The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and who have a strong interest in advocating and promoting issues and concerning the AAPI community. CAPAC was founded on May 16, 1994 by former Congressman Norman Mineta. While CAPAC describes itself as non-partisan, all of its current members are Democrats, though some past members, such as Joseph Cao, have been Republicans. This caucus generally includes members of East, Southeast, South or Pacific Islander descent, members with high concentrations of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in their district, or those with an interest in AAPI issues in general. Purpose To ensure that legislation passed by the United States Congress, to the greatest extent possible, provides for the full participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and reflects the concerns and needs of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities; To educate other Members of Congress about the history, contributions and concerns of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; To work with other Members and Caucuses to protect and advance the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans; To establish policies on legislation and issues relating to persons of Asian and/or Pacific Islands ancestry who are citizens or nationals of, residents of, or immigrants to, the United States, its territories and possessions; and To provide a structure to coordinate the efforts, and enhance the ability, of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Members of Congress to accomplish those goals. Current membership Leadership Chair: Judy Chu (D) (CA-27) First Vice-Chair: Grace Meng (D) (NY-06) Second Vice-Chair: Mark Takano (D) (CA-41) Whip: Ted Lieu (D) (CA-33) Freshman Representative: Jill Tokuda (D) (HI-02) Executive board members Senator Tammy Duckworth (D) (Illinois) Senator Mazie Hirono (D) (Hawaii) Senator Brian Schatz (D) (Hawaii) Representative Ami Bera (D) (CA-07) Representative Ed Case (D) (HI-01) Representative Jimmy Gomez (D) (CA-34) Representative Al Green (D) (TX-09) Representative Pramila Jayapal (D) (WA-07) Representative Ro Khanna (D) (CA-17) Representative Andy Kim (D) (NJ-03) Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D) (IL-08) Representative Barbara Lee (D) (CA-13) Representative Stephanie Murphy (D) (FL-07) Retiring at end of 117th Congress. Delegate Michael San Nicolas (D) (GU-AL) Retiring at end of 117th Congress. Representative Bobby Scott (D) (VA-03) Representative Marilyn Strickland (D) (WA-10) Associate members Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D) (Nevada) Senator Alex Padilla (D) (California) Senator Jacky Rosen (D) (Nevada) Pete Aguilar