No Minnesotan should ever experience preventable health risks from breathing polluted air or from drinking unsafe water.

I know that when we interact with those we fear and hate, we will find commonality.

There are a few things that we can do. One of them is that we can increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities. So, 70 percent, 80 percent, we've had it as high as 90 percent.

The one percent must pay their fair share.

When people were selling the politics of fear and division and destruction, we were talking about hope. We were talking about the politics of joy.

One night, militia tried to break into our home, and the exterior was riddled with bullets.

I find hope in knowing that I belong to a state that has a lot of people who are champions of change and progress; that we will rise up and fight for justice and equality; that, ultimately, love will trump hate.

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

Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive.

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

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

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

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

My kids have been around politics since they were little.

I have a great sense of who I am.

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

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

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

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

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

I think my faith as a Muslim is very important. One of the core values is that you are always trying to build consensus. So when it comes to figuring out if something is permissible or not in Islam, it's usually a discussion, and people have to come to a consensus in order for something to be approved.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think being an immigrant makes me overly optimistic.

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

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

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

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

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