By: Nicole Yu ‘18

On October 18, the House Representative for California’s 17th Congressional District, Ro Khanna, visited Notre Dame to discuss what it’s like to be a member of Congress, his life leading up to being a US Representative, and how our generation can get involved with politics and become active within our community and country. Ro Khanna was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, went to the University of Chicago and received a BA in economics before attending Yale for law school. While he was in college, he also worked on President Obama’s first presidential campaign. After law school, Representative Khanna taught Economics at Stanford University and Law at Santa Clara University.  

The Government students of the Class of 2018 had the privilege of listening to Representative Khanna speak to us about issues facing our country and the world. ASB school president Sapna Ramappa ‘18 and speech and debate captain Pearlin Liu ‘18 asked Ro Khanna some of the questions our class had about how congress operates and what our generation can do in this political climate. He explained how important it is, especially now, for people on both sides to find common ground and work together. Representative Khanna himself is a Democrat, however he explained how he’s worked with both Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader (Democrat), and Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader (Republican). He also wrote an Op-Ed for the Los Angeles Times with Rand Paul (Republican) about their similar stances on foreign policy.

Representative Khanna really inspired our class with his insight into how imperative it is, especially at this time, to be active in our community and learn about the different issues. He reminded us how much power young people have in our society and why we need to get involved.