WASHINGTON _ Staring down racial tension, gun violence and police misconduct issues across the country, G.K. Butterfield is playing a reserved but active role in Washington, D.C., as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
His caucus colleagues in the U.S. House say Butterfield, a Democrat from the small town of Wilson, N.C., is comfortable passing the microphone around.
That's emboldened them, several caucus members say, to speak louder in a presidential election year where some of the group's bread-and-butter issues _ gun violence and police-community relations _ appear as major talking points for campaigns.
While black leaders have clout in the Democratic Party, the caucus has yet to nudge Republican lawmakers to support their most progressive ideas with votes. Still, there's a sentiment among some members that the Congressional Black Caucus' current work could be some of its most important ever.
