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<\/a>Four years ago, at a community reception in his honor in Washington DC, Bera had said that he wanted to have five Indian Americans in the Congress, including a Senator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is now a reality,\u201d chipped in Congressman Joe Crowley, a former Co-Chair of the Congressional India Caucus, in his address to the Indiaspora gala.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is remarkable that in one generation our community has done so much,\u201d Bera said as he introduced the newly elected Indian Americans in the House to the hundreds of community members.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we need to set a goal of having 10 Congressmen and our own Indian American president,\u201d Bera said, as his sentiment echoed in speeches throughout the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have come a long way, but we have long ways to go,\u201d said Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist and philanthropist M.R. Rangaswami, the brain behind the gala.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so proud to be elected as the first Indian American women to the U.S. House of Representatives,\u201d said Jayapal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I hope and believe that I would be the first Indian American woman elected to the Congress, but would certainly not be the last one,\u201d she said, urging the younger generation members of the community to join politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to make sure that Indian Americans across the country see our election not only as personal victories for ourselves and our district and our country, but as opportunities and role models for others to be engaged in democracy to run for office themselves,\u201d Jayapal said.<\/p>\n
The election of five Indian Americans to the Congress is \u201creally a testament\u201d of the accomplishments of the community, noted Krishnamoorthi.<\/p>\n \u201cFor all of those in the audience tonight who are thinking about running for office, there is no better time than now.<\/p>\n You have role models, we have play book. It\u2019s time to get started,\u201d Krishnamoorthi said.<\/p>\n Earlier at a news conference, eminent community member Neera Tanden said Indian Americans running for Congress and winning the elections is really historic.<\/p>\n Ashley Tellis said the best of the community is yet to come as the next generation of Indian Americans have great potential in political field.<\/p>\n The Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Navtej Sarna described the historic election of four Indian Americans in the House and one in the Senate as \u201cmainstreaming\u201d of the community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a great achievement for the community which is only one percent of this country\u2019s population, but represents seven percent of the doctors and 30 percent of the startups. And now we have five people on the Hill. It is truly the mainstreaming of the Indian American community in U.S. politics,\u201d Sarna said in his brief address.<\/p>\n Several members of the outgoing Obama Administration were also present at the celebrations including the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal and Arun Kumar, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce & Director General of the U.S. Commercial Service.<\/p>\n Sri Srinivasan; Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also attended the gala celebrations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) participates in a reenacted swearing-in with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 3, in Washington, D.C. Earlier in the day Biden swore in the newly elected and returning members on the Senate floor. (Aaron P. Bernstein\/Getty Images) With a record five…<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>