Friends -

I wanted to reach out this afternoon to share some thoughts about the news of the past few days, and about the fight our movement has ahead of us over the course of the next three months.

I want to make perfectly clear, right off the bat: President Biden's decision to stand down his re-election campaign was his to make. It was a move that took an incredible amount of humility, and I am grateful to the President for his years of service to our country.

I am also grateful for his speedy endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, who I am thrilled to fully support as our Democratic nominee and excited to work alongside to defeat Donald Trump in November.

As a co-sponsor of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal during her time in the Senate, I am hopeful that together we can focus on building a progressive platform that centers our movement's fight for justice and puts the needs of working people first. This includes getting straight to work advancing critical issues the Vice President has shown incredible leadership on, like protecting the right to abortion, canceling student debt, and guaranteeing paid family and medical leave for all.

Additionally, I am eager to work directly with her in enacting a permanent ceasefire and an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza — a conflict which she herself has accurately described as the "humanitarian catastrophe" that it is.

I am optimistic that together we can usher in a new era of American foreign policy — one where the United States uses its power to push for peace and justice in Palestine and across the world, rather than enabling and directly financing horrific violence and death.

The reality of this election is that defeating Donald Trump and the MAGA movement once and for all is going to take all of us working as hard as we can over the next 104 days.

That's why I am committed to doing everything possible — as a member of Congress, as a progressive, as an organizer in my community, as a mother, and as a woman — to see that Kamala wins in November.

In closing, I want to share with you a vivid memory I hold from the days following the Biden/Harris campaign's victory over Donald Trump in November 2020.

In her first address to the nation as vice president-elect, Kamala thanked Black women especially, saying that we are "too often overlooked," but so often prove to be "the backbone of our democracy."

She added, "While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last — because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”

I was watching that speech at home in Minnesota with my then-8-year-old daughter Ilwad. After hearing the Vice President speak, the first thing she said to me was, "She looks like me, Hooyo."

Ilwad, inspired by the Vice President and the powerful idea that she could accomplish anything and everything she set her mind to, went on to run for Vice President — and became President — of her middle school.

Although the Donald Trumps and JD Vances of the world would prefer you think otherwise, representation is powerful. Women, especially women of color and children of immigrants, have waited generations to see themselves reflected in their government.

As the first African refugee and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress — and the first Black woman elected to represent Minnesota on the federal level — I am no stranger to the historic fight Kamala has in front of her.

This election is an incredible opportunity to create the America I dreamed about as a refugee, a country where anything is possible.

Thank you for being a part of making that happen, and thank you for always being by my side in our movement's struggle for justice.

In solidarity,

Ilhan

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Ilhan for Congress
PO Box 33079
Washington D.C., 20033