’s activism took root in her passion for issues important to women and children.  She successfully fought to have women included in federally-funded health research, and advocated for greater awareness of issues directly related to women’s health, including breast cancer and women's heart health. She is a founder and past chair of the National Women’s Health Resource Center and the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  She has served on numerous boards related to women’s issues including the advisory boards for the NIH Panel for Women’s Research, the Michigan Women's Economic Club, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the board of the Michigan Women's Foundation.  She was a co-founder of both the first Race for the Cures in Michigan and in Washington, D.C.

 

Congressman Ted Lieu is Co-Chair of the DPCC. He was elected to represent California’s 33rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives in 2014, succeeding retiring 40-year incumbent Henry Waxman. In his first term, Ted was elected president of the Democratic Freshman class by his colleagues.

In 2016, Congressman Lieu was reelected and currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was also appointed as an Assistant Whip for the Democratic Caucus.

Ted is a former active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force and currently serves as a Colonel in the Reserves, stationed at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

In Congress, Ted has established himself as a leader on the environment; cybersecurity; civil liberties; and veterans.

He has been an outspoken proponent for tackling climate change.  The first bill Ted introduced after coming to Congress was the Climate Solutions Act, which aims to make California’s ground-breaking renewable energy goals and climate emissions reduction targets a national model.

Ted has been a leader in Congress against ethnic and racial profiling, and discrimination against the LGBT community.  He serves as Whip of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Co-Chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus, and Co-Chair of the Cloud Computing Caucus.

In his first term in Congress, seven pieces of legislation sponsored by Ted were signed into law.  This includes bills to provide housing for homeless Veterans and retrofit vacant buildings at the West LA VA campus; combat foreign propaganda and misinformation; and require more stringent cleaning instructions for medical devices.

Prior to serving in Congress, Ted was elected to the California State Senate in 2011 and the State Assembly in 2005.  Ted's legislative accomplishments include authoring landmark legislation regulating the subprime mortgage industry; a first-in-the-nation ban on gay conversion therapy for children; and a first-in-the-nation ban on the use of tanning beds for minors. Ted fought for California state tax reform that saved small businesses from millions in retroactive taxes, and tax incentives for film and TV production.  Ted also co-authored California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act and co-authored the law banning state pension funds from investing in Iran’s nuclear and energy industries.