Top 102 Quotes & Sayings by Pramila Jayapal - Page 2

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've always believed that immigration is really about who we are as a country and what we're willing to stand up for.

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.

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.

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.

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

I am not a woman on Monday, an immigrant on Tuesday, a worker on Wednesday, and a mom on Thursday, I am all of those things all of the time, and I am going to fight for all of those things all of the time.

I never thought I would run for office.

We have to take our anger and rage and channel it into building, growing, loving, holding each other up.

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 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.

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

Diversity is not just about the fact that the pictures look better. I mean, they always do look better!

Sometimes when really terrible things happen, something beautiful emerges out of it.

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

I'm an organizer at heart. Organizers know that giving information, being in front of people, talking to people, to build our movement for the kind of country that we see is the most important thing.

When women are told that sexual harassment is 'part of the job' or when assistants of both sexes enable harassing behavior, they have bought into the culture that says such behavior is not just permissible, it is a desirable expression of power.

We have to remember that disagreeing with people is fine; it is dehumanizing people that is not, and when that happens, we have to be ready to speak up.

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

If you're an opposition party, you are actively using the power you have to oppose the ideas of the other party.

Compromise for compromise sake is never good, unless it is grounded in principles.

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

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

I have an incredibly supportive family.

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

There were not that many people who were willing to come out and stand up for Muslims or stand up against the abuses of the Bush administration. That was post-9/11, so I think there was a lot of fear at the time about exactly what that meant - were they unpatriotic if they stood up?

My grandmother was whip smart as well as an incredible athlete. She played tennis in her sari, cheered on the Indian team in cricket matches, and tried to convince us that her made-up words were real so she could win a Scrabble game.

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 really get my best work done in the morning, so if I have to edit speeches or comments, that all happens before I get to work.

Immigration is about more than just who comes here and who is allowed to stay. It is about who we are as a country and what we are willing to stand up for.

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.

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.

I like to have my cup of green tea.

Some people have called me the anti-Trump, and I'm so proud.

I think what I learned is that just because somebody says you can't talk to them or just because somebody says they don't have an answer for you, you don't stop.

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.

Civil rights icons, famous journalists, big-time movie producers may all have credits to their name that we can recognize and be grateful for, but their record of good works cannot excuse their harassment of women.

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.

The immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed. And it needs to be fixed comprehensively, because this country depends on immigrant workers, but we don't have a system that reflects that. Our system is absolutely antiquated.

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

We [Americans] really need a system that comprehensively looks at the fact that we need these workers in the United States, we need to be able to provide a pathway to citizenship. We need to be able to allow them to be here legally and to do the work that they are doing and that we need.