Transcripts For CSPAN3 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee National Convention 20171016

Red eye from california to here to be with us and then taking the flight right away back. Unfortunately, his airplane had mechanical problems and he was unable to make his connection in chicago, but we have two of the young africanamerican dc aker congressional candidates. Were going to have a discussion about political activism. Theyll talk about their campaign. We will then break down to a discussion of political activism, how were active in your local communities and how we can sort of learn from each other and how to best become active within our own communities and why thats important. To lead our conversation, we have with us mr. Eddie ayoob. Thats fine. Thats fine. So i want to thank everybody for being here today. This is something that adc has not done previously but i think its critically important because as we talk about activism especially on issues of importance to our community, one of the things that really has been lacking has been an interest in members of our community in running for congress or Political Office of any kind but specifically younger members of our community and so this year we have several members two of which are here, the one that was mentioned earlier and as far as i know another candidate in arizona. There might even be a few others from around the country but were fortunate enough to have these two very talented and wellknown within their respective communities inside michigan and california but part of our job today is going to be get them better known outside their community. Ive asked them to introduce themselves at the outset and give you a little sense as to why they decided to run for congress. Theyll be plenty of time for them to talk about why theyre better than the other folks in the race, whether at the primary level or if they progress out of the primary which we hope to the general but in the opening comments, if you could just focus on a little bit of your background, let everybody get a better sense of who you are as individuals and then why you decided to take this plunge which i would say as someone who has worked in politics for now over 20 years, choosing to run for congress in particular is not an easy decision. It is not something that is taken lightly and these two people are going to have to work very hard over the course of the next year and a half. Its tough. It involves raising money and shoe leather, going to potluck dinners, talking to people who will scream in your face. You know youll never get your vote but you got to sit there and put the smile on your face and deal with them professionally because thats what being a member of congress is all about. Having said all of that, lets lets turn it over to them and get their background. Great. Thank you. Thank you for having me. My name is fahrouz saad. Im running for congresss michigans 11th district and i often tell me that my story started a little over 16 years ago because i was a freshman on 9 11. I was at the university of michigan and that day my parents came and picked me up and took me home because they were afraid of any antimuslim or antiarab backlash that might occur on campus that day. And honestly up until that day, i had no idea that this was how ar abamericans or even muslims around the world were regarded. I had no idea that this was a stereotype specifically of our community here in america, and so i didnt know what i was going back to for when i returned to campus, but what i went back to is what really had a lasting effect on the rest of my life, because when i got back to my dorm room that day, my roommates, my friends, new friends by that for that regard and some of my neighbors had kind of congregated around my dorm room together and they were there to welcome me back and we all just kind of really reassured one another that there was there was nothing to be afraid of. That we were in this together and that no matter what we would all be safe on campus and there didnt end up being any problems on campus and we were all okay, but that was so comforting for me because it took me back to what i already knew america was about and what i already believed this country was about. And bringing me here today that is the america that i see as being threatened and that is the america that i want to fight for and that i know other people want us to fight for and that i know Americans Still believe in and want to see elected representatives who believe in an america in which people come together and we work with one another toward a common cause. So im the daughter of lebanese immigrants. My parents came to this country over 40 years ago, they settled in michigan in the detroit area and my dad owns a small meat wholesale business and im a vegetarian, so i oven tell people our house is an example of how we all can get along, when a meat man can raise a vegetarian daughter it says good things about this country. But nevertheless, my parents very much i think like a lot of us here today and a lot of our parents came in pursuit of the American Dream and they were able to achieve that American Dream and i say i know this because im the product of that American Dream. And i decided to commit my career to Public Service because of that exactly, because i wanted to make sure that that stays very much alive for everyone and everyone can have access to opportunity in this country. So ill go really quickly through my resume but i worked in campaign in 2004, i went on to work in the Michigan House of representatives and then i went on to work for the Obama Administration here in d. C. At the department of homeland security. And i worked on an initiative of the departments in the administration that included strengthening Community Policing efforts in communities across the country and we worked a lot with immigrant communities, arabamerican communities and i learned that people when we went into these communities, people were actually really happy that the government was there and that they wanted to listen to them and they wanted to build that relationship but i also learned that people also have many challenges that theyre facing on a daytoday level. Everything from wanting to protect the schools that their kids are going to, wanting to ensure that they can put dinner on the table and ensure that they have access to health care. And i realize that National Security and Public Safety is a bigger thing than just working on Community Policing strategies and working with your local law enforcement. Thats a part of the puzzle but theres more to it than just that and so i eventually left the administration. I first went to the Kennedy School and then most recently i was working for detroit mayor and his first director of immigrant affairs and thats where i got to work on a broader set of issues with communities and helping them achieving Economic Development and Economic Prosperity within their neighborhoods. And so throughout my career ive seen how government can work with people and for people to work towards common goals to helping people integrate into their communities, helping them make their communities stronger, both through Public Safety initiative, through expanding their Small Businesses, helping them be entrepreneurs, helping them own their homes and that that is what is at the core of government and that is what i believe government should be doing and our elected representatives should be doing, working with the people that they serve to work towards Common Solutions that help them advance them in their everyday lives. That is why i decided to run for congress apart of why i decided to run for congress is that i strongly believe that we need better representatives in congress and we need people who understand what that relationship looks like between the people that they serve and that they want to work towards solutions together. I say that im a progressive. I absolutely believe in universal health care. I absolutely believe in Immigration Reform. I believe that we need to fight for affordable child care for women in the workplace and all of these things can be achieved if were working together. So that is what led me a part of what led me to announce my candidacy i announced in july and, you know, in addition to also then seeing that there is a lack of representation at the federal level of our elected officials and really needing more people that represent the electorate and represent the Arab American Community because until were there helping make those decisions, we congressman austin says if youre not at the table youre on the menu and i think weve seen that again and again and so now its time to be at the table. [ applause ] thank you for the opportunity to be here today. And thank you all for all youre doing to help give our community a voice. My names sam jamal and im running for congress in Orange County. Im running for the district i grew up in. Its north of disneyland but south of the city of l. A. And im running because this is the community my parents came to in the 70s. My father came from jordan and my mother came from south america. They moved here in the 70s with not much in their pocket but the opportunity and that wish of whats possible. When my dad first came to the country, the same day he got off the plane, he went and was pumping gas at a gas station down in l. A. Was never able to go to college. His story was the challenge of you come to this country with nothing except for that possibility of how great this country can be. My mom also wasnt able to go to challenge. They both had working class jobs and helped set set the foundation for my siblings and i to have great opportunities. When they came, it was, you know, it was a different country in a lot of ways. You can work at a Fast Food Restaurant and own a home like my dad did. You had programs in government that can help your kids get Student Loans and go to college. And so a lot of my american story is that part of whats possible. Its the same reason and the same story as so many of you and its our Community Story because were a community of Small Business owners, lawyers, doctors, engineers. Were a community that contributes to this country on a daytoday basis and why im running, is because we now need to take it to the next level. We need to be in the halls of power. We need to be in congress, we need to share our story and have our voice and thats especially important with donald trump here. As latino and arab american, i had no choice but to get back involved in politics because im not going to be invited to Donald Trumps holiday parties any time soon. Our communities arent at the table as they should be. Thats largely why i decided to run and in terms of my background, my career has been all about civil rights and focused on civil rights. I still remember september 11th and the days after and the months after and the aftermath. I remember walking to class that day and like every american, just the utter tragedy and fear of whats happening. But i also remember the words that would come out of peopless mouths, the stories that would be told and the utter fear in our community. But as a latino as well, thats the same fear as i saw growing up in Southern California. Because its never an easy road for the latino immigrant either. Thats why i decided to go to law school and i went here in washington, d. C. To get involved in civil rights and get involved in politics because somewhat naively i looked at the history books and the way the communities have a seat at the table is through civil rights. Bringing people to the table, adding voices and so i started my career working at the Mexican American Educational Fund fighting for latino families and immigrant families during the Bush Administration which in some ways when it comes to administration is the good old days compared to where the Republican Party is now. I started there and from there i wanted to see what the