Progressive caucus chair Jayapal hopes Biden calls for cease-fire in Gaza during SOTU address

Ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Thursday night, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the House Progressive Caucus, said she hopes the president will call for a cease-fire in Gaza during his speech.

"I would like to hear him say an immediate cease-fire of at least six weeks, is what he's saying. I would love to hear him say an immediate and permanent cease-fire," Jayapal, D-Wash., said during a Thursday meeting with reporters.

Jayapal said she wants the administration to present a shift in policy regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

"I do see a shift in rhetoric. I have yet to see the shift in policy, and I think the rhetoric -- the catastrophe -- the humanitarian catastrophe is so dire, that I don't think a shift only in rhetoric is sufficient anymore. It really has to be policy," Jayapal said.

"I want the killing to stop, and I want the hostages to be returned," she added.

Jayapal said if Biden loses the election in November, it will be because of the administration's policy in the Middle East.

"So, I hope that that the president recognizes and uses his superpower of empathy to empathize with Israelis who are suffering, but also with Palestinians who are suffering and Palestinian Americans and Muslim Americans across this country who feel like they have been deeply betrayed by a president that they put into office," she said.

Jayapal does not anticipate Democrats will disrupt the speech.

"I can't speak for all the guests -- I don't know who people are bringing, but I think ... you're going to see rudeness and disrespect from Republicans, not from Democrats," she said.

Jayapal said she expects Biden to address reproductive rights, high cost of childcare, challenges of home ownership and the freedom to vote. She also plans to watch what Biden will say on immigration.

"I really am hoping that he will lead us by presenting that deeply inclusive vision of what immigration means for this country and what immigrant workers, by the way, mean to this country," she said.