New lawmaker makes waves
He tells House colleagues pharmaceutical lobbying is ‘a cancer on this body’
SAN JOSE — Since his swearing in on Jan. 3, newly elected U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna has brought up some ideas that don’t sit well with many of his colleagues — things like term limits and not accepting special interest money.
But the Fremont Democrat, who was in town over the long weekend for a ceremonial oath of office presided over by Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, said the most attention he’s gotten so far stemmed from a minute-long speech he gave on the floor on Friday related to an amendment that died in the Senate a few days before.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, put forward the amendment calling for the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada — greatly reducing consumer costs — but it was shot down 52-46, a count that included more than a dozen Democrats.
“It was appalling,” Khanna
told the House of Representatives on Friday. “They did so because the pharmaceutical industry is a cancer on this body, and pharmaceutical companies’ contributions are a cancer.”
Sanders’ wife Jane O’Meara Sanders gave Khanna a shout-out on Twitter, and he’s been hearing about it since.
“It got a lot of play in the progressive blogosphere,” Khanna said after Sunday’s event, preparing to go to San Francisco for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s rally to oppose the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
“That was probably the most controversial thing I’ve done.”
Khanna has been appointed to two key committees — Budget and Armed Services — and he anticipates opportunities to work with the opposition during what are sure to be trying days ahead for progressives.
“This country is so divided and so polarized at this point,” he told the crowd.
“But I will not replicate the extremism we see and say I won’t even talk to the other side, that we want a divided country. We have the responsibility to find common ground.”
Khanna represents District 17, which includes Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino and North San Jose, stretching up through Milpitas and into Fremont and Newark in Alameda County.
The Fremont attorney has not previously held an elected position, but unseated eight-term incumbent Mike Honda in a landslide in Khanna’s second bid for the post.
He campaigned on a platform of not accepting special interest money, building a high-tech economy that includes the middle class, making college more affordable and offering technical training for students not on the college track.
Khanna said his committee appointments will have him involved with numerous issues beyond those core concerns.
“We will be debating Obamacare in the Budget Committee,” said Khanna, “we will be talking about cybersecurity and all military spending in the Armed Services Committee — and that’s such a huge chunk of the federal budget.”
He added that with the new administration taking shape, “this country is in a time when we need to stand up for our values.”
Peter Kuo, a Republican candidate in the District 17 primary who came in a distant third, attended Khanna’s ceremony and said he’s got strong hopes for the change in district leadership.
“Honda has been attacking Republicans ever since he got into office,” Kuo said. “I believe Ro will listen to our concerns, and he also expresses a lot of ideas to move Silicon Valley forward.”
The event was packed with more than 200 supporters, many of whom stood in a line outside the International Creative and Performing Arts Center on Bollinger Road in San Jose for a brief meet-and-greet and a chance to have a picture taken with their new representative.
Prabhakav Goyal said he’s very interested in immigration issues and fears the incoming administration will have a chilling effect on gains made for people he knows who have “gone to college against all odds, who were given hope by Obama.”
Goyal said that while the deck is stacked against Democrats, it’s important to have people such as Khanna in place.
“Things are not looking so well at this point,” he said, “but I am hoping that at some point the tides will change.”