other side of the table was like and so i worked the United States senate as a Legislative Council to colorado senator and i was there on the senate floor when we passed Health Care Reform and wall street reform but also when we didnt get the job done on issues like immigration. After working in the senate, i went and took an appointment with the Obama Administration at the department of commerce. My job there was to help create jobs and help us export the Small Businesses and products we were making across the country. My experience working for president obama was that my parents came and visited and were able to go to the white house and meet the president of the United States. Coming from nothing and coming with nothing for them to get to go to a naturalization ceremony on the fourth of july and shake the president s hand because it goes back to anything is literally possible in this country. After working for the president and i was the chief of staff in congress. I worked for congressman in Southern California. I was the only american arab chief of stuff. I saw just how underrepresented we are as a community. Just how little our voices are heard. For me it was somewhat full circle because i got involved in civil rights in my early days in college and then in law school because we needed to make sure our community had a voice at the table. And so being a chiefofstaff i saw first hand the good, the bad the ugly of congress. I saw what we can do, i saw what we didnt do and i saw whose voices werent at the table. After doing that for a few years, i decided to go home to california. After being in washington for 11 years, it was time to get back to better weather. I moved back to Orange County area, and it was a different transition stage because it was Still Movement building and bringing people to the table but on a different issue. And so i thought i was actually done with politics because i thought, well, you know, help add some voice to the progress, we elected obama and, you know, were safe now. Were starting to get at the table. Like everyone else, november 9th was a shock. It was a shock to the system and what i saw was not the america my parents emigrated too. Its not the america i grew up in. And so going back at that point as latino and arab american, i decided i have to get back involved. And so i started talking to people locally and figuring out how can i get best involved and what i saw it brought me back to when i worked in congress and our voices are not at the table. Were in a very difficult time. Theres a lot at stake for our community but we dont just have an unfriendly president , we have an attorney general whose been hostile to our community throughout his career. We have a government where if were not with our voices at the table, were in real trouble. And so this is arguably to me the most important election of our lifetime. Because this is a matter of who we are as a country. Are we Donald Trumps america, or we the america that so many of us emigrated to and our parents emigrated too . Thats the fundamental question. People are waiting for our community to step up. Theyre waiting for our voice to be heard. Because our voice is that same american story. Its whats possible. And if youre fighting for whats possible, if you want america where anythings possible you got to fight for it and so thats where im excited about this this panel and this conversation and hopefully the conversation with we can continue to have because 2018 is the arab american election. Its the election of whether our communities going to step up after having dirt kicked in our face by the president of the United States. Its the question of whether were going to tell the story of being doctors. Its the story of us being Small Business owners that are creating jobs and hiring communities in the so the democrat we have to step up this election but as an arab american most importantly this is our election and so my campaigns about mobilizing our community. Im running against the 24 year member of Congress Whose been hostile since day one. He was an architect of the iraq war and the Foreign Affairs consistent he votes against the region and votes against having our voice. This is a guy who in 2010 during his primary spoke outside of a mosque about the ills of multiculturalism. As women and children were walking into the mosque to pray, their local congressman was speaking about how multiculturism is bad for america. Thats not okay. Any district. Thats especially not okay in a district thats 35 latino, 30 Asian American and 2 africanamerican or one of the most diverse districts in the country. And so if were going to set an example for these guys and say that were here to stay and this is our country too, ed royce is the first in line to get fired. I hope youll join me because this is our chance. My websites, sam4congress. Com and i look forward to working with you and telling our story. If were not at the table were on the menu. But whats worse, if were not at the table with this president , we really are at risk. And so urge you all lets get together and Work Together and have our voice heard. Thank you. [ applause ] the first thing i want to ask of folks in the audience is there anybody here who might be friday these districts. Are you in Orange County, california, or detroit. East michigan. Anyone if youre even remotely close, i want to make sure you at least know who your potential voter bloc is. Im from san diego [ inaudible ]. Of course. Of course. [ inaudible ]. So i just i was curious. My first question actually, sam, i only had the pleasure of meeting you today but ive known sam for a while. He worked for a member of congress. So sam, you are unique in the sense of youve heard this term affectionately arabtino. The Hispanic Community there are a lot of similarities between the Arab Community and the Latino Community. Obviously the clout of the Hispanic Community in large part is due to the numbers that they have, but it took a while for the Hispanic Community to mature in terms of their political activism and their understanding of how they could be involved as a community and its not to say that the Arab American Community or the Muslim Community or any of the other labels the previous conversation we had prior to this panel, but what are some lessons that you learned as being a not only a hispanic american but a chiefofstaff to a hispanic member of congress where you saw the Hispanic Community mature in terms of its activism and what are those lessons that you can share with us so the Arab American Community is replicating some of those same tactics . I think i think first and foremost the communities maturing still. Most importantly its engagement and its running people for office. What we did in california after i was very young when prop 187 happened. Prop 187 was an effort to basically attack latino families. It was not too far off from what Donald Trumps trying to do today. And so what we saw there in the aftermath was the largest registration numbers in history for the Latino Community throughout Southern California and overtime more candidates whether it was city council, state legislature, name your school board, name your position, we were running for office and what that showed was were here and were here to stay. I think for our community probably the most historical parallel experience would be the japanese experience in the aftermath of world war ii. I studied it a lot as a student because i was trying to see how can i help and be a voice for my communities. And what happened there and you have a good examples with former Michael Honda and where the communities started electing people to congress to make sure that never again would a community be marginalized the way it was after a tragedy. It starts with getting our folks up there. Even more so, its using the different avenues that we all have to tell our story. In Orange County whats going on right now with our arab american caucus, theyre having local conversations called hummus not hate. Theyre using the love of our communitys culture and food to bring in another democrats into the conversation to learn about us because unfortunately, were somewhat of a mystery in the sense of were a lot of us are immigrants. Were here and we have to put our head down and work. My parents never could afford the time to really get involved other than to vote and a lot of their friends the same thing whether a blue collar job or owning a business. You dont have that votings a luxury in some ways. Id say today its a necessity. The Latino Community saw that in the aftermath of some of the antiimmigrant sentiment in the 90s and the reason why the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is nearly 30 members today is because just waking up one day and saying this is now our election and ourdry and were going to get organized and with actually as a community the Democratic Party ill say us needs us more than we need them. In Orange County we have four seats open for congress or that we have a chance to win because hillary won them by significant margins. Theres no path to the democrats Winning Congress without the Arab American Community being engaged in congress. And so we have to own it. I think with latino communities theyve owned it and said were here and were going to make a difference on this. And thats thats how you evolve and get more political power. Get engaged, vote and support candidates, it also shows were at the table and were playing this game too. Before i turn to fadrouz with another question, its not just on the two of them, its on us as a community. One thing weve talked about repeatedly is, yes, its incumbent upon every Single Person in this room to vote. How you vote is your choice but you have to vote. Our community is up against it we have to do more than we cant just go vote. If you have friends and relatives and neighbors who are not registered, get them registered. The same way that you would get on their case about not mowing their lawn or making sure that theyre putting their trash where it needs to be, make sure theyre registered to vote. Because it sounds corny but the one day of the year where every Single Person no matter how much money you make, no matter where you live where every Single Person is equal is on election day and its only our own fault when our numbers dont reflect that were actually voting. So it really is incumbent upon everyone in our community not only to do their part but to make sure that your friends and your relatives and your neighbors and what have you are voting as well. In michigan, obviously the highest per capita representation of our Community Even though ironically california has more arabs as a whole but youre not in what is historically dubbed as little arabia. What do you need to do to get our community out and support you knowing that if you do get elected youll be getting elected by people who are nonarab or nonmuslim. How are you planning to balance the outreach to our community but knowing youre going to meet people outside of our community to be successful . Yeah, so the districts it doesnt include dearborn most specifically which is what we think of when we think of michigan about, it is where i grew up, nevertheless, the district still has about a 10 to 12 middle Eastern Community and a growing community for that matter. So ill answer your question but part of my plan does include engagement and outreach and mobilization of the community and because so im in an r plus 3 which means its purple. It can be flipped and it is an open seat. The republican incumbent recently announced that he is not running for reelection so it just even the Playing Field and made this race even more competitive. I scared him away is what i tell people, but nevertheless, it will take there will take a little bit of more than just the Democratic Base to win this seat. So a part of that i think a piece of that puzzle is expanding the electorate and thats why ive always done