One fourth of the way into her first Congressional term, freshman Rep. Mazie Hirono is making her mark as a strong progressive, as reported last week by the Honolulu Advertiser:
In her first six months in office, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono of Hawai'i is earning a reputation as one of the House's more liberal members, with votes against Iraq and Afghanistan war funding and for creating a new Department of Peace and Nonviolence.
The former Hawai'i lieutenant governor, one of only two Buddhists in Congress (Hank Johnson, D-Ga., is the other), also is supporting a host of social programs aimed at beefing up federal backing for education and taking care of Hawai'i's priorities.
More information about Mazie's Congressional tenure so far is below the fold.
Mazie has officially expressed support for all four major gay rights bills pending in Congress:
*the Matthew Shepard Act, which would allow for the federal prosecution of crimes motivated by anti-gay bias
*the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation
*the Military Readiness Act, which would eliminate the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy
*the Uniting American Families Act, which would end anti-gay discrimination in immigration law
According to an article this weekend in the Hawaii Tribune Herald, Mazie is working toward a single-payer healthcare system.
Mazie sits on the education committee and has been blogging about her efforts to make college more accessible:
Making College Affordable for Everyone
College Cost Reduction Act Will Incentivize, Invest in Higher Education
And according to Progressive Punch, she has the second-best voting record in the 110th Congress so far.
Beyond just voting well, she's also shown the ability to get things passed.
Here's Mazie's floor speech on her successful amendment to strengthen Head Start:
And here's Speaker Pelosi's press release last month about Mazie's successful resolution to honor the 35th anniversary of Title IX - and, just as important, to acknowledge that more work needs to be done on gender equity in education:
http://www.house.gov/...
To build upon this record in the years to come, Mazie needs our help.
Hirono's immediate predecessor as the Representative of the people in Hawai`i's 2nd Congressional District is Bush-backing/Lieberdem/Blue Dog Ed Case. Case gave up this seat to challenge U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka from the right. He's making noise about challenging Mazie next year to seek a return to Congress.
If he does run, primary voters would be faced with a stark contrast: a Blue Dog vs. a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
I've been asking friends here in Hawai`i to make small contributions to Mazie's 2008 re-election campaign fund. I think an early show of support from an array of contributors is important. So, I thought I'd also ask my friends across the nation here on Daily Kos. To support Mazie, you can use my handy ActBlue page:
http://www.actblue.com/...
Mahalo!