Japanese Americans Sworn in as Democrats Assume Control
RAFU WIRE SERVICES
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007

Rep. Mazie Hirono casts her first vote in honor of the late Rep. Patsy Mink.

WASHINGTON.—Mazie Hirono was sworn in Thursday as Hawaii’s newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives, following in the footsteps of the late Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink.

Hirono said she cast her first vote for new Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in memory of Mink, whose accomplishments in Congress include the passage of  Title IX, giving women equal opportunities in high school and college athletics. Pelosi is the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House.

“I wasn’t nervous, but I was grateful and honored to be here because it’s a historic time for women in particular and I know Patsy would’ve loved to have been here,” said Rep. Hirono said to Honolulu NBC affiliate KHNL.

A Buddhist, she was sworn in with no book at all. Hirono says she opposes spending more money for additional troops in Iraq unless President Bush presents a new plan for the region.

The former lieutenant governor is the first House member born in Japan and one of a record 71 female lawmakers .

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) said that raising the minimum wage and reforming the practices of Congress, expanding embryonic stem cell research were among the legislative priorities for the 110th Congress.

“As the new Congress gets underway, we know we have a lot of work to do. We understand the responsibility the American people have entrusted to us to govern,” said Matsui. “This country faces a number of challenges—from our education and health care systems to our economy and  homeland security‚but with the challenges also comes the opportunity to address the priorities of the American people.”

Rep. Mike Honda, who takes his place on the powerful Appropriations Committee said the Democratic Party has received a “clear mandate from the American people.”

“From the war in Iraq and implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, to comprehensive immigration reform, real Congressional ethics reform, full funding of our children’s education and providing quality, affordable healthcare to our citizens, I stand squarely with Speaker Pelosi in committing myself to living up to the trust that voters from coast to coast have placed in us,” Honda said.