Voter Engagement and in this district it can go a long, long way. Now, it will take as well appeal to people outside the community as well. And honestly, i run on a message of theres a Common Foundation and a Common Thread that brings us all together and even though i run as a progressive and i believe in universal health care and i believe in Immigration Reform and i believe in Climate Change, theres a Common Foundation that we all believe in progress and that could mean anything to working with the Small Businesses are also a kind of a big group in this district, Small Business engagement. I believe that we need to do more to expand Small Businesses to empower our Small Business owners, especially mom and pop shops. I wont go into the details of how Small Businesses are actually categorized, but usually Small Business means Something Like who can gross up to 3 million. Or 5 million even, but nevertheless, like really thinking about how can we empower our Small Businesses . And thats everybody either owns a Small Business, knows someone who owns a Small Business, knows someone who is employed by a Small Business. Theyre the backbone of our community, and in a place like michigan where we have really learned our lesson and understand that we cant rely on one industry to move our economy forward, we really need to be thinking creatively and inknow va fiftive about how we really promote a Strong Economy and how we set up a Strong Foundation that we can continue to move forward with. Just to pick up on that for both of you, so obviously, we have two Democratic Candidates here. Our community is just like any other community. We have democrats, we have republicans, we have independents. And im going to address this question to the audience at some point, too, specifically the republicans who may be in the audience, is how do you tend to appeal or plan to appeal to republicans in particular or independents recognizing that both of your districts are more republican than democratic. I know sam mentioned that Hillary Clinton carries the district. I have to admit, i dont know the numbers of that district did she carry that district or did donald trump carry it . Donald trump carried it, but he didnt get the base. Even more so for you, youre both running in districts that have historically been republican and at the president ial level, republican for you even though its democrat. How, again, are you planning to appeal, especially to maybe republicans within our community, to say you know what. I know that youre republican. I know you may have consistently voted republican in the past, but we need to have more representation. Is there maybe talk a little bit about how you plan on doing that, or is it because you both have primaries speaking mostly to a Democratic Base, its political. I get if thats what you have to do, but maybe touch on that a little bit. Ill start. Its both. And i have already said an important piece is still working with the immigrant and minority communities in my district and expanding the electorate, who can absolutely make a difference in the primary for me and the general. However, you know, kind of going off what i said before, there is that Common Foundation and a Common Thread in which theres values we can all agree on, that we want to promote, that we want to advance, that we want to, you know, working class families need to find a way in this economy. We need to figure out how to move forward. But also, someone else said it to me best, specifically when talking about our community, because yeah, theres democrats and theres republicans. And this was someone who, he refers to himself as a republican. And hes supporting me. What he said to me is, he said hes a doctor, and he said, you know, fayrouz, you know, other republicans, they have tended to vote with their pocketbooks, but our pocketbooks arent going to matter if were getting kicked out of this country or were being threatened or we dont feel safe here. And that was very powerful and very moving for me because im like, thats absolutely true. Like, there are real problems that were facing now, and thats why were in this. And we have flipped our lives upside down, because we really believe that there is so much to fight for, and a part of that is being able to have a voice at the table so we can protect our communities. So that we can protect arab american, Muslim American, latino american, and other immigrant communities, because we are absolutely at risk with the current administration. And even if we have some sort of hope that maybe it will flip in 2020, what its done, though, is set a tone of what is now acceptable. And so we have to show that its not acceptable, because the narrative also matters. And thats the other really important piece to this, as someone recently said to me, they are a voter in california, and theyre like, well, youre just going to vote on things, right . So i dont know. How does that make a difference really for me . I was just like, because the narrative is important. Because if you dont have people who have that platform to speak off of and who are at the table or are able to speak on your behalf, then you dont have representation, and then theres no one properly informing the narrative. In my district, so Hillary Clinton won the district by 8 , 8. 6 . Congressman royce won by 14 . He largely won because we didnt run a candidate against him last time. When you look at the district numbers, its 50 50. All the national reports, this is one of those just straight up 50 50, so the question becomes a couple things. One, can you turn out the democratic voters and keep them on your side . Two, can you bring independents and have them a part of your story, and three on the republican side, theres a lot of frustration and anger with whats going on. And can you give them an alternative . Because its not politics on firing someone. You might not like donald trump. You may not love your congressman, but youre not just going to replace them like that. Its got to be, can you hire someone . My conversation focuses on a couple things. Number one, im local. I grew up there. My parents story is the same immigrant story as so many immigrant stories. Whether its the korean american who came here, the latino, or someone who came several generations over. These are working families just trying to get ahead for the next generation. And number two, i can do the job on day one. I was a chief of staff in the senior official of the Obama Administration. I know how government works. For our community in particular, having someone up there who can get stuff done and know how it works, i can make sure we have a voice at the table, that we are moving our conversation forward, our story. And then number three, i think when you tie, and fayrouz has mentioned, you have to bring it back to the aspiration of who we are as americans. This is a question of whether or not were Donald Trumps america or whether the america that we all know and believe in. So i think most people get that. You have to talk about, one, thats who we are. Two, also, get back to some of the issues that really unite us. People want to make sure theyre safe, theyre making enough at work to pay their bills and they want to make sure their kids can get ahead. Thats what this country has always been about. For me, i talk to folks. Lets get back to the basics. Lets talk about the American Dream and the economy. Its slipping away from everyone, and everyone is frustrated. But donald trump is not the solution for that frustration. I think whether youre a democrat, republican, or independent, there is that consensus, this guy is not the solution for that. But our job as candidates is to show we actually have solutions. Its about talking about, you know, some of our roads in fullerton, the city that i live in the district, we have some of the worst roads in Southern California. Across in walnut, another city in the district, people are priced out of their homes at rates that we have never seen. The average income in the district is 81,000, but to buy a home now in Orange County, you have to make 174,000. So the next generation cant live where they grew up. And that cuts across parties because its that aspiration of who we are as a country and what were about. When i talk to republicans, its the same thing as i can do the job and talk about things we want to do in terms of job creation, but two, lets get our community back, and lets make sure the next generation can have the American Dream set up for us. Great, so we would like to open it up to a few questions here. Sir. Were going to get you a microphone. This one . Are we going to use this one . You can hear my accent. That means im first generation american. What you said is beautiful. We are against trump and republican and against him too. And you are a democrat. I love democrats, but Hillary Clinton. All of that we can talk about it, okay. But my interest is what is your agenda about palestine, syria . You talked about politics, talked about climate, talked about all of that stuff. I want to hear your views on what you are going to do for us back home because we work on human rights issues, and we need the congress support. Thank you. So ill go first. My opponent ed royce is the chair of the house Foreign Affairs committee. Hes not helpful to our community at all. Hes not very helpful in general to anyone. Hes just there. So in one sense, with someone like ed royce, you know, he needs to be held accountable for pushing positions that are much more divisive in the region and not trying to solve problems. And just trying to attack, attack, attack, and not thinking through Foreign Affairs and some of the challenges. As i mentioned before, hes one of the architects of the iraq war. He was doing that without any thought to the consequence. What we have seen in the region is things are getting harder and harder and more difficult. When i look at number one, when im talking to people in the district about the issue because if were talking about Foreign Affairs, theyre asking, hes the house Foreign Affairs committee chair. My response back, what he has done for us lately . Since donald trump has been president , hes said next to nothing on Foreign Affairs. He held hearing after hearing on benghazi. He was attacking president obama on his efforts at diplomacy in iran, but hes mentioned nothing about some of the ballistic behavior coming out of the white house. When it comes to the region, how i look at it, were going to have to have our voice there so we can be at the table. It does go back to telling our story and reminding people a lot of us are first generation and care and have ties into the region. Whether its palestine and advocating for a twostate solution or syria and making sure every voice is heard and trying to find solutions to some of the challenges there, or just making sure theres a voice in congress that its first instinct isnt lets go to war in the region. Its lets work with the International Community and find solutions that are long term because whats happened is washington to some extent has been trigger happy on a lot of this stuff without thinking through the consequences of the refugee situation. When i was in jordan in 2007 after i went and visited my family, what we saw there was the country has changed because of a lot of iraqi refugees, and now i talk to families still there, they have a lot of syrian refugees. Youre changing the nature of a lot of these communities because were having a lot of short sided Foreign Affairs from the american perspective. We have to think through these things more. What really has to happen is putting a new next generation of leadership in there because a lot of times the conversations here when it comes to Foreign Affairs gets stale and were not thinking through solutions. We cant have another generation grow up with a clenched fist. Whether its when youre talking about israel and palestine, we cant have another generation lost to just