Ilhan Omar

Fighting gerrymandering is one thing. The other thing is insuring we have the right candidates for the people and not the right candidates for the Party.

When I first arrived in the country, I really didn't speak much of the language. I knew two words coming here, and they were 'Hello' and 'Shut up.'

We can walk and chew gum at the same time. Yes, the American people want us to legislate, they want us to insist on furthering their set of values, but they also want us to resist and exercise our oversight powers.

When I was coming to this country, I heard about its promises.

I have been very fortunate to have a partner who really stepped up and have wonderful children who do a lot of things that make it easy for Mommy to do this work.

I want to go to Washington to make sure we really have an opportunity to expand health care for folks so that is accessible to them.

I was a teenager when 9/11 happened. And I really was uncomfortable with many members of our community feeling like they had to strip themselves of their identity in order to mitigate the violence and the fears that they were feeling.

I talk all the time about the eight-year-old me and all the eight-year-olds who are living in their camps.

I would have loved to have heard a story like mine. I could have used it as an inspiration to get by.

We've become the party that wants to appease everyone and no one. And I think the only way that the Democrats become viable again is if we have people who have moral clarity and courage to say what they need to say and fight for what they need to fight for.

We have people who will take votes that they can't defend. They'll say they stand for a policy, but when it comes to vote for it, they won't take the vote.

I had a lot of challenges starting school, and my dad says I would come home every day crying and feeling bad about the problems I was having with some of the kids. And he would tell me to work hard on learning the language.

I've always said you get what you organize for.

I have a great sense of who I am.

My kids have been around politics since they were little.

I grew up in a household where we all celebrated who we were. There was no space to make people feel different or 'less than.'

We can all agree that we need to be helping small businesses. All of us can agree that the cost of higher education is too high, and college debt is too big of a burden for young people.

We need to be constantly reminded that this is a representative democracy, and we need to be in tune to what people are talking about.

I grew up under a dictatorship. I knew what it meant for people to not have the ability to freely express themselves.

I was always made aware of inequality in society, that there was a class system. In Somalia, we have clan structures. My mother's family is ethnically not Somali, and so we spoke often about what it meant to be 'other' in that way.

The house I was born in in Somalia was right next to a big market. A lot of beggars or panhandlers would be in front of our house constantly, and my grandfather and grandmother would always invite them in to have food with us and have them take whatever was left over.

Since 2011, I am happy to say that I have reconciled with Ahmed Hirsi; we have married in our faith tradition and are raising our family together. Like all families, we have had our ups and downs, but we are proud to have come through it together.

ICE has only become increasingly militarized, brutal, and unaccountable.

I am proof that, as Americans, we can embrace our differences.

I know how it feels to be hated because of my religious beliefs.

When I talk about places like Saudi Arabia or Israel or even now with Venezuela, I'm not criticizing the people. I'm not criticizing their faith. I'm not criticizing their way of life.

Israel is an ally of the United States, and I think as much as you would look to your neighbor to your friends to live out the same values as you are, we want to make sure that our allies are living out the same values that we push for here.

I will never apologize for standing up against oppression and injustice in Israel or anywhere else.

I think being an immigrant makes me overly optimistic.

We are accountable to each other; having an equitable Minnesota benefits everyone, not just the disenfranchised.

I'm not easily scared; from the age of 8, I learned what it means to have everything you know taken away and what it means to persevere. I approach politics the same way.

I come from people who dreamed of a free democratic system. I believe so strongly in the process and equal access.

Our immigration policy should be based in compassion and a desire to help the other.

We say this is a land of immigrants, and we forget that this was a land that belonged to people. And those of us who are new immigrants and those of us who come from generations of immigrants have to realize we are not that much different from one another.

I try not to think of my life in terms of separation.

I know what it feels like to be a young family looking for opportunity in the United States.

What I always emphasize is that I am a representative who happens to be Somali.

For me, as an immigrant who didn't speak the language, when I would have struggles as a kid, my dad would say, 'Once you are able to communicate with people, they're able to connect with you beyond your otherness.' That is really the message I've carried throughout my life.

We know that when people are civically engaged, when they understand what their rights are, when they understand that in a democracy you can challenge governments, you can challenge policymakers, and you can... actually shape and form future policy, I think it changes the perception that a lot of young people have about where power is.

I believe in the ideals of America, in liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness.

I think we forget that, for a really long time, this country has been a place that has welcomed many refugees who have made it home and have tremendously contributed to this country.

Here in Minnesota, we don't only welcome immigrants; we send them to Washington.

I think a big part of my faith teachings is to work together towards equality: that we're all created equal, and under the eyes of God, we all have a right to freedom and to access our rights equally.

I'm going from the state House to the opportunity to serve in Congress and serve the people in the Fifth, which is a great honor and a great opportunity... It is something that is exciting to a few people, but, you know, often times it is important for us to own the moment, celebrate it, and then move on.

I am committed to growing participation in the political process and doing it the right way.

I have a duty to teach my people about their rights and protect them from being bamboozled.

Some suggest that, as a woman, I meddle in political affairs and need to be 'put in my place.'

Somalis in Minnesota have worked so hard to get their voices heard in the political process.

This country gave us hope. This country allowed for us to develop our own identity and to create our own home. And we should not look down on the next person that is trying to do that.

I am not a Somali representative. I am not a Muslim representative. I am not a millennial representative. I am not a woman representative. I am a representative who happens to have all of these marginalized identities and can understand the intersectionality of all of them in a very unique way.