Pramila Jayapal[a] (born September 21, 1965)[1] is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Washington's 7th congressional district since 2017.

Before entering electoral politics, Jayapal was a Seattle-based civil rights activist, serving until 2012 as the executive director of OneAmerica, a pro-immigrant advocacy group.

Hate Free Zone registered new American citizens to vote and lobbied on immigration reform and related issues.

[13][14] On June 29, 2018, Jayapal participated in Women Disobey and the sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building to protest the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" approach to illegal immigration.

[18] After State Senator Adam Kline announced his retirement in early 2014, Jayapal entered the race to succeed him.

She was endorsed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray[11] and won more than 51% of the vote in the August 5 primary, out of a field of six candidates.

[23] In January 2016, Jayapal declared her candidacy for Congress in Washington's 7th congressional district, after Representative Jim McDermott announced his retirement.

[25] On August 2, Jayapal finished first in the top-two primary, alongside state representative Brady Walkinshaw, also a Democrat.

Jayapal's office responded with a statement calling the allegations "sexist", "ugly stereotypes", and lacking context.

Later, she apologized for the remarks and issued a statement criticizing the government of Benjamin Netanyahu as "extreme right-wing" and said it had "engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies".

"[45][46] On April 25, 2018, 57 members of the House of Representatives, including Jayapal,[47] released a condemnation of Holocaust distortion in Ukraine and Poland.

[47] In April 2019, after the House passed the resolution withdrawing American support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Jayapal was one of nine lawmakers to sign a letter to Trump requesting a meeting with him and urging him to sign "Senate Joint Resolution 7, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973 to end unauthorized US military participation in the Saudi-led coalition's armed conflict against Yemen's Houthi forces, initiated in 2015 by the Obama administration."

They asserted the "Saudi-led coalition's imposition of an air-land-and-sea blockade as part of its war against Yemen’s Houthis has continued to prevent the unimpeded distribution of these vital commodities, contributing to the suffering and death of vast numbers of civilians throughout the country" and that Trump's approval of the resolution through his signing would give a "powerful signal to the Saudi-led coalition to bring the four-year-old war to a close".

[52] Later that month, the Foreign Minister of India canceled a meeting with U.S. lawmakers, citing Jayapal's inclusion on the invitee list.

[54] An October 24, 2022, letter, led by Jayapal and signed by 30 progressive Democrats, called on President Biden to pursue negotiations with Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine.

[58] She, Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan attempted to reduce the size of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, but their motion failed 93-324.

It represented the continuation of progressives' long-term campaign in Congress to introduce a guaranteed health care system.

[68] Jayapal is a co-sponsor of legislation intended to make public colleges and universities free for most families and significantly reduce student debt.

[69] Jayapal is a supporter of Illinois Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García's New Way Forward Act, which calls for immigration reform.

[75] She initially lost her Green Card when she gave birth prematurely in India and was unable to return in time to maintain Permanent Resident status.

In a statement released after her diagnosis, she criticized her Republican colleagues for refusing to wear masks when members of Congress were placed on lockdown during the 2021 United States Capitol attack.