Informally known as the Dutch Caucus, the Congressional Caucus on the Netherlands was created in 2006. For more in-depth coverage of the Dutch Caucus, read Issue 60 of Dutch the magazine…
Founded by then Democratic Representative Chris van Hollen from Maryland and Republican Representative Peter Hoekstra from Michigan, the two founding co-chairs came from Dutch DNA.
Van Hollen is a Dutch descendent and Hoekstra, who emigrated from Groningen at age three, was the only member of Congress born in the Netherlands. Hoekstra represented the USA as ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 to 2021.
The mission of the caucus, announced Hoekstra on its formation, was to host events and briefings supporting Dutch culture and trade and collaborate with the Netherlands Embassy and Netherlands-America Foundation.
For more on the Dutch in North America, read Hiding in Plain Sight by Tom Bijvoet.
For more on The Netherlands, the Dutch, and the Dutch diaspora, subscribe to Dutch the magazine!