being angry and at each other. Thats not the path forward. When it comes to the rest of the middle east, its the same thing. We really do have to turn the page because the challenges are only going to get greater as we start to enter Climate Change and things like that. So when i said if were not at the table, were on the menu, i think we have seen that. We have seen that in a lot of policies and Foreign Policy is certainly one of them. When i look at whats happening and whats happened in the middle east, i see that there has been a lack of representation of people who understand the area, who understand the culture, and understand the people. Who are helping make a decision. And that is not to sound repetitive, but that is absolutely why we need more people from our community at the table, because we can have that voice. And if we dont fully understand, then were representatives of you all and know exactly where to go back to find answers. To go back to organizations like abc, aai, a number of the others where theres policy experts and theres people who understand the issues. And that is whats missing right now. And i think that you can probably ask almost any staff person of adc in this room is whats that direct line that they have into congress or into Administration Officials . Its probably not very strong. And so when you have people from the community who are now serving in those positions, you have that direct line of communication to be able to influence that policy. To be able to fight for to be able to argue that diplomacy is the answer and not war. To be able to make others understand how we can actually get to a twostate solution. And you know, i dont even know what the answer is in syria anymore, but i will say that i believe its gotten to this point because we werent at the table. Because you didnt have people making informed decisions and really understanding the dynamics in syria on the ground and what was happening. So i just you know, the answer isnt, though, to give up or to say its never going to change. Because i think that its gotten to this point because we havent had that active of a position at the table. And we havent had the strong lines of communication. So im going to interject myself as well because i thought something that you said really struck me. So a few years older than both of you. I would like to think not too much older, but a few years older. I never really worried or thought about my community in terms of being disenfranchised really until 9 11. Having worked in politics before 9 11, i did see it all the time. It was a little before 9 11, when i came to the hill if you were too out spoken as arab american, you ran the risk of not getting certain jobs in the state department or certain places in the government, but it was really 9 11 that brought all of that home. But what i would like to emphasize to everyone, whether your primary issues are foreign or domestic, for me, not that i dont care about israel and palestine, not that i dont care about lebanon or syria, those are all critically important, but samer has heard me say this before, and any time i have been on a panel at aai or anywhere else, my grandparents came here in 1889. So i identify much more as american side of my background than i do with the arab side. Just a reality. Its thought that im not proud of my arab american heritage, but what i mean when i say that is to me its Civil Liberties and its how were treated as arab americans that has really been the core of why i have chosen to get more active in the community, and i know you have heard both sam and fayrouz say this a lot, but having a seat at the tame really makes a difference. Im going to point to something thats very specific that happened in the course of the last year. Obviously, this russia investigation has gotten a lot of political news, play, what have you. If you recall one of the points during the investigation when you were talking about the unmasking, if that rings any bells to anybody in terms of when wiretapped communications, they might be wiretapping somebody based on a fisa warrant from overseas or what have you, and then you unmask the people with whom that particular foreign contact was speaking, and michael flynn, the former National Security adviser, got caught up in that. All of a sudden, there was this outcry about unmasking because somebody that was a political ally of certain people in congress was unmasked. When that happens to our community all the time. But there was nobody, literally, nobody at the table right after 9 11 talking about how these kind of things were going to affect our community. So our Community Gets unmasked all the time, and nobody says a word about it. So that affects the ability for people in our community to get jobs, to get housing, to be cleared for, you know, post graduate degrees, all these things that you may not think about. So i just raise that to say that if you dont hear our candidates talking 24 7 about israel, palestine, or syria or iraq or iran or the split between the qataris and saudis, it doesnt mean they dont care about the issues. I would a personal opinion, of course, but i think someone from our community is going to be better suited to deal with any of those issues, whether its israel, palestine, whatever, just because theyre a member of our community. You may wholeheartedly disagree on sams position on israel and palestine or your position on jordan. I dont know what they are. I think thats what the gentleman was asking. He would like to know more about the positions, but i think just a little for me to inject to say having us at the table really is part of what were trying to accomplish here. Forgive the interjection there, but its something i thought because i was in congress, working for a member of congress when the patriot act was passed, and it was like preaching to a brick wall. Nobody wanted to listen to what i was saying, and now all of the things that are happening that were seeing, you know, anyway. Ive said that. Please. Sorry. First of all, im sorry, edward, but palestine is a domestic issue when we give 3 billion a year and when proisrael groups actually base or sorry, proisrael groups employ islamophobic techniques against americans in their lobbying. So its not a Foreign Policy issue. A portion of it is not a Foreign Policy issue. We give 3 billion a year, so it is a domestic issue. But any case, it might be misunderstanding of the Arab American Community to think we separate those things in our mind. We dont. War with syria is a domestic issue, but i dont think theres a time or place to ask fayrouz and sam, maybe make it a litmus test, although i would hope they would vote against, but theres nothing wrong with our community asking candidates, especially candidates from our community to say if we help you get elected, we expect you to vote against funding for israel, and if we help you get elected well, thats the one thing we agree on. Who cares what the game of thrones is doing in qatar and saudi arabia, but let me say what adc cant say and what sam and fayrouz have alluded to a little bit. Everybody in this room, please, give them money. Fayrouzsaad. Com. Samforcongress. Com. Go give them money. I gave money today. Go to their websites. Give them money. They need to win. They have fundraising goals they have to reach. We do need to get them into congress. Its wildly, wildly important. And i can speak for fayrouz because i have known her for a very long time. She will be a jewel of our community in congress. She is very important for us to have in there. Give her money. Give sam money, too. Im sure hes a great guy. And lets make sure we get them in congress. Hi. My question is to fayrouz. Im sorry, im not sure if youre muslim, so i dont know if i can direct this question to you or not because its about islamophobia. Anyway, like theres so much theres a really Pernicious Campaign to demonize muslims and delegitimize us. As and theres this narrative that muslims are trying to impose sharia in the u. S. , and there are groups that are very, very active, like act for america and center for Security Policy in this town. And i mean, any muslim who stands up risks being attacked. You could there will probably be a narrative that youre going to go there to compromise the constitution. Im just wondering if you have confronted that and have you thought about that and how would you react to that . Do you worry that that might influence enough people and create a real, you know, hate storm around your campaign . So, within 24 hours of my announcement, twitter and social media trolls were out. And they have still been out. Ive had all sorts of those accusations come my way, everything from im going to promote sharia law to im going to bring foreigners here. One tweet said Something Like fayrouz promotes open borders and free stuff. Im like, who doesnt like free stuff . Why is that a bad thing . So this was an actual tweet. And that got retweeted and retweeted. So yeah. Its come at me already. And i expect that it will continue to come at me, unfortunately. I mean, really, for me, its white noise at this point because i already knew it existed. This is part of why im sitting here today. This is part of why im running for congress, because again, i believe that narrative is so important. And there is Something Like 62 of americans say they have never met a muslim or say they dont know a muslim. Then i often compare that to how theres, i believe its 6 of domestic terrorists acts have been committed by a muslim. So 94 have not. And yet it often seems like the policies and legislation that are directed towards, you know, countering domestic terrorism, are focused on our community. And it often seems like hate and fearmongering around this narrative is constantly geared towards our community. Right . So thats the disparity, that people just dont understand muslims. They dont know what we actually who we are, what we believe in, what our values are. And some people might not ever want to know, but that doesnt mean were not still going to try to tell them and speak up for it. I have been a part of activist groups and organizations and starting some in michigan locally to actually fight back against antisharia law legislation in different states across the country, because another very important piece to this is, yes, we need to run for office and have a seat at the table. And thats where groups like adc and others, why theyre so important, because we need to have that ground game as well. You all need to get active in your communities. You need to find a local organization thats working towards pushing back against this. And everything from voting and insuring you hold any member who introduces or passes or votes for that type of legislation, you hold them accountable by either their vote or call their office and visit them and ask them why. We need to stay on top of them, because we need to hold people accountable. Ill just quickly comment. My father is greek orthodox, so my background isnt muslim, but what i know from my experience working in politics, the Muslim Community hasnt been at the table for the most part. So what happens is its a mystery not just to the broader American Public but also to elected officials. When i was a chief of staff, i was chief of staff for a freshman member of congress. I kind of wanted to get to my other comments that our community has to be the first in the room talking to the elected officials and telling their story. Whether its on Foreign Affairs, were never there. I was working for the congressman as a chief when we were deciding whether to do the red line vote on syria that obama had set forth. There was no arabamerican Advocacy Community that walked in my door when i was a chief of staff. I know from other members of congress, theyre not hearing from their local Muslim Community. Theyre not being invited to the mosque to speak and get to know folks. And thats on us. You know, thats on all of us if were not