Kaine Introduces Arlington’s Chris Lu At Confirmation Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine introduced Deputy Secretary of Labor nominee Christopher Lu of Arlington, Virginia at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pension (HELP) Committee.  Kaine highlighted Lu’s wide breadth of experience, including his roles as White House Cabinet Secretary and Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI), as evidence of his tremendous qualifications to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor.

“The quality of our nation’s workforce and matching the workforce with the skills and available jobs is so key to our success, and that’s why I’m so pleased to support Chris Lu,” said Kaine. “In 2007, Chris was working here in the Senate for President Obama and then began working on the election and was asked to go chair the transition. That transition was a difficult administrative job, much of what Chris would do at the DOL is administer all the programs and administer them to reduce overlap, reduce gaps… so that every dollar is being used to its maximum advantage, and Chris has expertise in that kind of a complex, management environment.

Kaine discussed the importance of closing the skills gap through workforce development and streamlining the industry credentialing process and endorsed Lu's ability to lead those efforts. 

“What Chris brings is a passion around this particular issue, a passion borne of his own life experience that people receive skills, but also the administrative expertise to go into a challenging bureaucracy with many programs and try to make them more streamlined,” Kaine said.

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Lu is the first Asian-American to be nominated to a Deputy Secretary position during President Obama’s term. Lu has served in the Obama Administration as Assistant to the President and the White House Cabinet Secretary. In 2008, he helped lead the transition efforts of President Obama’s first term as Executive Director of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Prior to joining President Obama’s team, Lu also served as then-Senator Obama’s Legislative Director and Acting Chief of Staff as well as the Deputy Chief Counsel of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  

###