‘Perfection may not be on the ballot, but real progress is,’ Rep. Jayapal says

Kamala Harris is just hours away from making history as the first Black woman and first woman of Indian descent to accept a party’s nomination for president. Amna Nawaz speaks with Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the first Indian-American woman in the House and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, about Harris’ historic nomination.
Amna Nawaz:
Well, Kamala Harris is just hours away from making history as the first Black woman of Indian descent to accept a party’s nomination for president.
Earlier today, I spoke with Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian American woman in the House and chair of the Progressive Caucus, about Harris’ historic nomination.
Congresswoman Jayapal, welcome back to the “News Hour.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA):
Thank you. It’s great to be with you.
Amna Nawaz:
So you are chair of the House Progressive Caucus. Tell us about what you make of this ticket’s policies that you have seen so far. Are they progressive enough for you and your colleagues?
Rep. Pramila Jayapal:
Yes, this is a terrific agenda that the Biden/Harris administration first laid out, that Vice President Harris has been part of getting done, but now that the Harris/Walz campaign is laying out.
And I think it’s just really clear they are going to provide economic opportunity and freedom for everyone across this country. So, her focus on housing, very critical, nobody can afford a place to live across the country. Her focus on raising taxes on the wealthiest corporations, very, very progressive, very important, but also the care economy, the work she’s done around childcare and long-term care, taking care of our families, paid leave.
These are critical issues. And, of course, our freedoms, the freedom to vote, the freedom to make choices about our own body, those are all essential pieces that she has already talked about that are big parts of our agenda.
Amna Nawaz:
You have disagreed with the Biden/Harris administration a few policies, immigration, for example, Israel’s war on Gaza, for example. Do you want to see a potential President Harris break more dramatically from the policies of the Biden/Harris administration on those two issues, for example?
Rep. Pramila Jayapal:
Well, on immigration, it was really that I believe we have to, of course, secure the border, get more resources into immigration judges, asylum officers.
But we have got to fix the underlying system. And Democrats have the solution for that. And, in fact, the Biden/Harris administration introduced an immigration bill, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have modernized our system. We just need to be able to pass that. That has border pieces in it.
But you can’t fix the border unless you actually fix the underlying system and have more legal pathways for people to come in. I feel confident that Vice President Harris, as president, will continue to pursue those critical reforms to modernize our immigration system.
On the war on Gaza, I think there’s an opening here. She has been extremely sympathetic and empathetic to the Palestinian people and the plight of what’s happening in Gaza in particular. And I think that the opportunity to make progress on changing U.S. policy and making sure that we are not providing weapons that are actually killing people in Gaza, we need to apply our own domestic laws.
So we’re not quite there yet. But, as I always say, perfection may not be on the ballot, but real progress is. And there’s no question that we can organize towards better policy under a Harris/Walz campaign, and we will not be able to do that under Donald Trump.
Amna Nawaz:
As you have seen, members of the Uncommitted Movement, including the few dozen uncommitted delegates here, staged a sit-in yesterday after they learned they would not be allowed a speaking slot on the main stage here at the DNC.
Do you believe they should have been allowed that opportunity to speak?
Rep. Pramila Jayapal:
I do. I do. And I have made that clear to the campaign as well.
I think, if you are going to highlight the incredibly powerful stories and pain of the people that have been part — have just essentially been caught in this horrible conflict — and I was so moved by the heartbreaking stories of Rachel and Jon last night, the hostage family.
I have met with them directly, spoken with them. I think every American hearing that story wants to bring Hersh home, wants to bring the hostages home. And I think every American hearing the stories of Palestinian-Americans who have lost dozens of family members in Gaza would also feel that same empathy and determination to end this war and to end the killing in Gaza.
So I do wish — and maybe there’s still a chance, I don’t know, but I wish that we could hear that from the main stage as well, because, at the end of the day, this is about everyone being seen and heard. And I think the Harris/Walz campaign has been so good and the vice president herself and Governor Walz are so good at letting people know that they are part of our democratic fabric and that they matter, that their voices matter, their stories matter.
Amna Nawaz:
There’s going to be a historic moment here tonight, when your party puts forward a Black woman of South Asian descent to accept your party’s nomination for the presidency.
You have made history in your own way, as the first Indian American woman elected to the House. Is the significance of that moment, is that something you have reflected on?
Rep. Pramila Jayapal:
I reflect on it all the time.
And when I cast — I was in — when we were casting our votes for Washington state for the vice president, we actually said her full name, Kamala Devi Harris, because it was important to us. We have the first South Asian party chair as well in Washington state.
And it’s really meaningful. And I think one of the magical things about this ticket is that, no matter who you are, there is an identity there that you can get connect with. If you’re middle class, if you’re working class, both Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have that connection.
If you’re South Asian American, Indian American, as I am, you see yourself in her as well. If you are Black, you see the opportunity. If you are a woman, you see the opportunity. If you are a white rural voter, you see the opportunity.
Tim Walz came out of a red rural district. And so I think that this is a moment where we really can unite the country under Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and we can say no to the politics of division and fear and hatred, and we can say yes to the politics of freedom and opportunity, respect and dignity and humanity for all.
Amna Nawaz:
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal from Washington, thank you so much for joining us.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal:
Thank you, Amna.
Amna Nawaz:
It’s great to speak with you.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal:
Great to speak with you.