Quotes from Pramila Jayapal

As difficult as my story is, it's nothing compared to the people I've worked with. And so I just want to do everything I can to make sure that America continues to be a land of opportunity and hope for people and refuge for people from all over the world.

My message to women - including women of color - stand strong. Refuse to be minimized or patronized. Let all the small guys out there be intimidated by you.

If there is one thing that resonates for women, it is that regardless of where we come from or what we look like, we want to be fully recognized for the breadth of our contributions.

Regardless of who is elected president in 2016, we all still live together. Each of us has a different role to play, but we all have to hold the collective space for movement-building together. It's the only way we move forward.

Trump can embrace dictators and gulags, but we the people stand for human rights, for dignity, for keeping families together.

Part of comprehensive immigration reform is not just the path to citizenship for undocumented workers, but also the ability for families to be together.

I want to remind women of color out there to stand your ground, and don't ever be afraid to speak up.

My big idea is that democracy can only work properly if you have truly representative people at the table.

As an immigrant, I have lived, in a way, the American dream, and I want to make sure that opportunity is available for everybody.

We must be clear: Donald Trump is lying when he conflates immigrants coming across the border with MS-13 gangs.

People who think that the immigration system is easy and people should just apply legally - it just isn't that easy.

We the people are sick and tired of the criminalization of immigrants, sick to our hearts to see Trump's family separation policies rip families apart across our country.

History has always judged silence and complicity harshly in these times of moral consequence.

Trump has hated Amazon for a long time, and I think that that came out in many interviews that he's done with 'Vanity Fair' and with others.

I have a little yoga ritual that I do just to move my body around. Whatever I do, it's usually very fast because often I don't have the kind of time that I would like to.

Having a strong race lens means you understand racism is threaded through and institutionalized in all of our systems and our very perceptions, threaded through how someone looks at you, treats you, thinks about you and your potential.

I've always thought of the United States as a place where so much was possible and so many opportunities were out there.

Those who have the most power - whether famous TV anchors, rich Hollywood moguls, judges, Members of Congress, or the president of the United States - must decide how to exert that power: for corruption or for good.

We can never be afraid to stand up for what is right, no matter what others may say. And sometimes, if that means taking a lonely road, if what we are standing for is true, then perhaps moonlight or sunshine will light our way and make it less lonely.

Individuals whose asylum claims have been accepted have gone on to become professors, soldiers in our military, artists, and more.

This is the country that we are turning over to young people, and there is going to be no country left at this rate because Trump is destroying the soul of who we are.

I'm the first South Asian woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

I would attend a State of the Union by a president with whom I disagree if I felt she or he was otherwise respectful and adhered to basic moral values or basic tenets of civility and respect.

Corporations and special interests have their voice in Congress, and they have too many members scared of their power. What Congress needs is a progressive voice who is unafraid to take on these powerful interests - who is willing to fight for all Americans, not just the wealthiest 1 percent.