WASHINGTON: The Indian-American community in this "greatest country of the world" are a success as they have retained the values of their culture, which has helped them climb the ladder, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has said.
"You are a success in the greatest country that the world has ever known the United States of America. I stand on your soldiers to reach for the stars," Mr Krishnamoorthi said in his address to Indian-American community of the greater Washington area gathered in one of its suburbs in Virginia to celebrate Republic Day.
In his remarks, Mr Krishnamoorthi attributed his success in the national political to the Indian-American community who over the decades have retained the values of culture of their country of origin, which he said has helped every members of his generation to climb up the ladder.
"I will be your United States Congressman. I will represent your values. I will represent your dreams," said the Indian-American Congressman from Illinois.
Popular Indian-American philanthropist, Frank Islam, said 2016 was truly the "Miracle Year for our Indian-American community" as it made numerous strides in politics.
"Despite the outcome of Presidential election, it has brought great joy for me because of the substantial gains made by Indian-American candidates. In the course of one election cycle, we saw our community's representation increase by 500 per cent. 500 per cent! Can you believe that?," Mr Islam said.
"For the first time, we have an Indian-American senator in Senator Kamala Harris from California. Senator Harris is a rising star in American politics. She is a real talent," he said.
"Also Republican Ami Bera from California returning to Washington, along with four new members: Ro Khanna from California, Washington State's Pramila Jaypal and Illinois' Raja Krishnamoorthi. It was a proud moment for all of us when these fantastic five individuals were sworn in as members of US Congress less than three weeks ago," Mr Islam said.
"President Trump has already picked two Indian-American women for key administration positions. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, another real talent, is going to be our next UN Ambassador. Seema Verma will run the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. I would venture to guess that we can expect the President to pick more Indian-Americans for important posts in the coming weeks," he noted.
Indian-American Republican leader from Virginia, Puneet Ahluwalia, said the success of the community demands it to be active and participate in mainstream politics.
"It is our responsibility to strengthen the diversity of our nation."
"Our experience intellectual and business acumen should be supporting President Trump and Republican Leadership in creating and promoting American jobs with strong emphasis on balanced trade between US-Indo Pacific Region," Mr Ahluwalia said.
"We should not lose focus on eradicating terrorism and enemies of democracies," he added.
