YouSaid · the spoken record

Pramila Jayapal

lines on the record: 66
first: 2021-11-18
most recent: 2021-11-18
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Of that is the right to vote and the right to some economic security. If you have a country that is so divided in economics where 1% controls so much wealth and everybody else is struggling just to make it from day to day, you will have people start to lose faith in government. And that is incredibly dangerous.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That shows us how fragile everything really is, and we have to deal with misinformation. We have to deal with the social media companies. We have to deal with all of the different ways in which people are today getting information, what that information is, and what it takes to have an educated public. And I don't mean like years of education. I mean educated about the same facts on the ground and able to see those facts and to fight for a democracy over a dictatorship. And so I feel very worried about that. I think this is a terribly difficult time for our country. And there are a lot of people, as the president always says, there are a lot of people around the world who are looking to see democracy fail. And we are going to have to show that it can work. It does work. And part and parcel.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's very fragile. We came so close on January 6th to losing our democracy. And to be there, trapped in the gallery and to be just 10 feet from 15 feet from insurrectionists pounding down the door searching for us, threatening to kill Nancy Pelosi, threatening to hang Mike Pence and hearing the shots fire, watching all of that happen was traumatic for many members of Congress, but most of all traumatic for the American people, traumatic for people to see that this is a scene that you never thought would happen in the United States of America in 2021.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There absolutely has to be. I can't tell you how awful it is to be going into Congress every day with these threats of violence against our colleagues, against many of us who have received death threats for years now in this environment. And the lack of action by the minority leader, Kevin McCarthy just has to be called out here. He has given in wholly to this violence and to the calling of violence, to all of the big lie that the Republicans now stand for. So there has to be action. But, you know, what I fear, David, is that it'll be partisan action and that it won't be bipartisan. And this kind of violence should be condemned by anybody.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Think he's governing exactly as he ran. I think he's governing based on the agenda that he ran on that we Democrats ran on. He's been dealt the toughest hand that we've seen a president dealt in a long time, very narrow margins, but some of the biggest crises that we've ever seen in this country. And I think he really gets that. And I think he is delivering. If you look at the American Rescue Plan again, the president deeply involved in shaping that. The bipartisan infrastructure bill deeply involved in shaping that. The Build Back Better Act, deeply involved in the negotiations and trying to bring everybody together. So I don't understand people who say this isn't what he ran on. This is what he ran on and what we all ran on.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I told him I needed to get a picture. This was when I was having breakfast with him. And I said, Mr. President, this is towards the end of our conversation. I said, would it be okay if we got a picture because I told my mom last night in India that I was having breakfast with you? And she said, oh my God, I can't believe my little daughter from a small place in India is having breakfast with the president of the United States. And he leaned forward with a big smile and he said, well, my mom still says, I can't believe that my little boy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the president of the United States. It was just a really lovely moment.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In the agenda that he's laid out. And it is a bold agenda. It is the president's agenda, but it is a bold progressive agenda that includes real tax reform, that includes universal child care, universal pre-K, investments in housing, you know, taking on climate change with actually bringing down carbon emissions, taking on immigration. I mean, these are all absolutely essential pieces, lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Not everything we want, but finally a significant dent in the cost of prescription drugs for families across the country. And so I have really enjoyed getting to know him. I find him so easy to talk to.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, David, he wasn't my choice in the primary, as you probably know, but I have really come to respect him tremendously. He is a deeply compassionate man. I believe he has, whether he was progressive before, as some people say, or whether he has become more bold and progressive now, I can't tell you because I didn't know him before. But I can tell you that he really believes in this agenda and that the campaign of last year, the candidacies of Senator Sanders and Senator Warren, the progressive movement that delivered him, Georgia and Arizona and many other states across the country have all kind of coalesced to have combined with the economic crisis and the crisis of COVID, all of that has coalesced to actually turn him into our biggest believer.