Tri-Caucus Staff Associations Applaud Passage Resolution
​Including Key Provisions to Advance Diversity in the House

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2020 
Celia Olivas, CHSA Communications Director: (209) 981-9141, [email protected] 
Maureen Elinzano, CAPASA Communications Director: (760) 468-9229, [email protected]
Maya Valentine, CBA Communications Director: (202) 744-1147, [email protected]
Patrice Smith, SBLSC Communications Director: (203) 940-3831, [email protected]

Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association (CHSA), the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association (CAPASA), the Congressional Black Association (CBA), and the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus (SBLSC) released the following statement:

The Tri-Caucus Staff Associations applaud the passage of H.Res. 756, which includes key provisions to advance a diverse workforce in the House. The resolution provides for a number of initiatives that require the House to take affirmative steps to address this issue. 

The Tri-Caucus Staff Associations particularly applaud the following provisions:

• Requiring that the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion submit a diversity plan that contains guidance for House offices on how to recruit, promote, and retain diverse staff. The diversity plan must also include a survey to evaluate current congressional workforce diversity and a proposal to establish an Advisory Council to inform the Office’s efforts.
• Instructing the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion to submit an annual diversity report to Congress.
• Tasking the new, centralized human resources program with compiling best practices to seek out diverse candidates and conducting outreach to universities and colleges that serve students of color.
• Evaluating and reporting on the feasibility of updating the monthly payroll system to address the concerns of younger and lower-paid employees, as well as on the practicability of adjusting the statutory limitation on the number of employees in Member offices.

The passage of this important set of reforms comes less than a week after CHSA released a report detailing the unacceptably low number of Latinos in senior congressional staff positions. In the report, CHSA makes several recommendations for Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate to adopt, including boosting the capacity of diversity offices, improving data collection, and creating individual diversity plans within each office.

For Congress to work for the people, Congress must resemble the people. The Tri-Caucus Staff Associations look forward to working with the Committee to ensure these critical reforms are implemented swiftly and efficiently. 

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