LIHU‘E — On Sunday, less than two weeks after being sworn into office, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-District 2) made her first visit to Kaua‘i since the election. She spent the day meeting with local leaders and personally thanking her
LIHU‘E — On Sunday, less than two weeks after being sworn into office, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-District 2) made her first visit to Kaua‘i since the election.
She spent the day meeting with local leaders and personally thanking her supporters.
“Thank you for what you do every day,” Gabbard told a crowd of approximately 100 people gathered for an early-afternoon luncheon at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center in Lihu‘e. “Thank you for allowing me the privilege to work for you as your member of Congress.”
Gabbard’s visit to Kaua‘i concluded five days of meetings throughout the state, which focused on her recent appointments to the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees. She began her statewide visit on Maui Wednesday and was scheduled to fly back to Washington Sunday evening.
“I intentionally made it a point to come back … to come and visit every island, to come and visit our communities here, because I need you all to know that I cannot be effective, I cannot serve you effectively, unless we are talking story and listening to what’s happening here at home,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to do, there’s no question about it, but I’m excited going into this new job because there are great people (in Washington) that have a heart for service.”
Since her election in November, Gabbard said she has met and spoken with representatives from all over the country — Democrats and Republicans — who truly care about getting things done. By building those partnerships and bringing the aloha spirit of Hawai‘i to Washington, she said she is confident progress can and will be made.
“We may disagree on 95 percent of things,” she said, “but if we can find those points of agreement, find those areas that we can work together and come together, then that’s the way that we can make progress. That’s the way that I know that I can be effective in serving Hawai‘i.”
Gabbard said she plans on returning to Hawai‘i “as often as possible” in order to continue the conversations started and enjoyed during her campaign, which saw her climb 65 points — from a 45-point deficit in the polls in February to a 20 percent lead margin in the election — to beat out candidate Mufi Hannemann in the 2012 Democratic Primary.
“We did what so many people thought was impossible,” Gabbard said. “All across the country, I’ve told the story of our campaign, and our campaign is not a true story unless I tell people about people like you … You allowed me the opportunity to share what was in my heart.”
Although she admitted many people on the Mainland have responded to her surprising victory by joking that there must have been a scandal involved, Gabbard believes it is “a positive story about what can happen when people come together … for one united purpose, and one united goal.”
That goal was not just to win an election, but to make Hawai‘i a better place, according to Gabbard.
“And that’s what gives me inspiration. That’s what makes me excited every day about the job that lies ahead, about taking on the tough challenges that we have, because I know you guys have my back. There’s no better situation that I could ask for, no better job that I could ask for, and I’m ready, excited and eager to get to work.”
Prior to Sunday’s luncheon, Gabbard attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new 6.7-megawatt biomass-to-energy Green Energy LLC facility near Koloa. She also spent the day meeting with Kaua‘i community organizations, transportation officials from the airport and harbors divisions, native Hawaiian organizations, local businesses and other elected officials.
At 31 years old, Gabbard is the youngest of Hawai‘i’s delegation in the nation’s capital. She is the first Hindu and one of the first female combat veterans in Congress, having served two military tours in the Middle East.
