APAICS | Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies

Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui is proud to represent the city of Sacramento, Calif. and its surrounding areas. As an established and informed Representative, Congresswoman Matsui has emerged in Washington as a resourceful and influential advocate for the people of the Sacramento region.

Sacramento is the seat of government for the fifth-largest economy in the world, a prominent and powerful region that Rep. Matsui represents with strength and a vision for far-reaching policy. As a recognized leader in the Sacramento community and in Congress, Rep. Matsui is focused on applying federal resources to improve the lives of her constituents. As the fourth-highest-ranked member on the influential House Rules Committee, she brings the distinctive voice of the Sacramento region to Washington, D.C.

A veteran of the Clinton Administration and a key member of the 1992 Presidential Transition Board, Congresswoman Matsui succeeded her late husband, Rep. Robert T. Matsui, in office, bringing a mixture of prominent experience with a true dedication to the issues that matter to the citizens of the Sacramento region.

In 2008, she was appointed to the powerful and exclusive House Committee on Energy and Commerce. As a Member of this influential Committee, she helps craft legislation to address the most critical challenges facing hard-working Americans today, ranging from health care coverage and clean energy, to commerce and consumer safety. In each of these areas, Congresswoman Matsui is committed to investing in a safe, healthy and sustainable future for Sacramento and the country.

Since taking office, Congresswoman Matsui has made increased flood protection a key focus of her work in Congress, successfully advancing legislation to upgrade and modernize the region's levee, dam and water management systems. Rep. Matsui played a central role in passing legislation that contained $700 million in authorized funds for local flood control projects. The reauthorized Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project will provide a historic amount of protection for Sacramento. In conjunction with other flood control initiatives on both the Sacramento and American Rivers, Representative Matsui is building an impressive record of collaboration and innovation to protect her district from harmful flooding.

With rising gas prices driving more and more people to explore transportation alternatives, Congresswoman Matsui has worked to expand access to mass transit, and bring some of Sacramento's successful initiatives to the national dialogue. She is engaged in the planning and execution of an intermodal transportation center in Downtown Sacramento. This project will serve as a regional transit hub, and will improve air quality, ease roadway congestion, and strengthen Sacramento's Light Rail system. As the region's population continues to rise, the Congresswoman's work to expand transit options for Sacramentans will help to make the area increasingly efficient.

Renewing her commitment to improving local and regional security, Congresswoman Matsui has led the fight to make the Sacramento region safe. After learning in early 2006 that many urban areas were ruled ineligible to receive funding from the Department of Homeland Security, Representative Matsui led the fight to add these cities--including Sacramento--back to the list of funding-eligible areas. In addition, Congresswoman Matsui has worked with Congressional leaders to preserve funding for AmeriCorps programs, which organize and promote volunteers who perform vital community services around the country. The Congresswoman was named a Co-Chair of the National Service Caucus as a direct result of her support of these service-related initiatives.

Representative Matsui is an effective Congressional champion for proven and successful initiatives such as the National Children's Study. The Study is a comprehensive gathering of children's health data designed to provide the nation's medical establishment with the information and tools it needs to cure diseases like diabetes, obesity and autism. Representative Matsui has proven instrumental in helping to restore funding for this critical and revolutionary study.

Deeply committed to shaping policy for the Sacramento region, Rep. Matsui works closely with other powerful Members of Congress on the House Rules Committee to approve the flow of legislation to the House floor, and is charged with reviewing potential amendments to legislation before they are debated and voted on by Congress. As a result, Congresswoman Matsui is involved with each piece of legislation from beginning to end, shaping the terms of debate and working on a day-to-day basis with the House Democratic Leadership. Before coming to Congress, Representative Matsui served on numerous advisory boards, community organizations, and honorary committees in Sacramento and in Washington, DC. She was President and Chairwoman of the Board for the KVIE public television station in Sacramento, and she served in leadership capacities for the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento Children's Home, Meridian International Center, Arena Stage, and Woodrow Wilson Center Board of Trustees.

Congresswoman Matsui has maintained this commitment to civic involvement while serving in Congress. She was appointed by the Speaker to serve on the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents. The Smithsonian's Regents oversees the operating procedures of the Institution and manages its world-famous and ever-expanding collections. As the only Member of Congress to sit on the Smithsonian Regents' Governance Committee, Representative Matsui is responsible for oversight of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as its nineteen museums, 144 affiliates, and nine research centers throughout the United States and Panama.

After growing up on a farm in California's Central Valley, Representative Matsui met her husband, the late Congressman Bob Matsui, while earning her Bachelor's Degree from the University of California at Berkeley. During President Bill Clinton's first term in office, she served as one of eight members of the President's transition board, and later became Deputy Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Public Liaison.

Congresswoman Matsui is the proud mother of one son, Brian, who is a practicing attorney in the Washington, DC area. She has two young grandchildren, Anna and Robby.

[Official Bio from House of Representatives Website]