Quotes from Pramila Jayapal

My mother, with a Master's in English Literature, taught me to appreciate language and that words matter.

Racism, sexism, and age-ism are all alive and well in the U.S. House.

Ripping children away from their parents has a particular shameful history, both in this country and around the world.

I came to the United States by myself when I was 16 years old. My parents had about $5,000 in their bank account, and they used it all to send me here because they truly believed that this country was where I was going to get the best education and have the best opportunities.

I feel like young people, more than anyone in the country, always have their moral compass on perfectly straight.

You can't lock yourself up and make yourself completely safe. You can't. It's not possible.

This is all very personal for me, but it's also collective, and the two are not disconnected. I have never believed that you only advocate for the things that you stand for and embody. I've always believed that our liberation, my liberation, is tied up with yours. To make a country that works for me, there's gotta be a country that works for you.

There's nothing normal about graduating with massive student debt, where you live in fear of predatory debt collectors and wage garnishers even as you are starting to live your life.

I actually had a number of different careers. I worked on Wall Street; I was a Master's in Business. I left that to work in the public sector.

It took me 17 years to become a U.S. citizen.

I have an incredibly supportive family.

Before running for the Washington State Senate in 2014, I had spent 20 years as an activist. I had always believed that we needed to push for change on the outside, through community organizing and advocacy.

I became an immigrant, civil and human rights advocate, then the first South Asian elected to the Washington State Legislature and the only woman of color in the Washington State Senate, and then was elected in 2016 to the United States Congress.

I love my district, the 37th Legislative District in Washington State, where I have lived for more than 20 years.

After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I remember sitting in front of my TV set watching the news of the attacks, in tears. I remember thinking to myself, 'Nothing is ever going to be the same in this country for people who look like me.'

President Trump has harnessed the fear and prejudice that have accompanied every wave of immigrants in United States history, and stoked those fears to further his own agenda.

I like being on a plane with no phone service because I get so much work done.

I usually wake up really early because I keep myself on East Coast time.

What makes America great is our commitment to our values of inclusivity and opportunity for all.

I'm conscious of my race and ethnicity in the legislature - it's hard not to be.

I am grateful for my family, friends, and all those who send constant love and support - you are my energy and my hope. You teach me, love me even when I'm wrong, and let me ride the challenges and come out whole.

I've been told to go back to my country so many times, I can't even count.

When I was a little girl, my dad always said to me that I was going to be this great businesswoman, that I was going to be the CEO of IBM. So that's what I came into the world thinking, that I was going to go into the business world and make my mark there.

Rather than name-calling and arguing about whether it is appropriate or not to employ radical tactics, we progressives need to start listening to each other.