telling that story and being engaged. Because people dont know and people arent hearing about it, theres just so many Different Things that come your way, whether youre a candidate or an elected official that its really hard to get down to the specifics at times. So it is incumbent for us to be there. You know, after the election, the first thing that should be done in every community is invite whomever is elected, even if you voted against them, to visit the local mosque. Give them a tour, let them meet the young kids changing the community because theyre a part of the community. Those candidates, invite them to speak at the mosque or any Community Event. One of my first events as a candidate was speaking at a sikh temple in the district. No candidate for congress in that area had ever spoken at that temple. Im going to keep going to Different Community centers and mosques and churches and having a conversation because thats the only way to get people feel like, hey, we want to represent everyone in the district. But its got to be a twoway street, because i was invited. For candidates, invite them. Thats how it changes and how you change some of the narrative because it is only a small percentage of americans that have that hate and anger in them. A lot of it is based on misinformation. If were not putting voices out, that becomes the only voice, not just the loudest voice. Hi, two things that are related, i think. One is youre quite right in saying you all talk about telling our story, which i think is really important. I just finished writing a memoir trying to tell my story, in a way trying to influence, but thats besides the point. I think we need to educate. This is what im hearing from a lot of you. We need to educate the American Public because theres so much counterinformation, misinformation, very well funded, actually, especially islamophobia, as you all know. But it brings me to something more socially related about our community. And maybe you have seen that, too. But im wondering how much, two things, one is, our community who immigrate come from countries where they dont really trust the government. The government hasnt done anything for them. They feel powerless in terms of an individual making any change. So they come here and they do their best to make a living, get their children a better future, but then what i hear from people in my community is they want their children to be doctors and lawyers and thats it. And what would it take for them to help them understand that to trust that if your kid becomes involved in politics, thats going to help the whole community . Actually changing the mind set of our own community and taking responsibility for that, you know, as much as trying to educate the American Public. And to show up also. I think what i see, especially in this atmosphere of hate and fearmongering and demonization, and especially i think the Muslim Community is retreating because theyre afraid. So how do you address that fear . So growing up, my dad had one piece of advice when it came to politics. Dont fight city hall. And thats the lesson he had learned from the region. You dont fight city hall. And my response was, yeah, you dont fight city hall. You change it. So i think a lot of it, though, is we have to actually get in the community and educate people what they can do. Because the Latino Community has a lot of those same distrust issues. You know, you come from a country and its not very politically engaged or the government doesnt work, so you come here, and why are you going to get engaged . Because it doesnt seem like its always going to work, but thats not actually the case here. You know, we have two candidates that are running for congress from our community. We have had many other candidates over the years running, and some elected officials. Sometimes like adc and aai do a great job of telling our communitys story, but we is to remind people, our community has shown the ability to get engaged the challenge is we have to make sure we get more people involved. Its that same dynamic of, force candidates in there and introduce the candidates to the community. For both of us, i assume with fayrouz, but building out the campaigns, because they are expensive at heart, youre having to go everywhere to talk to the arab american and Muslim Community to tell your story and almost in a sense nationalize the conversation because were spread out everywhere, so hopefully if theres anything that comes out of this, its hey, one of us can run. I think the more we can tell that, hopefully next election we get some more people to come in. And then the one after that. And thats how it changes. But i think the skepticism is there. But you just have to remind people. I mean, an immigrant is a hopeful person. You dont move across the world to go move somewhere and start a new life if you dont have some hope. It just doesnt happen. You know, youre not a natural cynic. And so a lot of times you come in with a builtin cynicism toward politics and you have to remind people, as hard as it seems to be in politics, as hard as it is to move across the world, you can build more and build toward the future. I think we have to remind people of that aspect. We have enough examples but we have to keep creating more examples on that. So heres what you can do. You can open up your home, invite your friends and families who are arab american or are muslim or latino and who you believe have this maybe attitude or thought process, invite them into your homes and invite a candidate to come speak to them or an organization that does Civic Engagement and Voter Mobilization to speak to them. And its sometimes that simple. Like really, that is how everyone in this room can help make a difference and work toward that change, is by just starting with yourself and your own home. I mean, i often say im a Community Organizer by trade, because thats how i started my career, as a Community Organizer. And if was like a little bit before obama made it cool, so it was like, for me, like i truly, truly believe in community organizing. And sometimes it starts at those simplest levels. So i have been involved in a number of organizations and grassroots activism levels to help kind of do that education and that engagement and that mobilization. And its hard. And it does take a lot of work. But we just have to keep doing it, and we have to keep pushing. And it strengthens organizations like adc and others that are trying to bring us together at a National Level, but we need the work on the ground at home as well. And to pick up on that, talk about the maturation of the Hispanic Community, for example, and its effect on politics. Maybe on this point with respect to both of you commented on a lot of people have never met a muslim. At least, they say they dont know that they have ever met a muslim or what have you. Its very similar to the gay community. And the very quick transition you saw from this country going from majority of the population being antigay marriage to in a very rapid period of time, i would say within ten years which when youre talking about social change like that, thats very rapid. In california, who is supposed to be the progressive leader, voted to impose restrictions on samesex marriage, and within a matter of ten years. Why . Because more and more people realize they had gay friends and gay neighbors and their kids would come home with a friend from school who was openly gay. I mentioned that to say its very similar in our community as well in the sense of go to some of those Community Events and in whatever way you feel most comfortable, talk about the community. If you have a concern about Civil Liberties, raise it, if you have a concern about israel and palestine, raise it. If you have a concern about whatever. Something that shows, oh, the same person that is talking about the arab and Muslim Issues is also the doctor i go to that afternoon or my dentist or the teacher. In other words, we are no different from anybody else. I mean, that is really what changed the dynamic with respect to the gay community, was that everybody realized, oh, they werent these pariahs or different people. They were the same as everybody else. Thats immediately, in my opinion, how the Politics Around gay marriage, for example, changed. I think its going to be very similar. Right now, the political discourse at the National Level on our community is not positive. One of the things that were going to have to change, and again, its incumbent upon us, if you look at any ethnic group or religious group when a member of congress or a celebrity or something says something disparaging about africanamericans or hispanics or gays or whomever, they immediately get vilified by 100 different organizations and their poll numbers dip or whatever. You vilify our community, and your poll numbers spike in certain parnts of the country. We have seen that happen. Those are the things we have to do better at changing. Thats where it starts, as fayrouz and sam have said, on the ground. Quite frankly, thats us. Thats on us. We can blame everybody else, but its on us to be more proactive and calling people out and showing up at these kind of things on a regular basis and getting our friends and colleagues to do the same. Do we have any more questions from the audience . Actually, you just said what i was going to say, but ill try to say it briefly. Im 100 wasp, but i speak arabic and have an arab wife with muslim relatives. My point is, you arabs and muslims need to come out of the closet. A huge, 62 of people have no idea, they have never met a muslim. And so the point is, you may know some guy mo and you have been bowling with him for ten years, and youre utterly clueless that hes muslim. And that causes cognitive dissonance because muslims are supposed to be bad, but mo, hes my bowling partner. Now what do i do . So my point is, go beyond politics. Every person in this room or every arab and muslim in the United States should get out of the closet. Come out and cause cognitive dissonance. Thats the way to change things. Showing up. Thanks. Hi. I work for a magazine called the washington report on middle east affairs. We have congressional scoreboards. Were keeping track of how people vote. But weve always been very tormented, conflicted, whatever, when we talk about arab americans running for office, because will we put a bulls eye on you for apac, so were always afraid to help you, try to help you. How should we what can we do to help . Unfortunately, i dont know the exact dynamic you mentioned. I dont have an exact answer, to be completely honest, but i mean, everyone in this room can help somehow. And whether that is through a direct contribution or whether that is through connections and networks or whether that is through kind of just, you know, opening up your rolodex or whatever to us to be able to build those relationships. So that we can push back against any negativity that might come our way from any group, whomever they might be. Thats a big piece of what were doing right now. Yes, fundraising, fundraising, fundraising and is sucks, but i tell people, also, its true. Im like, building a network as well. Because what i know is possible is that our community has the strength and the power and the resources to support us as candidates and to make sure that were successful. But we dont have the reach on our own. And theres not enough of us who are engaged in the process. And so helping bring people in to that process would also be incredibly helpful, i think, for the both of us. You can tell me if im wrong, but i know, i know that the community can make a huge difference for us. And the reach is whats limited. Yeah. Im not as familiar in some of the dynamics there as well, but what i know is this. Americas great when every voice is at the table, when everyone is a part of the conversation. It doesnt always happen. And going back to the thing earlier, thats incumbent on us to be at the table and tell