Who Is Pramila Jayapal? Urges Joe Biden To Change Approach On Ukraine

Progressive Democratic lawmakers led by representative Pramila Jayapal urged U.S. President Joe Biden to directly negotiate with Russia on the matter of the war in Ukraine. 

The 30 House Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus signed a letter appreciating Biden's commitment and at the same time asked to shift the U.S. approach to the Ukraine issue. 

In the letter, lawmakers pointed out that diplomatic efforts should be included in the U.S. approach to end the war that has had a catastrophic toll on the Ukrainian people. It is also threatening global food and poverty crises through rising fuel and grain costs. 

Further, lawmakers added, "As legislators responsible for the expenditure of tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in military assistance in the conflict. We believe such involvement in this war also creates a responsibility for the United States to seriously explore all possible avenues, including direct engagement with Russia, to reduce harm and support Ukraine in achieving a peaceful settlement." 

Pramila Jayapal has been named Ranking Member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee's panel on Immigration, making her the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role.

Who is Pramila Jayapal?

• Pramila Jayapal is an American politician working as the U.S. representative from Washington's 7th congressional district since 2017.
• She is a member of the Democratic Party and represents most of Seattle and a few suburban areas of King County. She represented the 37th legislative district in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2017. 
• Jayapal became the first Indian-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and the district's first female member of Congress.
• She won the election to the House of Representatives on November 9, 2022. She wrote, "I am grateful to the people of Washington's 7th Congressional District for sending me back to Congress.
• Most of her life before politics was as a civil rights activist. She served as the executive director of OneAmerica, a pro-immigrant advocacy group until 2012.  
• She also established the organisation called Hate Free Zone, after the September 11 attacks. 
• Jayapal co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus from 2019 to 2021 and serves both the Judiciary Committee and Budget Committee.
• Jayapal was a financial analyst with PaineWebber after graduating from college. Later, she worked in sales and marketing for a medical company before moving into the public sector in 1991. 
• Jayapal also introduced a bill to urge India to lift curbs on communications in Kashmir in December 2019. 
• She was born into a Malayali family in Chennai, India, to Maya Jayapal, a writer, and Jayapal Menon, a marketing professional. 
• Most of her childhood was spent in Indonesia and Singapore. Later immigrated to the U.S. in 1982, at age 16, to attend college. She graduated from Georgetown University and did MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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