Speech about an immigrant constituent/Annotated

Thank you. Thank you Madam Speaker.

Today, I rise to tell the story of one of my constituents: Yahey Obeid. Mr. Obeid was born in and came to the United States with he was eight years old. His childhood dream was to become a pilot and he knew and felt that in the United States, all things are possible and his. Mr. Obeid's dream did come true. He's been a federal employee for 14 years, has two children, and a mortgage for his home in the Morris Parks neighborhood of the Bronx. He studied hard, got his pilot's license, and is now an air traffic controller supervisor at in New York City.

I spoke with Mr. Obeid today over the phone. He and air traffic controllers like him across the country missed their first paycheck this past week. He was telling me about how stressful his job is. Every single day, air traffic controllers have thousands of people's lives in their hands, with weather changes, flight delays, staffing complexities, and a myriad of other issues, their days almost never go exactly to plan. His job is to find solutions, analyze and adapt in real time to keep people safe in one of the busiest air spaces in the United States and the world. And it is terrifying to think that almost every single air traffic controller in the United States is currently distracted at work because they don't know when their next paycheck is coming.

Federal workers' jobs are stressful enough. The rise in New York City's cost of living is stressful enough. The fact that Mr. Obeid's family cannot be reunified due to fears over the is stressful enough. His is stressful enough. The anti-immigrant sentiment of this administration is stressful enough. And the truth of this shutdown is that it's actually not about a, it is not about the border, and it is certainly not about the well-being of everyday Americans. The truth is, this shut down is about the erosion of American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms. It is not normal to hold 800,000 workers' paychecks hostage. It is not normal to shut down the government we we don't get what we want. It is not normal for public servants to run away and hide from the public that they serve. And it is certainly not normal to starve the people we serve for a proposal that is wildly unpopular among the American people. Each and every member of this body has a responsibility to this nation and to everyone in the United States of America, whether they voted for us or not. And this president shares in that responsibility as well, which means that he has a responsibility to my constituent Mr. Obeid. President Trump has a responsibility to all air traffic controllers, inspectors,  workers, and he has a responsibility to maintain the basic functioning of the.

Thank you very much. Madam Speaker, I yield my time.

Annotations
This is the first speech given by Ocasio-Cortez after her inauguration into the. She is preceded by two members of the informal group :  and.

TimedText
1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 [Ilhan Omar]: Madam Speaker, I yield back.

2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,000 [Rashida Tlaib]: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:14,000 [Tlaib]: I yield to the gentlewoman from Bronx, New York

4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,000 [Tlaib]: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,000 [Ocasio-Cortez]:Thank you. Thank you Madam Speaker.

6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Today, I rise to tell the story

7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,000 of one of my constituents: Yahey Obeid.

8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,000 Mr. Obeid was born in Yemen

9 00:00:29,000 ---> 00:00:32,000 and came to the United States with he was eight years old.

10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,000 His childhood dream was to become a pilot

11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,000 and he knew and felt that in the United States,

12 00:00:38,000 --> 00:42:00,000 all things are possible and his dream could come true.

13 00:42:00,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Mr. Obeid's dream did come true.

14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000 He's been a federal employee for 14 years,

15 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,000 has two children, and a mortgage for his home

16 00:00:52 --> 00:00:55,000 in the Morris Parks neighborhood of the Bronx.

17 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,000 He studied hard, got his pilot's license,

18 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,000 and is now an air traffic controller supervisor

19 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,000 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

20 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,000 I spoke with Mr. Obeid today over the phone.

21 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:13,000 He and air traffic controllers like him across the country

22 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,000 missed their first paycheck this past week.

23 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 He was telling me about how stressful his job is.

24 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,000 Every single day, air traffic controllers have

25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000 thousands of people's lives in their hands,

26 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000 with weather changes, flight delays, staffing complexities,

27 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,500 and a myriad of other issues, their days almost never

28 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:34,000 go exactly to plan.

29 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:41,000 His job is to find solutions, analyze and adapt in real time

30 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000 to keep people safe in one of the busiest air spaces

31 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,000 in the United States and the world.

32 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,000 And it is terrifying to think that almost every single

33 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000 air traffic controller in the United States is currently

34 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,000 distracted at work because they don't know

35 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,000 when their next paycheck is coming.

36 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Federal workers' jobs are stressful enough.

37 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:07,000 The rise in New York City's cost of living is stressful enough.

38 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,000 The fact that Mr. Obeid's family cannot be reunified

39 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,000 due to fears over the Muslim ban is stressful enough.

40 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:19,000 His several-thousand-dollar-a-month Bronx mortgage is stressful enough.

41 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:24,000 The anti-immigrant sentiment of this administration is stressful enough.

42 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:29,000 And the truth of this shutdown is that it's actually not about a wall,

43 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,000 it is not about the border, and it is certainly not

44 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,000 about the well-being of everyday Americans.

45 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40 The truth is, this shut down is about the erosion of

46 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:46,000 American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms.

47 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,000 It is not normal to hold 800,000 workers' paychecks hostage.

48 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55 It is not normal to shut down the government we we don't get what we want.

49 00:02:55 --> 00:02:59,500 It is not normal for public servants to run away and hide

50 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:02,000 from the public that they serve.

51 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,000 And it is certainly not normal to starve the people we serve

52 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:11,000 for a proposal that is wildly unpopular among the American people.

53 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,000 Each and every member of this body has a responsibility

54 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,000 to this nation and to everyone in the United States of America,

55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,000 whether they voted for us or not.

56 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,000 And this president shares in that responsibility as well,

57 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,500 which means that he has a responsibility to my constituent Mr. Obeid.

58 00:03:29,500 --> 00:03:34,000 President Trump has a responsibility to all air traffic controllers,

59 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:40,000 FDA inspectors, TSA workers, and he has a responsibility

60 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 to maintain the basic functioning of the United States government.

61 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Thank you very much. Madam Speaker, I yield my time.