CHAPTER 1 SWEARING IN On January 3 2019 Ilhan Omar was sworn in to the US House of Representatives For the ceremony she laid her hand on a red Quran The book had belonged to her late grandfather Abukar He had inspired Omar on the journey that brought her to this new role She wished he could be there to see this moment Omar’s father Nur stood next to her as she raised her right hand He had tears in his eyes Ilhan Omar stands with her father and Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the swearing-in ceremony 5
Later that day Omar stood with her six-year-old daughter Ilwad on the House floor A guest told Ilwad that someday she might be in Congress too Ilwad said no She said she would be president More than 20 years earlier Omar first set foot in Washington DC She had come with her family from a refugee camp in Kenya Now she had returned to Washington to become the first Somali American member of Congress In more ways than one this 116th Congress was more diverse than ever before A record 102 women were serving in the House of Representatives Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland were Congress’s first two American Indian women And Omar was one of the first two Muslim women in Congress Rashida Tlaib was the other Omar looked forward to working with the other members of Congress new and old For example 6
Omar’s daughter Ilwad rests her chin on her mother’s shoulder in the House chamber she had looked up to Representative John Lewis for many years This civil rights leader had served in Congress for more than 30 years Now Omar Lewis and others would be working together to help the people of the United States 7
