Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is taking Tabin Tangila mesu Kamba to next week's State of the Union speech in Washington as her guest.  He will watch the President address Congress and the nation from the gallery in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Just a few years ago, he made the difficult decision to leave his native country and seek asylum in the United States.
 
"Tabin is a great example of the immigrants who come to this country and come to Maine to escape persecution and to make a life for themselves and their families," Pingree said.  "In the Congo, Tabin had the courage to stand up for human rights.  It was a brave and dangerous thing to do for him, and I'm proud that he and his family are now Mainers and I'm proud to take him to see the President speak next week."
 
Tangila mesu Kamba was an activist in his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2011, the presidential election generated a great deal of chaos and violence, which caused Tabin to fear for his safety. He fled to the United States and was granted asylum status. He works at a local non-profit.
 
"A few years ago I never would have dreamed that one day I would be sitting in the same room as the President of the United States," he said.  "I am so happy to have the right to free speech and the right to raise my family without fear of violence here in America."