On the recordDecember 19, 2019
As we, today, close this year's legislative session, I am grateful to reflect on significant opportunities experienced in 2019. My highlight was my continued association with India as former co- chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, continuing my family's 75-year appreciation of India. In August, I visited Mumbai to pay respects at the locations of the Islamic extremist attacks of November 26, 2018, the Indian equivalent of the 9/11 mass murder. The Independence Day address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi was inspiring on August 15. In September, it was extraordinary to be present in Houston for the Howdy Modi welcome of Prime Minister Modi by President Donald Trump. With 52,000 persons attending, it was the largest welcome event in American history for a head of state. At the same time, the Indian Parliament, with multiparty support, voided the constitutional autonomy of Kashmir, supporting the Prime Minister's efforts to boost economic development, fight corruption, and end gender, cast, and religious discrimination. In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism with the leadership of President Donald Trump. Americans are grateful, as the world's oldest democracy, to see India succeed as the world's largest democracy. ____________________
