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He became the fifth Indian-American to serve in the current Congress. The relationship between India and the United States has not been as strong as it should be, said Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar, pledging that he will work to strengthen economic ties that benefit both countries and help strengthen cooperation between their peoples. . Mr. Thanedar, 67, represents Michigan's 13th congressional district, which primarily includes parts of Detroit and its suburbs. He was sworn in as a member of the United States House of Representatives earlier this month.
He became the fifth Indian American to serve in the current Congress, joining four others: Dr. Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, and Pramila Jayapal.
"I think historically this (Indo-American relationship) has not been as strong a relationship as it should be. We are the two largest democracies. India has enormous economic power. India now has the leadership of the G-20," Thanedar said. he told PTI.
His first month in the House was quite historic as he voted 15 times for Speaker. This week, he was named to two influential House committees: Small Business and Homeland Security.
"India has been recognized for its economic power. The United States would benefit from that. I think the United States and India will benefit from having strong mutual relations: a relationship of trust, a mutual economic relationship, ... more trade, more commercial trade. ", said.
"We have reached a climax now, with my election as the fifth Indian American... I want to take this opportunity to build strong relations between India and the US. I want to work very hard on this and help trade to help people of both countries". work together with a lot of trust and a lot of cooperation,” Mr. Thanedar said.
Mr. Thanedar's story is a rags to riches story. He came to the United States when he was 24 years old, primarily to escape the poverty and financial difficulties he and his family faced.
Noting that he grew up poor in India, he said his home had no running water, often no electricity, and the entire family of six siblings and parents lived together in one house.
"There were times when we didn't know where our next meal would come from. Having grown up poor, having had the struggles that I've had, I understand the struggles of working families, I understand the tough decisions they need to make," she said.
American Indians have contributed immensely to the growth and success of the United States and that is great, he said.
"We have some of the best doctors. We have some of the best business people, academics... But we also have as an immigrant, as a naturalized US citizen, a responsibility beyond economic success, to "Beyond achieving our American dream." We also have an obligation to give back,” he said.
Thanedar, a businessman turned politician, said he wanted to spend the rest of his life serving the people of the country.
As a lawmaker, he said his priority areas were education, poverty alleviation and health care. The riding it comes from has a large number of people living in poverty.
In short, it improves the quality of life. Covid-19 has hit the city of Detroit hard, especially the black and Latino communities, he said.
“What Covid has done is show us that in a nation as rich as the United States we have poverty, my district has 25% of people at or below the poverty line. We have this huge wealth gap,” he said, while criticizing Republicans. for giving tax breaks to the rich, which didn't help either.
He said that the lives of people at the bottom of the economic ladder had not changed in decades.
"We really need to approach it in a totally different way. We need to create opportunities at the bottom...that means business training...We need to create a skill set so that people can get good jobs. We have to start working on that, we have to create health insurance, we have to decouple health insurance from employment,” he said.
Thanedar said that regardless of employment status, one should have health coverage and no one should worry if a major health care crisis puts them out of work.
"No one has to worry, if they're going to pay for insulin or prescription drugs, or if they're going to pay for heat, or if they're going to pay for food, we shouldn't be making these guys our residents shouldn't have to make those decisions I manage in a nation that is the richest nation in the world,” he said.
"It just shows something that we need to pay more attention to, we need to look at it differently. Not the top-down economy, but rather rising from the bottom up and creating opportunities. Opportunities like entrepreneurship," he said.
“So we have to work on economic issues, first and foremost. Then we can talk about other equally important issues, such as the right to vote. We have to make sure that everyone has the freedom and ability to vote,” Mr. Thanedar said. .
