“When I talk about places like Saudi Arabia or Israel or even now with ...” — Ilhan Omar Quote

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.

American hate is not new - and it is not scarce.

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

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

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.'

I would like to see evolution in my country, not revolution. It is much better for us to work together with the government to transform Saudi Arabia for the future.

I strongly believe that we would be amiss to cut ourselves off from Saudi Arabia without expending every effort to avert disaster.

Being gay in San Francisco is fun. Being gay in Saudi Arabia - that's a whole other matter.

Saudi Arabia supplies much oil to the U.S. And it is the world's largest consumer of American weaponry.

When I speak of the fear, intimidation, arrests, and public shaming of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare to speak their minds, and then I tell you that I'm from Saudi Arabia, are you surprised?