00:00I am Muslim. I am an immigrant and interestingly from Africa. Today it's
00:08about who gets to be an American. What opinions do we get to have, do we have to
00:15have to be counted? It is no accident that former President Donald Trump led a
00:22birther movement that falsely claimed he was born in Kenya. This debate today it's
00:29about who gets to be an American. What opinions do we get to have, do we have to
00:37have to be counted as Americans? This is what this debate is about Madam Speaker.
00:43There is this idea that you are suspect if you are an immigrant or if you are from
00:50certain parts of the world or a certain skin tone or a Muslim. It is no accident
00:57that members of the Republican Party accused the first black president, Barack
01:03Obama, of being a secret Muslim. It is no accident that former President Donald
01:10Trump led a birther movement that falsely claimed he was born in Kenya because to
01:18them, falsely labeling the first and only president of the United States of America,
01:25a Muslim and African immigrant, somehow made him less American. Well, I am Muslim. I am
01:35an immigrant and interestingly from Africa.
01:43Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy
01:51unworthy to speak about American foreign policy or that they see me as a powerful voice that needs
01:58to be silenced? Frankly, it is expected because when you push power, power pushes back.
02:07Representation matters. Continuing to expand our ideas of who is American and who can partake in the American
02:17experience, experiment is a good thing. I am an American, an American who was sent here, an American who was sent here by her constituents to represent them in Congress, a refugee who survived the horrors of a civil war, someone who spent her childhood in a refugee camp, someone who knows what it means to have a
02:22shot at a better life here in the United States and someone who believes in a refugee camp, someone who believes in a refugee camp, someone who knows what it means to have a shot at a better life here in the United States. And someone who believes in the
02:47shot at a better life here in the United States and someone who believes in the
02:52American dream and the American possibility and the promise and the
02:58ability to participate in the democratic process. That is what this debate is
03:04about. There is an idea out there that I am not, that I do not have objective
03:10decision-making because of who I am, where I come from, and my perspective, but
03:16I reject that. We say there is nothing objective about policy-making. We all
03:23inject our perspective, our point of views, our lived experiences, and the voices of
03:29our constituents. That's what democracy is about. So what is the work of the Foreign
03:36Affairs Committee? It is not to co-sign the stated foreign policy of whatever
03:42administration is in power. It's about oversight. It's to critique and to
03:47advocate for a better path forward. But most importantly, it is to make the myth
03:52that American foreign policy is intrinsically moral a reality. So I will
03:59continue to speak up because representation matters. I will continue to
04:05speak up for little kids who wonder who's speaking up for them. I will continue to
04:11speak up for families around the world who are seeking justice. Whether they are
04:16displaced in refugee camps or they are hiding under their beds somewhere like I
04:23was, waiting for the bullets to stop. Because this child, survivor of war, would have
04:33wanted that. The nine-year-old me would be disappointed if I didn't talk about the
04:43victims of conflict. Those that are experiencing unjust wars, atrocities, ethnic
04:49cleansing, occupation, or displacement like I did. They are looking to the
04:55international community and the United States, asking for help. They look to us
05:02because the international community and the United States profess the values of
05:07protecting human rights and upholding international law. So we owe it to them
05:12not to make this a myth, but a reality. I didn't come to Congress to be silent. I
05:20came to Congress to be their voice. And my leadership and voice will not be
05:24diminished if I am not on this committee for one term. My voice will get louder and
05:32stronger and my leadership will be celebrated around the world as it has been. So take
05:40your vote or not, I am here to stay and I am here to be a voice against harms around the
05:49world and advocate for a better world. I yield back.
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