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, what I've heard from John Sarbanes, my friend John Sarbanes, who's led the fight in the House, and what I hear from Leader Schumer and what I hear from President Biden and others is that there is a real recognition that we need to do something on voting rights. And I'll tell you, David, part of the issue for me in terms of moving Build Back Better along quickly is we need to get some other things done here. We need to get voting rights done also. And so this is also about a timetable that is really important that frankly on voting rights, I feel like we've already allowed it to go a little too far. So is it a hope? Is it a prayer? It's probably some of both, but it is informed by discussions that I know are happening and some sense that the president is also now weighing in much more than he was before.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Effect on black and brown and indigenous and poor communities across the country. And so that, I feel like, is absolutely essential. The plan here was that Senator Manchin would craft his version of the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which the House passed, and that if it was his version of what he felt was really essential, that he would then try to get Republican senators to come along, but only one did. And the rest of them did not. And so I think that is very clear indication that Republicans have turned to using voter suppression as the next tool. They tried the big lie, and now they're trying voter suppression. And we can't let them win. So I am hopeful that Senator Manchin and others in the Senate will understand that we must reform the filibuster.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, I do believe that, David, that not dealing with voting rights and voter suppression is really going to make it impossible, not just in 2022, but for a very long time after. And we twist ourselves into parliamentary pretzels because of the filibuster. The only reason we talk about the parliamentarian is because of the filibuster. And the filibuster is a Jim Crow relic. It was used by Southern segregationists to stop progress on civil rights laws and is being used in the same way today. And so if we can't eliminate it, which is what I'm in favor of, we should at least reform it for civil rights issues. And that can include voting rights. It can include other pieces. I think it should include immigration, but at least let's get the voting rights piece through because it really is having a toxic”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Which was not an easy conversation, to endorse that framework. And then there are some things that have been added to that in the most recent version. And so those are the pieces that aren't yet pre-conferenced. But the vast majority of this bill that we're going to pass through the House is pre-conferenced. And so I've also met with Senator Sinema. I've met with Senator Manchin. I know the White House has continued their conversations. And I believe that it will pass and it will pass in a form that reflects and matches the framework that the President negotiated and laid out for us.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, a couple of weeks ago when the president came to Capitol Hill, what he presented was a framework. This was before we got legislative text, which of course was what we pushed for and got. But this was a framework of all the major pieces of the bill. It's a $1.75 trillion bill that he said he felt confident that would get 50 votes in the Senate. This was the framework that had been negotiated with Senator Manchin and Senator Cinema and other senators. And we decided at that point to take the president's word that he had been in so many negotiations and conversations with those two senators that he really did feel confident and could guarantee very rare for president to say something like that, but that he had gone out on a limb to say that he would get 50 votes in the Senate for that framework. So I got the progressive caucus at that point.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Critical pieces of the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act so that there is some accountability and transparency around law enforcement and so that if you're a black person or a brown person or an Indigenous person that you actually don't run away when you see a police officer because you're afraid that they might kill you. That is a real conversation that we have to have.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I did. I endorsed Lorena Gonzalez, who did not win. Yeah, but I know Bruce Harrell as well, and I've had a conversation with him, and we're going to work great together. But, you know, at the same time that Lorena lost, Teresa Mosqueda won and she is one of the most progressive council members in the Seattle City Council and took on Amazon and took on a lot of the same issues that Lorena had taken on. Those were the things she ran on. Similarly, we had progressive mayors win in Cincinnati and Boston across the country. So I think that it is very local. You know this. I mean, it is, it very much depends on the conditions on the ground. I do think that when it comes to law enforcement, we have to have the conversation about what does it mean to write fund law enforcement, right? Like what are the things that need to be done that can be done by somebody other than a police officer? And then how do we pass the”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I definitely think that this is a really complicated time, and I think people are feeling a lot of economic pain and they're also feeling a lot of the crises that we haven't dealt with yet. Racial reckoning is real. And we in Congress wanted to pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. In fact, we did pass it through the House to say to black communities across the country, no, it is not okay.