our story. I think as a chief of staff, i would take meetings with everyone and have a conversation. Go back and forth, lets figure this out, lets find solutions. I do think when it comes to the region, were going to have to turn the page and have a solutionsoriented conversation, because we cannot lose another generation to just being divided and hating each other. We cant. And no matter where you stand on the issue, no matter how hawkish you are in one direction or another, everyone agrees that we cannot do that. But weve got to turn the page. The way we do that is by bringing in new voices in the process. And adding more people to the table. You know, again, america is great when were functionally at the dinner table where everyone is arguing where they stand on an issue. And arguing whats best for the country and whats best for the world. And right now, our community is not at that dinner table arguing. Were outside. And so kind of what fayrouz is saying, for us as candidates, you know, were going to draw attention, obviously given our background and our story and given whos president and some of those challenges. So i think what your function is, help us get out there and talk to folks and help get our backs on this. Because it does go back into dont fight city hall. You dont fight city hall if youre storming the mountain, if youre storming city hall by yourself. You dont want to do that. If you can help us and get our backs on that, it adds that voice and makes sure every conversation is there. Just to address the question. When fayrouz mentioned about the kind of hate she saw when she announced her candidacy, thats going to happen. Thats the political reality of an arab american or Muslim American running for Public Office or taking on any highprofile position. Thats going to happen. And it may not be apac. It may be people there are people in this country as part of the political process who do not want arabs and muslims legitimized as being upstanding members of the community. Thats their whole m. O. , because if you dehumanize us as a community, it makes us a lot easier for members of every other community to not identify with us as americans, as individuals, what have you. So what i would say, its going to happen anyway. So raising the profile of these two and other individuals that shows how just like everybody else they are and their stories. Someone mentioned about telling their story. I remember when we were fighting a couple years ago the issue of adding israel to the list of visa waiver. One of the things that made that an effective argument was we told stories. It wasnt just numbers of how many palestinians or arabamericans who were being turned away at the border or forced to wait for 5, 6, 9, 11, however many hours. You know. It was telling that individual story to members of congress and turning it into something that people could identify with. So go to your specific question, the hates going to come regardless, but i think, you know, in my opinion, its better to have those kind of Human Interest pieces where people can identify with fayrouz as a person. And with sam as a person, or a michigander or california or Orange County, the oc, whatever, something that brings it home to them that theyre not these dehumanizing factors. Theyre good Old Fashioned americans running to represent their constituents and neighbors in congress. Yes. Quick comment. Both candidates discussed this idea of increasing or having more arab voices at the table. However, we have several members of congress who are in fact arab american. With that said, have both candidates reached out to those members of congress . Have they agreed to support you guys moving forward . Because in some instances, there have been several members of congress are arabamerican, or allies who are africanamerican who are very vocal in supporting our issues while others have remained silent. Even with more arabs at the table, if certain voices continue to remain silent, what do we do from there . Let me make a comment because i think you both have contested primaries. You may want to comment on that as well. My recollection, please correct me if im wrong, we have two Democratic Candidates here, i think theres two democratic arabamerican members of congress, ruben kewin and Charlie Crist of florida. Are there any other democrats im missing . No, the rest are republican. I know with ruben, theres a particular dynamic, sam, you can speak to because its your primary. Yeah, so i think were both in the very early stages on this, so some of it, were functionally still scoping this out. In terms of outreach to a lot of the members, you have those conversations, but also theres a lot of pressure to stay out of the primaries right now because i know in my field, we have four different people running. And we have a latino. Hes from outside the district who won the lottery. When he says win the lottery, he didnt win a scratchoff. Yeah. Hes not from the community and knows the community, but hes still running. And then we have another selffunder, and a couple other folks. And so there is a degree of, well, let me step back and see how this goes. Thats kind of where putting out our campaigns early and showing the broad support makes it easier for some of the members because there is a degree of when do you step in and support someone . In terms of, i think, making sure that people when theyre there have a voice at the table, you know, we are both selfidentifying as arab americans running for congress. That doesnt always happen. And so, you know, just that fact that we both see the need for that voice is a little bit of a different narrative than is traditionally the case. One of the other arab americans in congress right now, hes in Orange County, i dont think hell take my call because hes darrell issa and hes running against a ton of democrats. But as this process moves forward, there are those conversations were going to have with a lot of these members, and really its showing is your campaign for real and can you win . I think were both trying to show that our campaigns are for real and we can win, and that changes that conversation in washington in general. Yeah, thats absolutely right. Yes, because we both have contested primaries for the most part, Party Leaders or people who represent the party in any way are kind of just taking that step back. And that is why for me this is my first quarter. I dont know if its yours. That september 30th deadline of ours is incredibly important because it does become the mark of legitimacy for our race. And why its so important and why i know im not sleeping and im guessing youre not either. Because its a million miles a minute to get to this first deadline. And it is incredibly important. And unfortunately, it is a Necessary Evil in this race. And i will say this. Yes, well eventually reach out and do that, and i believe from what i know, im the only arab american muslim woman running at this level. And i would be the first arab american muslim woman in congress ever. But its not just about and i think sam was alluding to this, but i dont want to yeah, first muslim woman. Yeah. I think sam was alluding to this, i dont want to put words in your mouth, but its not just about where someones grandparents or parents are from and they have an arab sounding last name, but look at their track record. Like, from even before congress, like yes, its so easy to show up in our communities and say im arab american when they want to ask for money, but what have they done to show that theyre going to fight for our communities and that theyre going to stand beside us, and what are they saying theyre going to do as well . And like, lets also remember that so were both here because we see a gap. And we see that theres still a voice that needs to be heard at that level. And because we both have fought for certain rights of our communities and fought for to strengthen our communities because we believe that there needs to still be more of that representation in congress. We have about 10 or 15 minutes left in this program. So i want to sort of take the focus off and put the focus on you. You have three people here. Theyre not new to the game. These are three very experienced organizers and political activists. So i want, and we have people in the audience that are from all over the country, texas representative, florida, new york, we have people from all over. So i want to hear from you guys, what is happening politically in your local areas . Because remember, all politics are local. Whats happening in your locations . And see if maybe they can help you give you some advice as to whats happening, how you can better tackle that issue or how maybe you become more effective in those issues. So does anybody want to start us out . Go ahead. Im susan. This is ahmed, my husband, and were from texas. And adc has been very active in the past year. A couple of things we have done is that we had a deputy Voter Registration seminar. And what you do is you go to your county clerk and ask to be deputized so you can register voters. So we got seven people from our group to go and do that. So thats been one good thing. Very grassroots, very local. We have also joined, of course, austin is very politically active on the democratic side. Despite our horrendous legislature and governor and attorney general. But we have made a lot of alliances in the community. And locally, there are small groups that get together monthly and all the individual organizations for the counties are well organized. We come from a small town outside of austin called Dripping Springs and they have a Democratic Alliance of people in hayes county and blanco county. So theyre all local. And its very gratifying to see that there is some more awareness being raised at the local levels about issues. Especially our issues. Did you want to say anything . My name is ahmed. And yes, we do live near Dripping Springs, but technically, were in austin. We have been very active in the community, the Muslim Community also. We have helped them a lot to get activated. We have in fact about 26 million texans. About 480,000 muslims. I dont know how many arabs. Im guessing more considering how many people you see, but we have been very active because the texas lelegislature, thank t they meet once every two years. They met this year, so we had a muslim legislative day. We have over 200 muslims go there, and we had about 2,000 people came to protect the muslims who went to go into the legislature because last year they were attacked. The muslims that were there. But also now we have people engaged in the process, so we work very closely with the Latino Community. Texas is about half, 50 latino. They are not terribly represented in the government, but we work very closely with them. And were trying to get the muslim and Arab Community engaged in the electoral process so people are working with our revolution in terms of organizing and electing representatives. We also have people working with the democratic the Democratic Party, i should say, in san antonio and in austin. And actually, tomorrow there is a fundraiser for a candidate in austin. The Muslim Community is doing that. We have been very active with people who are running for congress and also supporting people who are running against Roger Williams or william rogers. Whatever his name is, our representative. One of those terrible guys. So were pretty active in terms of when it comes to that, but were working closely with the Latino Community. I think they have a better chance of actually getting people elected in texas than our arabs and muslims. Arabs and muslims are not there yet because of all the things that you have said. But im going to Say Something that my wife asked me not to say. But we had so make everybody here feel good about not being recognized or nobody had met a muslim or something. We were having a meeting for the Dripping Springs Democratic Party, and a Mexican American restaurant