About Ileana

Introduction

A childhood refugee from Castro’s communist regime, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen emerged as a powerful voice in her South Florida community and a major critic of the tyrannical regime. Her historic 1989 election to the House of Representatives made her the first Hispanic woman and the first Cuban-American elected to the US Congress.

The Path to Public Service

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen personifies the American Dream of success. After completing public education in Miami-Dade, she earned an Associate of Arts from Miami-Dade Community College in 1972, a Bachelor of Arts in Higher Education from FIU in 1975, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Florida International in 1987. In December 2004, she received her Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Miami. She founded a private elementary school, serving as its chief administrator. From 1982 to 1986, she was elected as a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives (its first Hispanic woman) and, from 1986 to 1989, served in the Florida Senate. In the Florida Legislature she met and married Florida Representative Dexter Lehtinen, who later went on to become the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The couple has two daughters, Amanda Michelle and Patricia Marie, and two stepchildren Douglas and Katharine.

After the death of Congressman Claude Pepper, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen won the special election in 1989. Her victory put the seat in Republican hands for the first time since its 1962 creation.

Congressional Involvement

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen serves on the Committees on International Relations and Government Reform. In 1990 and 1992, Ros-Lehtinen comfortably won re-election by 60 and 64 percent, respectively. In 2002 and 2004, she won against Democratic candidates with 69 and 65 percent of the vote, respectively. Ros-Lehtinen has chaired several International Relations subcommittees: Africa, International Economic Policy and Trade, International Operations and Human Rights, and currently serves as the Chair of the Middle East and Central Asia Subcommittee. She also served as vice-chair of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. In the 109th Congress, she serves the Government Reform Subcommittee for National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations.

Helping South Florida

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen’s leadership in the South Florida community includes: cleaning and dredging of the Miami River; Port of Miami; and the expansion of Miami International Airport, which provide important revenues and jobs for South Florida. She has worked to bring more than $25 million in Federal funds to revitalize the Miami River.

She has also secured over $40 million to dredge the Port of Miami so that it can serve bigger cruise and freight ships, and has been a strong supporter of the expansion of the Miami International Airport so it can continue to serve a growing South Florida community.

In 2002, Monroe County was added to Ros-Lehtinen’s Congressional District. Through her leadership, the Keys have received more than $35 million in Federal funding. This includes more than $5 million for the Florida Keys Wastewater Quality Program. This is to ensure that the waters of this “National Marine Sanctuary” will remain healthy, and to improve the quality of life for residents and tourists. Ileana has also helped to provide affordable housing for Monroe County by fighting to secure funding for projects like Housing Opportunities People With AIDS. She is also a strong supporter of the Everglades clean up project, one of the largest environmental projects in the history of our country.

As a former Florida certified teacher, Ros-Lehtinen has been a strong supporter of educational reform. While in the Florida Senate, she was instrumental in passing the Florida Pre-Paid College Tuition Program. She continues to speak about the importance of this program to South Florida schools and students.

On the international front, she is a leader in the spread of human rights to countries like Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and China. She is a steadfast supporter of Israel’s right to exist in peace and security as a democratic Jewish state.

For more information on Ileana, click here (MS Word doc).

ILEANA'S COMMITTEE WORK

Ileana currently serves on the International Relations, Government Reform and Budget Committees as well as on the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. She is also a Member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations.

Ros-Lehtinen is the first Hispanic woman to chair a subcommittee. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia, she has become a leading figure shaping foreign policy. Since September 11th, 2001, Ileana and her colleagues in Congress have funded our war to combat terrorism, provided humanitarian assistance for the women and children of Afghanistan, and increased support for Israel. Ileana continues to be a fighter for our U.S. ally, Israel, participating in the Jewish Federation's fund-raising phone-a-thons in Miami, as well as numerous visits to Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, and the Golan Heights during the bombings to demonstrate our steadfast solidarity with this beleaguered nation.

The Congresswoman is widely regarded as an international defender of human rights and democracy. She has played a key role in the passage of the Cuban Democracy Act, the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (the Helms-Burton Law), and has been a leading voice warning the world about the Castro dictatorship's plans to complete a dangerous nuclear power plant on the island of Cuba. Her ongoing efforts to remove the Russian Federation's spy station from Cuba's Lourdes Intelligence Facility have begun to bear fruit, as President Putin has recently announced its withdrawal.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen has also been active on the domestic front primarily on issues concerning education, children, senior citizens, women and their health, victims' rights, the environment, among numerous others. She is the champion spearheading the clean up and dredging of the Miami River, the conservation of Stiltsville and our national treasure, the Everglades. She led the battle in Congress to pressure President Clinton into signing an executive order requiring federal buildings to exhibit pictures of missing children. Along with her husband Dexter, she's the architect of the successful Victim's Rights Amendment for Florida and has proposed a Constitutional amendment to protect the rights of those who have been victims of violent crimes nationwide.