WASHINGTON: Five Indian-American legislators in a House of 435 is par for a group that constitutes just over one percent of the United States population of 330 million.
For the group informally understood as the samosa caucus, it was a moment to commemorate the largest representation of Indian American Members of Congress in U.S.
history.
With the most recent and fifth addition to the club, Shri Thanedar from Michigan, at the center, the caucus fulfilled today to exult over the development it has actually made, hoping to invite even more Indian American Members of Congress in the future.
When I first took office in 2013, I was the only Indian American Member of Congress and the 3rd ever in history.
In the past years, I am proud to be signed up with by incredible Indian American coworkers from around the country - Representatives (Pramila) Jayapal, (Ro) Khanna, and (Raja) Krishnamoorthi, remembered Congressman Ami Bera from California, including, With the swearing-in of the 118th Congress, our union has actually grown to a record number with the election of Representative (Shri) Thanedar.
Its important that we reflect on the historic progress our country is making.
The first Asian American and Indian American Member of Congress was Dalip Singh Saund, who served in the U.S.
House of Representatives from 1957 to 1963.
In the 66 years in between Representative Saunds election and the 2012 election of Ami Bera, Piyush Bobby Jindal was the only other member of Indian American descent elected to the legal branch of the federal government.
Following the 2016 election, Kamala Harris made history as the very first Indian American to be sworn into the US Senate.
Senator Harris continued to make history in 2020 when she was elected as the very first lady and very first person of color in history to function as the US Vice President.Jayapal, presently the only woman member of the caucus, said the diversity of the existing Congress reminded her how much representation matters, for every single neighborhood and culture throughout our country.
I am a happy naturalized resident, the first South Asian American lady elected to your home, and an immigrant woman of color.
Serving in Congress is an unique honor, not only since I have the ability to provide for my constituents, but because I have the ability to show other South Asians that if I can make it into the halls of Congress, so can they, she said.
In remarks that reflected his own journey, Thanedar, who was born in Chikkodi in Northern Karnataka and came to the US in 1979 to pursue a Ph.D, stated the American dream lives when an immigrant from India can concern this country, make a degree, become a person, start a business, and be elected by the people to represent them in the Michigan State House and the United States House of Representatives.