Himself on the plane. Hofs goi he was going to take the red eye from california to here. His airplane had mechanical problems and unable to make his connection in chicago. But we have two of the young africanamerican 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 people 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 arabamericans 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 often 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 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 AmericanEducational 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