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Six Indian Americans were sworn into the US House of Representatives, marking the largest representation of this community in history, a significant milestone for the Indian Americans in US. The six lawmakers are Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, Shri Thanedar, and Suhas Subramanyam. Congressman Ami Bera, the most senior among them, shared his excitement about the growing representation of Indian Americans in Congress.
Bera has been sworn-in for the seventh consecutive term as a representative of the seventh Congressional District of California. He posted a picture of all the six Indian American Congressman from the floor of the House.
“When I was first sworn in twelve years ago, I was the sole Indian American Member of Congress and only the third in US history. Now, our coalition is six strong! I am excited to welcome even more Indian Americans to the halls of Congress in the years to come!” said Congressman Dr Ami Bera in a post on X.
Suhas Subramanyam, the newest Indian American to be a member of the House of Representatives, represents the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, described his feelings, “First day of work! Honoured to be sworn into the #119th Congress, and excited to get to work to deliver results for VA10.”
“Ready to Serve,” said Congressman Shri Thanedar who represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan. Congressman Ro Khanna represents the 17th Congressional District of California and Raja Krishnamoorthi represents the eighth Congressional District of Illinois. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, is the first ever Indian American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, represents the seventh Congressional District of Washington state.
Khanna, Krishnamoorthi and Jayapal – have been sworn-in for a fifth consecutive term, during which they have emerged as powerful lawmakers, representing the voice of Indian Americans. All the six Indian American lawmakers are from the Democratic Party.
All the six Indian Americans constitute an informal Samosa Caucus, a term coined by Krishnamoorthi. When sworn in for the first term in 2012, Dr Bera had then wished to have 10 Indian Americans in the House of Representatives.
In 1957, the first Indian American elected to the House of Representatives was Dalip Singh Saund. He was elected for three consecutive terms and was also the first Sikh. His party affiliation was Democratic.
A second Indian American was admitted to the US House of Representatives after almost fifty years. From 2005 to 2008, Bobby Jindal served as the representative for Louisiana’s First Congressional District. Later, he became the first Indian American elected to the governorship of a US state when he was elected to two terms as the governor of Louisiana. Jindal is the only Indian American to be elected to the House on a Republican ticket.
