Edited By: Shankhyaneel Sarkar
Last Updated: January 13, 2023, 14:15 IST
Rich McCormick, Republican House member from Georgia, heaped praise on his Indian-American constituents (Image: Reuters)
McCormick also said that visa process should be streamlined so that people from India can make use of opportunities and help American growth
Rich McCormick, American lawmaker, praised Indian-Americans for being a model minority group and helping the US grow. McCormick, during his first speech in the US House, said despite constituting 1% of the total population, Indian-Americans pay 6% of the taxes.
McCormick, a Republican, who represents Georgia’s 6th congressional district won the midterm elections after defeating Democrat Bob Christian.
In his speech, he also paid a special tribute to Swati Vijay Kulkarni, who served as Atlanta’s third-consul general.
“I rise to this occasion to just appreciate my constituents, especially those who have immigrated from India. We have a very large portion of my community that’s made up of almost 100,000 people who have directly immigrated from India,” McCormick said, according to ANI.
He said one out of five doctors in his community is an Indian-American.
The Republican lauded the Indian-American community for their productiveness and for being law-abiding citizens in the US.
McCormick said that Indian-Americans do not cause problems and follow laws. Without making any direct reference to the drugs and substance-abuse problems seen in other communities, he said Indian-Americans are not seen in emergency rooms in hospitals, needing attention due to drug overdose.
“They don’t have the problems that we see other people have when they come to the emergency room for overdoses and depression or anxiety because they’re the most productive, most family oriented and the best of what represents American citizens. God bless my Indian constituents,” McCormick said.
In a tweet, he also expressed his desire to meet Swati Kulkarni before the end of her tenure as Consul General of India in Atlanta.
“As Dr Swati Vijay Kulkarni returns to India from her position as Consul General in Atlanta (@CGI_Atlanta) I wanted to give a quick tribute to her and our amazing Indian-American community in Georgia, who are great patriots, upstanding citizens, and good friends,” McCormick tweeted.
“They represent some of the best citizens we have in America. We should make sure that we streamline the immigration process for those who come here to obey the law and pay their taxes,” McCormick further added.
It should be noted that Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has also urged the US to speed up the process of issuing business visas so that people can undertake short trips to pursue their business and trade interests.
More than 4.2 million Indian-Americans or Americans of Indian descent reside in the US and constitute the third largest Asian ethnic group.
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