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“David is that we cannot run on somebody being linked to Trump or us being not Trump. We have to run on a real platform of what we stand for, what we're delivering for, and remember that every election is local, and it needs to be kept local, and we need to understand what people are feeling on the ground.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“About Congress and what Congress has or hasn't done, anybody that was running should have talked about the fact that we passed a $1.9 trillion American rescue plan. We got shots and arms beyond what was ever conceived of when President Biden came in thanks to his leadership. We got money, hundreds of millions of dollars to small businesses across Virginia and across the country through our rescue plan. We were able to get checks in people's pockets, money in people's pockets. And that is what everybody who was running should have been talking about. We cut child poverty in half thanks to the child tax credit and the American Rescue Plan. So there was a lot that could have been discussed in terms of what Congress has done. I never really understood why anybody would want to focus on what we haven't done. And I also think the other lesson out of Virginia”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, two things there. One, I wish we could have gotten Bill Back better and the infrastructure bill passed three months ago. We had a few Democratic holdouts and they weren't progressives that were not making that happen. But secondly, I think just to Virginia specifically, you are an expert on politics. There is nobody that can tell me that a 12-point swing in a state is because Congress didn't pass one bill. In fact, I watched all the attack ads and the lead up in the weeks before the election. Not a single one, David, was about Congress not passing the infrastructure bill. All of them were about education and schools and unfortunate topics that the right is trying to use to divide us. Now, on top of that, I would say, and I said this publicly as nicely as I could, that if somebody wanted to talk”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Conference bill, but text, actual legislative text, and actual vote on the step right before the final vote, which is the passage of the rule, and assigned agreement that we will vote this through the House this week. And so for me, it feels very clear that had we not done all of that, we would not have a Build Back Better Act. It wouldn't have been discussed. We wouldn't have had language. We certainly wouldn't have a vote in the House and it wouldn't be largely pre-conferenced as it is before it goes to the Senate.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Saying we're going to wait until next year, we literally just care about the infrastructure bill. And so it became clear that what we needed to do was jumpstart the negotiation on Build Back Better. That's the reconciliation bill that you're talking about. And so that's exactly what happened. By holding up the infrastructure bill not just once, but actually twice, we were able to jumpstart the negotiations so that the ultimate bill, which while it was smaller than the original $3.5 trillion bill, it actually contained all of our progressive priorities that we had laid out six months before. There were deep negotiations between the two senators who were still not on board for the reconciliation bill and the White House. There were deep negotiations between the Progressive Caucus and the White House, and we ended up with a largely”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I think it was used well, and I'll tell you why. Five weeks ago or six weeks ago when the infrastructure bill first came over to us, which by the way, I wish the Senate had not passed that infrastructure bill and had done this themselves, but it came over to us. And it was on a promise that both bills were going to go together. That's what the progressive senators told us. And that clearly then was a promise that did not end up being capped. And now the infrastructure bill was being put forward. And there were absolutely no negotiations on the build back better act. No negotiations had taken place. 96% of the Democrats agreed, but the 4% that did not, and this was the president's agenda, this is in some other crazy agenda. This was the president's agenda. But that 4% had not negotiated on the bill. They were just saying, we don't think it's necessary.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To know when that is going to make sense and when it's not, and you have to be willing to, at the end of the day, decide whether or not you're going to press that yes button or that no button. And that is different than being an activist.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“A button that is a yes or no, or you can vote present, but I don't really like to do present very much. But you have to press a button yes or no. And so a lot of my time here has been spent figuring out how do you get the best possible deal? And it isn't just by sitting there and waiting for the deal to be done and then deciding whether or not to vote yes or no. It's about all the organizing that happens to get to that point. It's about using every tool in your toolbox. If you identify priorities early and then you work with leadership, with the White House, with whoever is in charge, with the committee chairs, and you organize on the committees and you get those things in and you organize with the outside and you make sure everyone is on a disciplined consistent message. And then at the very end or along the way, you might have to withhold votes because it is a very important piece of leverage. And you have to.