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- By Native News Online Staff
WASHINGTON — Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-03) has been named vice chair of the full House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The new leadership role will allow Davids to help shape infrastructure policy in Kansas and across Indian Country that will create jobs, improve public safety, tackle the climate crisis, and build the American economy.
“It’s a privilege to serve as Vice Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,” Davids said in a statement. “During this moment of crisis, we have the opportunity to make meaningful, long-lasting investments in our infrastructure – ones that create millions of good-paying jobs, reduce carbon emissions to tackle the urgent climate crisis, and build our economy back better than before. I look forward to working with my Committee colleagues and the Biden Administration to finally pass an infrastructure package that meets the scope of the challenges we face and can put us on the path to economic recovery.”
Davids, along with Rep. Deb Haaland (NM-01), were the first two Native American women ever elected to Congress in 2018.
While representing her constituents in her congressional district, Davids, who is a tribal citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, has supported issues important to Indian Country since entering Congress.
Last Feburary, Davids spoke at the beginning of a Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing in support of Native Americans having voices in federal policy on matters of transportation and infrastructure.
“For far too long, the voices of Native Americans have been woefully underrepresented in Congress. Issues affecting tribal communities have routinely been minimized and ignored. It’s my hope that our committee can serve as a proving ground for the greater inclusion of tribal voices in federal policy this congress and that tribes can be regularly consulted on national infrastructure issues. Today’s hearing is just the beginning of that effort,” Davids said.
President Biden has made infrastructure a priority for his Administration and is expected to work closely with Congress to pass an infrastructure package as part of his “Build Back Better” plan.
Davids has been a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since she took office in 2019 and served as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation. Before being elected to Congress, Davids worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation as a White House Fellow.
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