FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FMC Welcomes New Congressional Study Group Co-Chair
Freshman Congresswoman Kim Will Lead Korean Legislative Exchange
(Thursday, March 4, 2021 -- Washington, D.C.) – FMC, an association of former Members of Congress, is proud to announce that U.S. Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) will serve as the Republican House co-chair for the Congressional Study Group on Korea, joining U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. (D-Calif.)
“As a Korean American, I am excited to be able to facilitate important, bipartisan discussions with Co-Chair Rep. Bera and my colleagues on the U.S.-ROK relationship through the Congressional Study Group on Korea. I hope to help my fellow Members learn more about this critical relationship and find ways we can work together to promote shared priorities between our countries,” said Kim. “FMC is well known for bringing members together to solve important issues and adding value to ongoing legislative efforts. I look forward to working with Rep. Bera to continue, and build on, that fine tradition.”
The Congressional Study Group on Korea is the newest legislative exchange at FMC, involving current Members of Congress from both the House and Senate in an ongoing conversation with government and elected officials in the Republic of Korea. For more than thirty years, the Congressional Study Groups have brought bipartisan groups of legislators together to discuss issues ranging from trade policy to global security. It is one of four such legislative exchanges housed at FMC. The other three are focused on Japan, Germany and Europe. Each Study Group has four co-chairs, split on a bipartisan, bicameral basis.
“The United States and South Korea partnership remains the linchpin of security and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. Our relationship also extends beyond security cooperation to deep and enduring people-to-people bonds,” said Bera. “I look forward to working with Co-Chair Kim and the Congressional Study Group on Korea to further advance the United States and South Korea alliance, which will be critical to solving some of the biggest global challenges of the 21st century.”
Kim joins U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in the Senate as co-chairs of the Congressional Study Group on Korea. The Study Group also features a bipartisan membership of more than several dozen current Members of the U.S. House and Senate. It was founded in 2018 with support from the Korea Foundation and Korea Society.
Kim was one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress, winning election in 2020. She was born in Incheon, Republic of Korea, and came to the United States in 1975, living in Guam, Hawaii and then settling in California where she attended the University of Southern California. Kim and her colleague Michelle Steel are the first Korean-Americans to represent California since former U.S. Rep. Jay Kim left office in 1999. She represents a Southern California area that contains the largest Korean diaspora in the United States.
“I look forward to working with Rep. Kim on the Congressional Study Group on Korea,” said former U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), President of FMC. “The current Congress is the most diverse Congress ever. As an Asian-American Republican, Congresswoman Kim helps represent that commitment to diversity while providing experience and background to our conversation that we are really excited to learn from.”
FMC is a non-advocacy, non-partisan group founded in 1970 and chartered by Congress in 1983. It is a voluntary alliance of former U.S. Senators and Representatives, working to strengthen Congress in the conduct of its Constitutional responsibility through promoting a collaborative approach to policy making; and to deepening the understanding of our democratic system.
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