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“On the inside, and you actually tried to organize on the inside, and you were able to really drive change in a different way. And so that's why I ran. And I think that coming into Congress has been really great. I have worked hard to, it's been a terrible time. You know, Donald Trump has president for my first four years. I was elected the same night he was elected. It was absolutely exhausting and horrifying. And I was trapped in the balcony for the insurrection on January 6th. But all of it, David, is about how we bring about real change for people across this country, that they can see and feel, not just something they hear about, but they wake up in the morning and they feel differently about their lives and their opportunities. And so it has been a transition because you do have to press”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was. I was. I didn't think that there were enough politicians who fought hard enough, frankly, and I didn't think there were enough people who represented communities that needed to be fought for. That's really why I ran. I was the only woman of color in the state Senate when I was there in the state Senate and then in Congress I was one of only 17 naturalized citizens at the time and you know one of only 79 when I first got to Congress, one of only 79 women of color that had ever served in Congress. So yeah, it was pretty disdainful and I kind of felt like real change comes from the outside through organizing and I'd had great success with that. But what I realized is, wait a second, I'm thinking about this all wrong. What if we think about elected office as another platform for organizing? What would happen if you actually brought organizers from the outside?”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. Well, you know, I think that I never wanted to be an elected office. Actually, I was not one of the people that wanted to do this, but I ran for office on a theory of change.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I did, and we built up a fabulous organization that actually ended up taking on the Bush administration. We sued the Bush administration, prevented the deportation of thousands of Somalis, got some of the best immigrant legislation in the country, in our state. It was a really and fought for immigration reform more broadly.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But we did it the very next day. We got it organized, and I was standing there out of the limelight thinking that my job was done. And there's Jim McDermott. He's copied the one pager I've given him, and he's handing it out to everybody and saying, this is Primilla Giapol of hate-free zone campaign of Washington. And I said, no, Congressman, there is no hate-free zone campaign in Washington. And he said, well, you better get going then.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Congressman, and I was terrified. I had never spoken to a congressperson before. And at 11 o'clock at night, I was like, oh, I got to hand him something, you know, to look like I know what I'm talking about. So I wrote up this one page that had hate-free zone campaign of Washington at the top and then some really big mission statement. And then four platforms. And I handed it to him the next day when I met him. and said, we need to do a press conference. We need to establish Washington as a hate free state. And we need to do a press conference tomorrow with the governor, with you, with the mayor, with everybody that's important. And I just remember him leaning back in his chair, kind of tipping back in his chair and looking down his glasses at me. And he's like, and who are you?”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Very much so. 9 11 happened, and I had just moved into a new house. I had just gotten divorced. I had a brand new baby, was still quite sick. Jennick was still dealing with a lot of medical issues. And a friend called me from the East Coast and told me about what had happened. And I pulled a little nine inch TV. That's all I had, David, a little nine-inch TV out of a box and watched the images. And it led me to go on and start what became the largest immigrant advocacy organization in the state. I didn't know that at the time. I thought I was just starting an effort to take on hate crimes by individuals against other individuals. And I actually met my congressman for the first time because I wanted to do a hate-free zone press conference. I wanted to establish Seattle as a hate-free zone. And somebody was like, go see Jim McDermott.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of where they are. They are constantly aware of how people look at them. And I wish that wasn't the case. So yes, I do worry. I worry for them and I worry for all our trans kids out there and particularly trans people of color and trans women really are at the tip of the spear.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I still am. It breaks my heart, you know, and it just is so painful. They were out with a friend and LA and the friend was trans and the friend got attacked. And it really had a profound impact on Janak. They live in Oakland in part because it is a welcoming trans POC community. And there aren't a lot of places that they feel comfortable going to, you know, and I think that that breaks my heart. They have been thinking about whether or not they can go back to India to see my grandparents, their grandparents who they love, my parents, and the challenges of being trans in the world, but certainly in the United States are still very, very real. And the danger is very real. And they protect themselves. They carry pepper spray. They are constantly aware.