Dan Kildee: “I am proud today to have Dr. Mona Hanna- Attisha, the daughter of Iraqi-American scientists, the physician who helped…”

“I am proud today to have Dr. Mona Hanna- Attisha, the daughter of Iraqi-American scientists, the physician who helped expose the Flint water crisis, as my guest at the joint session and the address by the President tonight. Simply put, Dr. Mona, as her patients call her, is a hero. Her persistence exposed a terrible manmade crisis that poisoned my hometown, and she has been an incredible partner in the fight for resources to help fix the problems in Flint. Her personal story of coming to America from Iraq reminds us of the many important contributions that immigrants make. In Donald Trump's world, though, Dr. Mona may not have been there for Flint kids. She is an Iraqi immigrant. In Donald Trump's world, she would actually have been turned away. She would not have been the hero to thousands of Flint families. She is the epitome of what makes America great and what it means to be an American citizen. She stood up for what was right. She exposed the facts in Flint, Michigan. In the face of bullying, she spoke truth to power, and she persisted. She is a hero. She is what makes this country great. She is what is good about the United States of America-- an immigrant to this country who stood for the people of my hometown. She is a message, and her presence here today is intended to send a message to the President of the United States and to the rest of the country that that is what makes America great.…”