The Hill’s Changemakers: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.)

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) decided to do things a little differently from the moment he took his oath in January, choosing to get sworn in to Congress with a first-edition “Superman No. 1” comic, alongside the Constitution. 

“I’m just trying to be authentically me,” the comic book megafan and first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress, said. 

“I’m not gonna hide any part of who I am,” the 46-year-old Peru native added. 

“I’ve tried to come in on day one in a very forceful way.” 

That means sticking to a commitment he said he made to himself on his first day at the Capitol, to “take on every single bully, every single liar, every single fraud, and call them out — all the time.” 

One of the biggest challenges he’s faced this year, Garcia said, has come from some of his GOP colleagues. 

“I think that’s been the hardest for me is to see people demean people and be so cruel to people on a regular basis.” 

Garcia serves on the House committees of Homeland Security and Oversight and Accountability, and earlier this year launched the Congressional Popular Arts Caucus at Comic-Con. 

When he’s not fighting for truth, justice and the American way a la his favorite superhero, Garcia makes time for a little fun. He’s an unabashed fan of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,“ enjoys “putting funny memes online” and earlier this year unveiled his Pride playlist on Spotify. 

The president of the Democratic freshman class, Garcia said he’s taking on a Man of Steel-sized mission as he gets ready to mark his first year in Congress: to help “redefine our debates about what being patriotic means.” 

“I want to get us to a point where the country gets back to this idea of helping people, and that’s what defines American patriotism.”