After her election to the US House of Representatives last November, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland was thrust into the middle of a historic chain of events. Just three days after her Jan. 3 congressional swearing in, a violent mob staged a failed coup attempt at the capitol building; House Democrats filed articles of impeachment against Trump while Facebook and Twitter banned him; and President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in as Democrats took control of the White House and Congress.
“I would use the word ‘eventful,’” Strickland replied when asked to characterize her first 130 days in office. “It’s often referred to as ‘three consecutive Wednesdays in January’ because those were all things that took place on successive Wednesdays.”
Strickland is determined to get a January 6th Commission formally installed to investigate the insurrection and those who may have played a part in it, both inside and outside of our government. On May 19, the House passed H.R. 3233, the “National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act,” with 35 Republicans breaking from their party to support the bill.
“Having this commission is vitally important because we need to get details and to the bottom of the truth of who was involved, who was aiding and abetting, who had a role in this. They need to be held accountable and we need to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Strickland said, noting that the bill faces a rocky future in the Senate. She said it is “mindboggling to me” that anyone would vote against the legislation.
“We had 35 Republicans in the House voting for it, but that means there is a vast majority of them voting against it despite being attacked and police officers dying in the line of duty. There is evidence on camera that something horrible happened – a failed coup attempt to undermine a legitimate election in the United States that really put democracy at risk.”
If the bill fails to pass, other avenues for investigation may be possible and Strickland is involved in developing those ideas as well.
“It’s something that cannot get swept under the rug. We cannot forget what happened on Jan. 6 because it was a complete affront to democracy. It was violent, and it was something that people I serve with were probably involved in to encourage it to happen. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
That the congresswoman wore a traditional Korean hanbock for her swearing in took on more meaning than she may have even known at the time, as the heart and soul of our beloved melting pot of democracy would be threatened like never before with the attack on the Capitol.
Strickland being of Korean and African American ancestry, an important part of her answering the call to serve in Congress is that she has more influence to defend and support Black and Asian American citizens across the country, two groups targeted with violence.
Assaults on Asian Americans, being blamed for COVID-19, have increasing dramatically lately.
The “COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act” that Strickland championed is now on the President’s desk awaiting his signature. This bill will speed up and strengthen responses to hate crimes, including requiring the designation of an official at the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an expedited review of all COVID-related hate crimes. The bill also includes important provisions to improve the reporting of hate crimes in that it authorizes grants to states to establish and run hate crime hotlines. It supports law enforcement agencies with training officers on how to identify hate crimes and helps state and local governments develop a system for collecting hate crime data.
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Strickland joined a press conference to announced the U.S. House passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.
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“In this very divided congress, that was one of the bright spots of bipartisanship,” Strickland said of the bill’s support from both sides of the aisle. “This is something that’s long overdue. The challenge has really always been about people feeling comfortable reporting the crimes and having the confidence that law enforcement will act upon them and that the justice system will hold those accountable who commit these crimes.”
TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND MILITARY
Strickland serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, both of which are very relevant to the 10th Congressional District. Regarding infrastructure, the congresswoman pushed for getting direct financial assistance to local government, state government and tribal nations still dealing with the wake of the pandemic.
“I fought really hard to make sure that more than $300 billion was kept in the American Rescue Plan to ensure that cities and states and tribal nations got direct assistance. Coming from local government, I knew how important that funding can be to address some of the issues that they have with revenue during the pandemic.”
With U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, Strickland is co-chair of the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus and together, she and Kilmer were able to get through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee a commitment of $50 million a year for five years to help clean up the Puget Sound. She is also involved in helping to alleviate some of the gridlock around Joint Base Lewis-McChord. As vice chair of the Rails and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, Strickland is advocating for high-speed rail, which will help get cars off the streets and foster a cleaner environment.
“The challenge we have in the South Sound is that we are growing,” she explained. “People are being priced out of King County and discovering the quality of life – the good schools and opportunity to have housing that is more affordable. We still have an affordable housing crisis, but as the population grows in the South Sound, the transportation issues are going to become bigger challenges. That’s why I’m a big advocate for public transportation and making important investments to addressing some of these issues.”
With the House Armed Services Committee, Strickland is on the Military Personnel and the Readiness subcommittees. “When we talk about readiness, we have to make sure that families are doing well, that they’re living in stable housing, and that they can afford their housing because 70 percent of those who serve in the military live off-post. The housing component is really important to me.”
So is sexual assault in the military and overall equity when it comes to promotions and opportunities for leadership. “Forty percent of those enlisted are people of color and 20 percent are African American. I am the only African American woman on the House Armed Services Committee so as we look at things like promotions and opportunities for leadership, are these happening in an equitable way so that all people, regardless of their background, are getting chances to lead?”
Strickland is a first on many fronts. At the local level, she is the first African American woman and first Korean American to serve as mayor of Tacoma, and the first woman of color to run the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce. Nationally, she is the first Korean American woman elected to Congress in its 230-year history, and the first African American to represent Washington at the federal level.
“I always remind folks that it’s an honor to be the first, but you never want to be the last,” she said. “It is an honor and a privilege to represent the 10th Congressional District in Washington, D.C. I am focused on getting things done for the district and delivering for the district…so I thank those who are there to support me. Our office is always accessible. I have really smart and talented staff and I’m just grateful that I have a chance to represent and to serve.”
She acknowledged the ambitious congressional agenda ahead of her in the coming months, with the pandemic being ever present.
“Of course, there’s the backdrop of the pandemic and doing what we can to address it in a meaningful way to get people vaccinated, cash in people’s hands, students back in school, and getting people back to work and getting our economy back on track. Then coming up we’re working on the American Jobs Plan, the American Families Plan… It’s a very ambitious agenda just for 2021 alone. It is a lot of serious work we have to do for the American people.”