called flores, which is run by a latino family, all the workers there are from the family, from the flores family. You can tell theyre latinos. So in the discussion for the Democratic Party, they were talking about, you should work with minorities and so forth. And one lady stood up and said, where can we find the minorities . So dont feel bad if somebody doesnt notice arabs and muslims. Thanks. Well, a comment i would like to make about especially members of our community who live in predominantly conservative or republican districts who you may not think are going to be supportive. And they probably arent, but what i would suggest, find some things in our community that resonate with some of the issues in the conservative and republican community. For example, and they may look at it and say that doesnt apply, thats different, but you look at some of the things like in texas, i come from nevada, so i mean, the nra is huge in nevada. So gun ownership and Second Amendment rights, whatever, okay. So if they dont want to hear about whatever issue is the most important to you, again, whether its domestic or Foreign Policy issue, put it in terms they may be able to relate to with respect to their most important issue. Like for example, gun ownership, Second Amendment right. Talk about First Amendment right and religious freedom or Civil Liberties. Say, look, we agree with you that there is some concern about an attack on the constitution of the United States. The same zeal that you have for the Second Amendment, we have for the First Amendment or the Fourth Amendment or some of the things that adversely effect our community. Put it in terms now, they may be hypocritical and say, oh, that doesnt apply here or what have you, but when im talking to members of congress who at first or never agree on a position that im trying to espouse on behalf of the community, i try to say, you talk about bds, for example. Less so about the effect of bds in the region and more so about the ability of americans to engage in boycotts without being criminalized or what have you. Thats the power of the government dictating what you can or cannot do. Thats language they understand with respect to gun ownership. They dont want the government telling them how many guns they can own. So im just giving you one example. It does require being a little creative. It may not work. But its the kind of thing where at the very least, i want them going home after they have met with you saying, i wonder if they had a point. They may not, but i wonder if they had a point. When you raise some of these issues that they may never have thought to equate two plus two equaling four. So thank you for that. I appreciate it. We do that. We do work on multiple levels. First on the local level, the City Government in austin. We are the only we call it in texas the blue dot. Austin. Im talking about outside. So we have very friendly relationship with the City Government. Basically when we need something from them, we get ten votes for, one vote against. Same person votes against it. So we have a friendly relationship. We have a Good Relationship with the mayor and so forth. And the legislative body in texas as well, we have several people we talk to, and theyre supportive and they sponsor activities that we have there. Just to give you an idea about the texas complexion and how these people think. The texas legislators are not the reasonable people that you would expect to be in congress. Let me just be very clear. Ill give you an example of sb4, which is the antisanctuary cities legislature. They hold hearings. Everybody here knows about hearings. They held hearings on that. They said were going to have to hear. We will listen to everybody who wants to speak. They had 600 people registered. They stayed listening to them until 3 00 a. M. In the morning. 594 people spoke against the legislators. 6 for it, that is 99 against. One for. They voted seven for, two against. They dont care about what we say. This is a reality in texas. We talked to these people. We talk to their representatives, but there is a level of i mean, you talk about trump. This is the trump government multiplied by the power of ten in texas. Thats who they are. So we work with them as much as we can. But the only way to deal with these people is to absolutely replace them. And were looking for people to run for their districts. And replace them. They dont care. Thats the bottom line. They just dont care. I will say, just to welcome your comments as well, if they dont care, you have to get the people who vote for them to care. Its one or the other. You cant be either or. It cant be both or neither. And so if they wont listen to you, then you have to get the people who vote for them to listen to you. One thing to broaden that out a little bit, because you look at the National Level, we have a lot of people who dont care as well. And thats why this next election is that important. Thats why we need to get people from our community elected. Thats why we need to have people in our community run. Because you know, even if youre in the blue dot in texas, you can impact what happens in the rest of america. Because theres two of us and many others that are out there trying to make sure that america doesnt look like the red texas in a lot of ways. And the only way you can do that is by turning some of these seats. So i think, you know, even if you might be in today disempowered in austin or outside of austin, keep building because things change fast, but then also, embrace the urgency of right now where we need to stop the rest of the country from turning in that direction and put a check on these guys in washington right here where, you know, by putting people in, you can stand up and be a voice of reason and rationality. Ill just echo that, really. Yeah. Hi, my name is courtney and this is heather. Were from Florida State university. We heard you all talk a lot about republicans, democrats, working class. I have to ask about students because i am a student. We noticed especially after the election of donald trump a lot of students in the middle east center at our university and students in general were very nervous about the ban and what his new policies on immigration were going to mean for them. I know this is a widespread fear among students in our country who are trying to finish their education and are facing the potential of maybe getting deported back to countries they never remembered living in and they havent even finished their education so that would be problematic for them to be a part of the working class. We also vote, a lot of students vote in these elections, so how are you planning to reach out to these students and coming and representing your population, validating their fears and assuring them that youre going to work towards keeping them within the confines of our country and at their institutions . Even though i only launched a couple months ago, i have a pretty steady stream of volunteers and interns who have already been brought onto the campaign and i would say 98 of them are under 30, so the Younger Generation, the millennial generation, is a very important piece for my campaign and for my candidacy, but students dont always vote, and unfortunately, a lot of times they are overlooked at a constituency and as a voting block. So we fully intend on working within the College Campuses in and around the community and actually we have some things on the calendar to go speak on campuses and find ways to engage the democratic groups and student dem clubs on the campuses as well and bring them into the campaign either as volunteers, as voters, whatever they might be. And figuring out solutions to student debt is something i talk about very often as well, figuring out really talking about what are many pathways for students to be able to get an education and get quality education is an important piece of my message and my campaign. And for that matter, the university of michigan which isnt in my district but where i went just outside of my district was one of the first universities in the country to speak out against trumps muslim ban and say they would not work with the administration to hand over information of students. So i think continuing to empower universities like that to be able to take a stand against these trump administrations agenda. Students and younger people in the youth vote need to be more engaged as well. Everybody wants your vote. Everybody wants you part of the campaign. You all are a commodity but you dont always vote. I would really encourage you to get active on your campus, organize if youre not already. Im always happy to take advice on how to do that, how to engage more young people into the campaign, how to bring out the youth vote. I do a lot on social media. Im as active as i possibly can be. Obviously thats one way but thats not the only way. Im running in one of the youngest districts in the country. The average age is 39. Its also one of the most diverse as i mentioned earlier. Its 35 latino, 30 asianamerican, 2 africanamerican. Weve got a congressman voting with donald trump 97 of the time. A lot of this is telling the story that he doesnt fit the community. We have two colleges in our district, cal poly and cal state fullerton. In this last election the 18 to 34 population was roughly 35 of the vote. The biggest question in these midterm elections with Younger Voters is are they going to turn out. Im a Firm Believer as a millenial you talk about the basics in the pocketbook of what people are worried about. There are only three candidates in my lifetime as a voter that mention the word student debt barack obama, Elizabeth Warren and bernie sanders. Theyre talking about the Kitchen Table issues that affect people. Lot of my campaign is that. We have a Younger Generation that has the lower Home Ownership rate since the 1930s, 1940s, 30 . This generation has fallen behind on the first job, has student debt and Credit Card Debt weve never seen in the history of this country and when you have people get married if they have kids good luck with child care. Its too expensive. Marco rubio and ivanka trump talked about child care. No one else. As a democrat we dont talk about the basics of the economy and the American Dream. Lot of my candidacy is essentially based on that. Regardless of what generation youre in know what matters in terms of making sure people can still pay their bills and own a home and what the job market looks like. When you engage young folks you have to talk about whats in your pocketbook and look at people who have the same concerns as everyone else but drill it down. In terms of more broadly, actually was talking to the l. A. Times about this on daca with the d. R. E. A. M. Er kids. What i told them was this is an issue thats going to matter for young people in particular because these are their classmates. You said you have classmates there, so a lot of this, part of why im running its time for our generation to step up. This is the arabamerican election because we cant be sitting on the sidelines anymore. Its more of the millenial election. Our generation has to take ownership of this country, if were fighting big picture issues like Climate Change its because our generation stepped up. If were going to make sure the American Dream is possible, go to school, have a job, buy a home and have a family, its because we are stepping up. No one in washington is talking about these issues which is why we have to be a voting bloc but not just because we turn out we hate donald trump, you a voting bloc because people are speaking to our issues. In my district theres more luxury to talk about the issues. People vote when you talk about what hits them at home. Thats how we get young people to vote and we go into the schools and talk to them. We have about five more minutes left. One thing i want to add. Get active on your campuses if you havent already especially in registration drives. Sam is right. Students do