The first ever Indian-American woman to be elected to the US House of Representatives, Pramila Jayapal described India as "incredibly important" citing there is a lot to be done to make sure the United States continues to support India on everything from poverty to clean energy.
The 51 year old Jayapal was elected from the Seventh Congressional District of Washington State to the US House of Representatives. She is the first Indian-American woman to be ever elected to the House.
PTI reported, Jayapal said that, "I think India is not only incredibly important to me not only because I was actually born in India. I am very deeply tied with India. My parents still live in India. They live in Bangalore. My son was born in India. For me the relationship between the United States and India is not only a political relationship, but also a personal relationship. It is actually what I live every day."
"That is going to require that we put resources to it. It is going to require that we strengthen our diplomatic relationship. And it is going to mean that we continue to advocate for democracy in the bigger sense of the word that includes religious freedom and tolerance in both India and the US," Jayapal said.
"I come from the land of Gandhi. Believe that war should be our last option and not our first. The duos US and India have some work to do where we go on that front," she added.
"The priorities that I ran on and that I remain deeply committed to includes free college, really making college affordable, raising the minimum wage and providing economic opportunities to working people," she said.
"We have to be absolutely ready to take on any behaviour, rhetoric or legislation that attacks our constitution and civil rights that is against Muslim Americans, whether it is against undocumented immigrants or whether it is against the LGBTQ movement. I feel my first priority is to make sure I never back down from a necessary fight," Pramila said.
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