Sens. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Massachusetts) have endorsed President Joe Biden's nominee for deputy secretary of labor, Secretary Julie Su, in a recent opinion article.
According to the article, Su's leadership abilities and track record of success are critical in the face of a pandemic that not only "disproportionately affects people of color, immigrants and women," but has also led to an increase in anti-Asian violence and discrimination.
"Amidst a pandemic disproportionately affecting workers of color and immigrants, the Senate must confirm nominees like Julie Su with the leadership skills and lived experiences to rise to the unique challenges of this moment," Hirono wrote in a Facebook post.
Su is currently the secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development in California, where she oversees a state labor department with over 11,000 workers and a $26.4 billion budget.
Su has also co-chaired California's Pay Equity Task Force, helped lead a Future of Work Commission, expanded innovative union partnerships to generate high road jobs and pioneered a community-based model of socially responsible small business growth and investment in immigrant communities facing major employment barriers.
According to Hirono and Duckworth, her 17 years as an attorney and nonprofit executive at the nation's largest Asian American civil rights legal organization would also provide an enormous amount of management expertise and skills required for the position.