vote but they dont vote enough. Theyre still by percentage the lowest percentage of voters in the population, overall population or the percentage of, i mean you said it 18 to 34, if you go 18 to 25 theyre even lower, right . So, you know, maybe theres creative ways to get Voter Registration drives at Football Games or youd have to work with the administration on that, and i dont know what it is on campus and those are the things you look to and hopefully adc can provide insight on but being active among your friends and colleagues in terms of getting folks registered or go volunteer on somebodys campaign. Even if theres, you cant get out to california or up to michigan, go volunteer on somebodys campaign down in florida, and thats something that adc can definitely help you with in terms of getting in touch with the right folks on a particular campaign, any one of us up here. Theyre obviously focused on their own campaigns with you i can help and adc can help but volunteer, even if its just one weekend. Thats an opportunity, when youre volunteering and youre phone banking or canvassing a neighborhood, inevitably somebody is going to be like where are you from or thats an interesting last name. Lebanese . Is that hummus . Thats all the stuff that you know, really identifies, has people identify with our community, when you get out and you do types of things like that. I just would strongly encourage you to do that we have about five minutes left. Two more people who would like to speak. Ill take them back to back and finish up with one last comments from the panel. Lets go over here and then over here. I ask you both to please, keep it brief. I understand you. Ive been a candidate but not in this country. But on communities organizations, small organizations, even if they are very small, especially muslim communities, even if a few are not muslims, thats okay, you know, but concentrate on them and also be in touch with them, even the mosques, go to the mosque, people in the mosque. There are a lot of wise people, educated, well educated people there, a lot of Good Students who like to pick themselves up and to help themselves and to help you. I know so many people there, especially in a country i dont know money but in michigan, a lot of young people who want to help, and they help a lot of people also. They help each other. So i wish you all the luck and good things. One more over here. Sure. So i want to touch on what eddie talked about earlier about how to speak to republicans, because im speaking as a republican, and this is my first adc event. Im here because im just interested in learning about adcs perspective on things, what the issues are, but when it comes to talking to republicans and when you want to bring republicans into the fold, you know, im a proImmigration Reform, progay marriage republican. Im the kind of republican that you probably would like to reach out to, but i feel like im at a Democratic Party event, and im not interested in coming to a Democratic Party event. Im interested in coming to an event an arabamerican event talking about issues that affect arabamericans because adc existed before donald trump was president. Adc existed under barack obama, they existed under george w. Bush. I dont know when adc was founded but presumably under bill clinton. These issues are not particular to this administration. Some might be in certain aspects, but these are issues that the community has faced for a long time. So if adc truly wants to bring republicans into the fold and have right of center independents, some of the rhetoric has to change. Im not interested in coming to an event to talk about how terrible trump is. Ill admit i voted for trump, my family voted for trump. My fathers family is lebanese, 100 , they voted for trump, but it doesnt mean that theyre not receptive to whats being discussed here, but if the discussion is about how terrible trump and republicans are, youre going to lose them. So moderate the tone a little bit. I understand in your districts certain things play better in front of certain audiences, but moderate the tone a little bit, because ive experienced some of these things, not a lot of what other people have experienced, but in college, i was the Vice President of my universitys Arab Cultural association. That was on my resume when i first came to d. C. And was looking for jobs on the hill and i had an office that refused to talk to me because that was on my resume, and ive gotten into arguments with people about how absurd it is that sharia law is penetrating the country. Its completely ridiculous, but im also a former hill staffer. I worked for two republican senators, and all that being said, not once did i ever see any meeting requests from adc or aai come across my desk, and i couldnt guarantee my member would take the meeting but as a staffer, i would have definitely taken the meeting because im interested and im curious, but if theres no effort to engage and if all the rhetoric coming out is antirepublican, antitrump, youre going to lose people like me, and im happy to speak out on things that adc cares about, but im not going to do it if the organization talks about how terrible republicans are, and things like that. So i just wanted to put that two cents in. There are issues you discussed today that i care about, but i just, you know, for the sake of widening the tent, i just wanted to say that. Thank you. Just from the organization, we were actually founded under ronald reagan, 1980. But we do, in fact, ill let you guys say, we do reach out to republican its. Republicans. Weve worked closely with flakes office and who else, a bunch of few others . [ inaudible comment ] so we have been reaching out to congressional offices because we understand that politics is a pendulum, one day the republicans, the next kay i day democrats. We worked under the Bush Administration. We worked with a Bush Department of justice, and we have had reached out several times to the current doj unsuccessfully, unfortunately. But go ahead. Ill make a couple comments and turn it over. I think part of your comment relates to what we were talking about here in texas, is the fact there are more republican legislators than democratic legislators, so you have to engage everybody. You cant just limit it to one or another. You mentioned when you were a chief of staff that the organizations werent walking in your front door, especially as a freshman member. I would say, you know, if we had a republican candidate up here i think you would hear a more balanced, if you will these are two candidates, just from a purely political perspective two candidates who are running in democratic primaries, so the fact is, that is the rhetoric that is going to be persuasive, if you will. I mean, there is, i will say this, as a democrat. Ive tried to keep my comments here as objective as possible, but there is the same debate now going on within the Democratic Party that i think you saw within the Republican Party, maybe six or eight years ago, that saw the rise of the tea party. You have some aspects of the Democratic Party dont, if you even hint youre a member of congress willing to work with this president , you may not be successful when you run for reelection. I dont like that, because i came from a time when democrats and republicans worked together when i worked in the congress, but thats just the political reality, so maybe those are things that i can say in a certain way that you may want to say a little bit differently, but if the point is that as a community, we need to be reaching out to everybody, because the simple fact is, republicans control this town right now, as a democrat, i may not like that, but if you want to get anything done in this town, you have to talk to republicans, simple as that. So i guess i would say not as someone who represents adc but is on an adc panel, this is a political panel, not so much an adc policy panel, and we have two Democratic Candidates so i think youre going to hear things on this particular panel because you have two Democratic Candidates that you may or may not hear on Previous Panels that were focused on policy per se, what have you, but having said that, you know. I also dont want to ignore the comments you were making over here as well. Go ahead. I just want to comment on that. Its a reality on both sides that our community is not visit. I worked in the senate, same thing. Our community is not very rarely, if ever, out there and meeting with a lot of these offices when, for a lot of these offices when, for a lot of these members there is that curiosity. I think youre spot on that. More broadly, in the environment were in, theres a lot of economic anxiety both parties help create but as candidates we are speaking to building out our campaigns and you know, a lot of it is going to focus on who is president , just as a reaction, but more broadly we have to get an economy thats actually working regardless of who is in there. My district is 50 50 and a lot of it is economic message, if you can create jobs you can get ahead for the next generation. So i think, too, eddies point, like yes, were both running as Democratic Candidates and a big part of what has pushed us to run right now is because of our dissatisfaction with whats happening with the current administration. Ill say, though, like i am not looking to run an antitrump campaign. Im looking to run a campaign on the message, like sam was just saying about his campaign as well, that people are going to relate to, and with a positive message that talks about how we are going to move forward from here, and i think we both said that, finding those common themes, what are the Common Threads. What do we all believe in . How do we all want to find progress and move Forward Together . So im tired of the negativity as well. We really want to talk about change and moving forward, and as someone who has been engaged in a very nonpartisan fashion, as a Community Activist and kind of doing Civic Engagement in the community, weve always pushed to work with members on both sides of the aisle. When we do Leadership Development trainings, were not training people on being democrats or republicans. We recognize the need to be really represented in both parties, and you know, i think us as individuals, just have certain affiliations and are running as democrats for certain reasons so maybe thats come out as more but i mean, like i said earlier, i have many republicans from the community and outside the community who are seeing a need for change, and its, you know, getting, wanting to support me, not because im a democrat or because ive been bashing republicans, because i actually havent been doing a lot of that, but because they believe in my message. I just make one wrapup comment, too, though. I think this last point of discussion really does show how diverse our community is. I mean, weve talked in the Previous Panel about the diversity based on race, or ethnicity or religion or what have you, but we also have diversity in this Community Based on our own political beliefs and our political ideology. That shows how american we are. That we have the kind of diverse political opinions within our community. Thats just what proves were just as american adds anybody else, right . Every other community has those same diversities of opinion. Okay. On that note, thank you to the panelists. Were going to take a programming note. About ten minute break. And start the next panel which is on the media. So hope to see you back in about ten minutes. I. On wednesday october 25 president trumps personal attorney testifies before the Senate Intelligence committee. Its part of their investigation into russian interfere nns in the 2016 president ial election. Live coverage wednesday october 25 beginning at 10 00 a. M. Eastern here on cspan 3. Next a look at efforts to renegotiate the north American Free trade agreement. We will hear from former Republican House speaker newt gingrich. Good afternoon