Hi Neighbors,
In addition to staying on the House Foreign Affairs and Ethics Committees, I’ve secured three exciting new positions for the 117th Congress – and I wanted you to be the first to know. I’m pleased to share with you that I’ll be joining the House Committee on Small Business – where I’ll Chair the Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations Subcommittee – along with the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. I will also help lead the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus as a newly-elected Vice Chair.
There’s hard work ahead in the mission to restore Americans’ faith in our government and America’s standing in the world. Read more about my new positions below…
NEW: HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
Our favorite burger joints and neighborhood barbershops are the glue that hold our communities together and power our economy – and they’re in crisis. We must do everything in our power to help them weather this storm so that they can help lead the economic recovery once we are through this pandemic. I’ll have the voices of Minnesota’s small business owners and entrepreneurs in mind as we provide the oversight necessary to ensure federal funds are accessible and equitably distributed, and as we lay the groundwork for a prosperous future for our main street businesses.
As the new Chair of the Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations Subcommittee, I’ll continue my efforts to ensure that relief money gets to those who need it most. And as an entrepreneur and small business owner myself, I look forward to bringing my experience to the committee, and will remain focused on supporting those businesses most impacted by the pandemic.
NEW: SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE MODERNIZATION OF CONGRESS
Over my 30-year career in business and philanthropy, I observed hundreds of organizations, institutions, and enterprises throughout the world. I have never encountered one so utterly dysfunctional and in need of reformation as our Congress. A system that elevates dividers and ignores uniters, that promotes those who raise the most money for their party and sidelines those who raise the best ideas for their country, and that over appreciates tenure and under appreciates talent, makes a mockery of our Founders’ greatest contributions. It’s time for Congress to value winning policies over winning elections.
The bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress was created in 2019 and tasked with improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Congress. After months of hearings, the Select Committee released 29 recommendations, including one inspired by my recommendations to overhaul the onboarding process for freshmen members so that newly-elected Republicans and Democrats – who are normally separated by political party – spend more time together. As a new member of the Select Committee, I will advance ideas, processes, and technologies that foster cooperation and aim to restore Americans’ faith in government.
NEW: VICE CHAIR, PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS
America needs leaders who practice civility and decency more than ever. I’m honored to work alongside my Democratic and Republican colleagues with the goal of using common sense to find common ground in pursuit of the common good.
I will be helping lead the Problem Solvers Caucus as co-Vice Chair. As too many in Congress and across our country retreat to partisan corners, the Problem Solvers Caucus is 56 members strong – 28 Republicans and 28 Democrats – and seeks to initiate debate, ignite optimism, and elevate the best ideas from both sides of the aisle.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the spread of disinformation are global issues that won’t be solved with outdated, isolationist thinking. In an increasingly interconnected world, and after four years of increased tensions with allies around the world, I look forward to helping rebuild our relationships with allies, reestablish American leadership in the world, and ensure the 21st century is one of expanding peace and prosperity.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
Restoring Americans’ faith in our government begins with cleaning up corruption and holding elected leaders accountable to the highest standards of ethics. That is why I will remain on the House Ethics Committee for a second term. In this Committee I help supervise and enforce ethics rules for the House of Representatives. It is the only committee with membership divided evenly between political parties.
These new positions are part of my ambitious agenda to restore Americans’ faith in government and get us through the COVID-19 pandemic as healthy, economically-prosperous, and prepared for the future as possible.
Keep the faith and keep in touch, 
Dean Phillips
Member of Congress