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It wasn't challenging for me to. There was never any question that I loved Jennock. But I think it was understanding the language, getting used to the pronoun. Januk was very forgiving and gracious with me because sometimes I would forget and I would use their old pronoun. And they very rarely held it against me, you know, which I think was great. And we also just had a very open relationship about if I had a question, I would just say I have this question. I'm sorry if it sounds stupid, but can you help me, you know, or sometimes they would even say, and they still do this today, if there's something that I say that they don't feel quite right about or they feel like it's a projection of or a stereotype, they'll call me on it. And I love that, you know, because it just, I think language changes and we are a product of where we came from. And I think that they've been very good about both receiving.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And understand that gender identity is core to being. It's not a choice. It's just core to being. And so I think that's been a wonderful lesson for me. And also, it's just been great to be able to talk about Jenak openly and have other people across the country write to me and, you know, young people, South Asian Americans, immigrants, families, moms, dads, write to me and say, you've opened my eyes. You've made me understand better. You've made me feel comfortable coming out or you've made me comfortable with my kid coming out. So that's been really fantastic.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well, Janica is trans, and they are, they, oh my gosh, they have been such a great teacher for me. I mean, I've always been obviously I'm very progressive. always been a big supporter of LGBTQ issues from a policy perspective, but watching Jenna go through it. And then speaking about it as a member of Congress, I was the first member of Congress to talk about having, at that time, Jana identified as non-binary. Now I think Jennock feels much more comfortable with trans. But to talk about it from a public platform and as an Indian immigrant as well, which there are a lot of just so much learning that I think I was able to do watching Jenna fully be who they are and come into a new sense of self that really should be available for everybody. It shouldn't be this hard. We should.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To the immigration system and all the, you know, throughout my life, all the different pieces of immigration, which would then end up becoming a big part of my work, day-to-day work over the next several decades.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, if you have a green card, and by the way, it had taken me 17 years to get my citizenship. I had been on a series of student visas and this and that and everything. So I knew the immigration system pretty well. But once you get your green card, you have to touch home once a year. And my fellowship had been planned very carefully so that I was going to come back in time to do that. But then Januk was born. And so that threw off the plans. And they said, sorry, no dice, you're going to lose your green card completely. So it's not just losing your status, but you lose your green card, which meant that I wouldn't be able to come back with Januk when they needed medical care, which they did need a lot of medical care. And I wouldn't be able to be with my husband who was an American citizen. So it was extremely stressful and it gave me an early insight.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I was told by INS, then INS, the US government, that I would lose my green card if I didn't come home right then. And there was no way I was going to leave John Exide because I didn't know if they were going to live or die. And we were able to sort of through connections, through the institute, we were able to address that. And I was finally allowed to keep legal status, but keep my green card but not have any of the years that had qualified me for citizenship. Those were all wiped out. So I was going to have to start again at zero and wait several more years to get my citizenship, which I finally did in 2000.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. It was the worst time of my life. Januk was one pound 14 ounces. They almost make it. They were literally the size of a small squash. And on every, you know, really born at 26 and a half weeks shouldn't have made it. Lowest birth weight baby in that NICU. There were only two NICUs in India at the time. And Janic was in one of them.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And also just explore how I thought about social justice, how I thought about feminism, the role of women, education, really anything I wanted to explore was mine to explore.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No plan. All I had to do was write a newsletter once a month on some topic of my choosing. And I could live wherever I wanted and all my expenses were paid. There was no salary, but everything was paid for. And I just, you know, I moved all over India. I spent some time in Kerala, which was my home state. I spent time up in Ladakh along the border of China and India in that region. And then most of my time I spent in the poorest state in the country, Uttar Pradesh, which is in the north, in the town of Arnasi and in the villages outside of Arnasi. And it was an incredible opportunity to be proud of who I was for the first time. Really, my culture, my heritage, understand it, get to speak Hindi, you know, really understand the religion even more.