Politics |

Lori Trahan named co-chair of Congressional Cambodia Caucus

LOWELL — In an exciting development for the 3rd Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan was named co-chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus.

Trahan, who was re-elected to her third term in November, has been a member of the bipartisan caucus since she was first sworn in as a representative in 2019.

“Growing up in Lowell, I’ve seen firsthand just how much Cambodian families have contributed to our city and our region,” Trahan said in a statement. “Lowell is a better place because of their cultural, educational, electoral, and economic successes.”

Lowell is home to the second largest Cambodian community, and the largest Cambodian population per capita of any city or town in the nation. It is a place of many firsts for Cambodian Americans.

Rithy Uong made history in 1999 when he became the first Cambodian American to win a City Council seat anywhere in the United States. In 2014, state Rep. Rady Mom became the first Cambodian American elected to the state Legislature. In 2020, state Rep. Vanna Howard became the first Cambodian-American woman elected to the state Legislature. And Lowell Mayor Sokhary Chau is the city’s and the country’s first Cambodian-American mayor.

“I welcome such good news for the Cambodian-American residents of Lowell,” Chau said in a written statement. “Congresswoman Trahan works tirelessly for the district and our concerns. She is fair and supportive for all our Khmer Diaspora in America. Her new position will give her a deeper perspective between the US and Cambodia.”

Trahan said she would use her position to continue to honor the Cambodian-American culture and recognize residents’ contributions to the Greater Lowell community.

“As their representative, I have always made it a top priority to ensure their voices are heard in the halls of Congress, and I’m honored to take on this new role as Co-Chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus to continue those efforts,” she said.

Those efforts will include following up on a letter the caucus sent to President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Weiss on Nov. 18, holding New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to a public accounting of their internal investigation into the allegations of looted Cambodian artifacts in the collection.

The Cambodian government started focusing on looted art in the past two years, a story that was reported in a New York Times article published in August. The museum says it launched an internal investigation, but to date has not shared its findings related to Cambodia’s claims.

The caucus letter requested that the Met provide an update on its ongoing internal investigation, a deadline for a determination about the pieces in question, whether the Met will commit to working with the Department of Justice to determine where the priceless artifacts belong and if the Met determines the treasures were originally looted, to returning them to the people of Cambodia.

Weiss’s December response flatly ignored the caucus’s specific demands, offering only that, “the Met will continue its discussion of these works with Cambodia and US authorities.”

Apparently, those authorities do not include the new co-chair of the caucus, who said that she expected better from the leadership of one of the largest and most prestigious art museums in the world.

“I am deeply disappointed in the Met’s response to our letter,” Trahan said. “Not only did the museum fail to address almost all of our questions, but it also declined to provide an update on when Cambodian Americans can expect the uncertainties surrounding the Met’s Cambodia collection to be resolved.”

Both Chau and Howard have previously said that the artifacts have spiritual and cultural significance to Cambodia, and if determined to have been looted, should be returned.

Weiss did not address the items in dispute, which include 13 items in the Met’s Southeast Asian Art Gallery 249 such as the Standing Female Deity. Chau called it Cambodia’s version of the “Mona Lisa.”

In his letter, Weiss acknowledged that past museum practices had included acquisitions of questionable origin, but wrote that “the norms of collecting have changed significantly over the past 20 years, and The Met’s procedures in this regard have been regularly updated in responses to new developments.”

Trahan pushed back against the narrative that congressional oversight isn’t required because the museum is conducting its own internal review of disputed practices.

“As stated in Mr. Weiss’s letter, the Met has returned stolen objects to Cambodia in the past following requests from the country’s cultural officials,” she said. “As the new co-chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus, I believe it’s time for the Met to follow their own precedent and move expeditiously to solve this situation and ensure these artifacts are returned to their rightful home.”