Vice President Joe Biden is presented with a shawl after lighting the candle at the Diwali reception in the South Court Auditorium of the White House, Nov. 13, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
Vice President Joe Biden is presented with a shawl after lighting the candle at the Diwali reception in the South Court Auditorium of the White House, Nov. 13, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Referring to the Indian-American community’s contribution to the country as breathtaking, outgoing Vice President Joe Biden cautioned that any effort to stop the flow of immigrants coming to the U.S. would disrupt the incredible harmony of the American experience.

“The amazing contribution of the Indian-American community is breathtaking because many of you and your friends came here not out of some sense of the Diaspora that ended up in Delaware were the most educated people when they arrived in America. As a matter of fact they made it hard for other people,” Biden said during a Diwali reception held at his residence.

“The day we shut things down, the day we cut these out, the day we decide to go back that is happening now, that’s getting to the end of this great incredible experiment,” he added.

Organized alongside the efforts of the Indiaspora, the reception was attended by some top Indian-American leaders and several current and past members of his Administration from this community.

“You are an incredible group of Americans,” Biden said to kick off the festivities.

During his remarks, Biden also found time to congratulate the three new Indian-Americans elected to the House of Representatives. Pramila Jayapal (Washington), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois) and Ro Khanna (California) were all elected in last Tuesday’s general election.

Arun Kumar, Congresswoman elect Pramila Jayapal, Congressman Elect Raja Krishnamoorthi (Image: Arun Kumar)

Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan were the event’s special invitees. While speaking about the couple, Biden asked them to the podium. The Vice President praised Khan for taking a strong stand against religious hatred during the general elections, he appealed to the attendees not to be disappointed by the results of the election.

“This is America, This is kind of who we are,” Biden said referring to Khan. “You reminded millions of Americans why there is hope and faith. I will say you that the fact that the other team won does not mean that that was rejected,” he added. “We lost because of awful lot of hardworking Americans who live in areas where we did not pay much attention to. Barack Obama won these people. They are not racist. They did not vote for the Democrats this time.”