“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?”

American politician

Pramila Jayapal is an American politician and Democrat serving as the U.S. representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district since 2017. She is the first Indian American woman in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first Asian American to represent Washington at the federal level. She represents most of Seattle and parts of suburban King County. Before Congress, she served in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2017, representing the 37th legislative district. Her public profile is tied to that legislative work and to her role as a trailblazer in federal politics.