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Was amazing. It was amazing. I had been working in this for this nonprofit international development organization. And what I realized, David, is that the world of international development, particularly back then, didn't have a lot of people of color, didn't have a lot of people from other countries, particularly in the big international development, international aid organizations. And I just realized that I didn't want to be one of those people. I was climbing higher and higher in the organization, but I wanted to go and live in villages. There's just a strange thing when you're working in international development, you're staying in five-star hotels and then you're going to villages and talking about economic development for the poorest of the poor. And it felt out of sync for me. And so I just decided I was going to go live in villages for a couple of years. And I found this wonderful fellowship that allowed me to do just that. Really.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of them having to do with healthcare, very different, very diverse. I mean, you know, I funded a clinic in Sierra Leone, a primary healthcare clinic in Sierra Leone. We funded a social marketing campaign to fight back against AIDS in Indonesia. We funded a technology to help get injectable contraceptives for women in Mexico. Very, very different kinds of things, but all health related”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that was really, I had said goodbye to the private sector. I was like, okay, now I'm done. Now I'm really gonna figure out what I want to do with my life. And when we moved to Seattle, that organization caught my eye immediately because it was about international development, global health, women's health, you know, going back to my great aunt who I mentioned, this was something that had been in our blood. And with my experience traveling all over the world and at that time speaking a number of different languages as well, it was just the perfect place for me. And they wanted somebody to lead a fund called the Fund for Technology Transfer that made small loans in many ways very similar to Shorebank and Gramin Bank and all of that to health projects around the world. I just loved it and I grew the fund and we had a 98% repayment rate. We never took collateral for anything and we just got to work on the most amazing projects.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People think it's just a linear path to where you want to go, but there's so much that's gained from not being linear. So, I did. I went to work for a physiocontrol, which was a medical defibrillator company. And I was stationed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I covered western Indiana and eastern Ohio and eastern Indiana. And I had a, I drove a Ford, a blue Ford Aerostar van, which at that time I had to put telephone books under my bum because. The seat didn't go up back then. I drove around with a cart to all these fire departments and hospitals and sold defibrillators and did it long enough to make sure that I was the number one sales rep and then said, okay, I'm done with this, gotta go.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it was another, you know, in between business school years, I went to work along the borders of Laos and Cambodia in refugee camps for the largest nonprofit possible. And this is, again, my poor father is just rolling around saying, what is happening to my daughter? You know, what is she doing? I was counting chickens and figuring out rural economic development, but I loved it. I loved it. And I came back and I was like, okay, now what do I do? Now I had loans to pay off from business school and still just try to find my way. You know, I always say like.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. Redeveloping the South Side and really putting at the time what would be seen as racial equity more front and center. And I think that was really important to me.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not really. I knew I wanted to do something with policy, and so my majors were in marketing and management policy. But while I was there, I was already exploring. And I came down to your side of town to South Chicago, met a wonderful woman that you probably know named Mary Houghton, who at the time was running South Shore Bank. And she really changed my life, changed the trajectory of how I thought about, okay, how can I apply business skills in a way that is about justice, that is about making society better? And that was really a transformative experience for me.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was kind of the best way out of there. They offered for me to stay. I didn't want to stay. And I was like, okay, now what do I do? And remember I was an immigrant visa too. So if I wanted to stay in the United States, I either had to get another job or I had to or I had to go back to school. And so I decided that that was the trajectory for most people. They would work for two years in investment banking and then go to business school. And so I did, but and that's when I landed in Chicago.”
2021-11-18 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 467 — Rep. Pramila Jayapal · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source