Pramila Jayapal Quotes

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Pramila Jayapal

Profession : Politician

Birth : September 21, 1965

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

Pramila Jayapal

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.

Pramila Jayapal

For immigrant women, the very act of immigration is about opportunity, equality, and freedom. Women immigrants come to America to care for their families, escape gender-based violence, or express their sexual identity.

Pramila Jayapal

For immigrant women, fighting for some of the standard platforms of the women's movement may feel unthinkable when deportation is staring you in the face every day.

Pramila Jayapal

We need to expand the idea of choice to be about all the choices we make in our lives: including which country we choose to live in so we can be whole and full women.

Pramila Jayapal

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.

Pramila Jayapal

We don't get a more responsive government unless we start to systematically run organizing campaigns to change the way government works.

Pramila Jayapal

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

Pramila Jayapal

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

Pramila Jayapal

OneAmerica worked over the course of a decade to bring the movement of immigrants and communities of color together with the movement for marriage equality in Washington.

Pramila Jayapal

Gays and lesbians gained rights in this country though activism and organizing, creating political space and demanding change so that lawmakers and justices could do what they knew was right. That organizing allowed Americans to get to know gays and lesbians as our daughters and sons, our neighbors, and our friends.

Pramila Jayapal

We need to incentivize states across our country to spend on higher education and ensure that we go back to allowing people to go to college tuition-free.

Pramila Jayapal

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.

Pramila Jayapal

Certainly there are many Congress members who have been arrested in the past on immigration issues and will continue to because we all understand that staying silent is not an option.

Pramila Jayapal

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.

Pramila Jayapal

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.

Pramila Jayapal

I come from a state in India that is a matrilineal state, Kerala. And so women really are seen as very powerful.

Pramila Jayapal

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.

Pramila Jayapal

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

Pramila Jayapal

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

Pramila Jayapal