Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (born Ileana Ros y Adato; July 15, 1952) is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 27th congressional district, serving in Congress since 1989. She is a member of the Republican Party.

She is currently the most senior Republican woman in the U.S. House, and was the first Republican woman elected to the House of Representatives from Florida. She was also the first Hispanic woman, and the first Cuban American, to be elected to Congress.

Early life, education, and early career
Ileana Ros y Adato was born in Havana, Cuba, one of two children born to Enrique Ros and his wife, Amanda Adato. The family emigrated to the United States when Ileana was seven years old. She received her Bachelor of Arts in education and her Master of Arts in educational leadership from Florida International University. She attended the University of Miami where she earned a Ph.D in higher education.

Ros-Lehtinen was an educator and the owner/operator of a private school in Miami-Dade County. She was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1982, where she met State Representative Dexter Lehtinen (D-Miami). They married in 1985, after Dexter switched parties. They both served in the State House until 1986. That year, they were both elected to the Florida Senate, where he was elected to District 40 and she was elected in District 34. In 1988, Dexter Lehtinen resigned his seat to become U.S. Attorney of South Florida. In 1989, Ros-Lehtinen resigned her seat to become a U.S. Representative.

Elections
After incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Claude Pepper died on May 30, 1989, there was a special election scheduled for August 29, 1989. State Senator Ros-Lehtinen defeated Democrat Gerald Richman 53%-47%. She was the first Cuban American and the first Hispanic woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1990, she won re-election to a full term with 60% of the vote. In total, she has been elected to ten full terms, never winning with less than 58%.

Tenure
Ros-Lehtinen is considered conservative on foreign, economic, and other social policy. Ros-Lehtinen is a supporter of President George W. Bush's surge policy in Iraq, a supporter of Israel and supports continued sanctions against Cuba. She also supported the de facto government in Honduras, headed by Roberto Micheletti, that emerged after the military coup against President Manuel Zelaya. She has said of the decision to invade Iraq: "Whether or not there is a direct link to the World Trade Center does not mean that Iraq is not meritorious of shedding blood. The common link is that they hate America."

Among Ros-Lehtinen's other conservative views include votes against the estate tax, voted in favor of Bush's tax cuts, for fuel efficiency standards on autos, drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, support of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, votes in favor of making the Patriot Act permanent, support of the Military Commissions Act, votes against funding for stem cell research, and votes against SCHIP. She signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

Ros-Lehtinen generally portrays a pro-military stance. However, during the 2011 Libyan civil war, she expressed support of the Libyan opposition; on February 26, 2011, she released a press release which stated, "stronger penalties must be imposed in order to hold the regime accountable for its heinous crimes, and to prevent further violence against the Libyan people". But on March 20, 2011, the day after the NATO strikes to enforce the no-fly-zone began, she expressed a different view in a press release: "I am concerned that the President has yet to clearly define for the American people what vital United States security interests he believes are currently at stake in Libya." The congresswoman has also been a forerunner in cutting U.S. aid to foreign lands, including the State Department, The Peace Corps, the Asia Foundation, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the East-West Center. She also advocates cutting funding to Lebanese Armed Forces and the West Bank and Gaza.

Ros-Lehtinen sides with the Democrats on many issues of gay rights. Her elder child (born Amanda Michelle Lehtinen, now known as Rodrigo), a is transgender LGBT rights activist. The district includes large LGBT populations in South Beach in Miami Beach and in the Florida Keys. She was one of three Republican members of the LGBT Equality Caucus, of which she is a founding member and a vice-chairperson. Although she is not a co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act, she supports anti-hate crime laws, anti-discrimination bills, believes gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces, is a sponsor of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, and voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. Ros-Lehtinen was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. In September 2011, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican member of the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. In July 2012, she was the first Republican in the House to fully support same-sex marriage.
 * Gay rights

In 2011, Ros-Lehtinen signed on to a letter to IRS Commissioner Schulman requesting that the IRS provide clear guidance for LGBT taxpayers. The letter asks the IRS to ensure that tax law is being applied fairly to all individuals.

In 2013, Ros-Lehtinen was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Ros-Lehtinen pressured the State Department to accelerate its processing of passports, something that had hindered American citizens' travel during the crucial summer travel season. Calling the delay "outrageous, incomprehensible, unconscionable" at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she is chairwoman, Ros-Lehtinen brought the pressure of committee Republicans to bear on the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and spur them to action.
 * Passport processing delays

On November 23, 2010, she called on the Obama administration to "announce publicly, right now, that we will stay away from Durban III, deny it US taxpayer dollars, and oppose all measures that seek to facilitate it. And we should encourage other responsible nations to do the same."
 * United Nations

Ros-Lehtinen joined Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) on a Congressional delegation to the United Nations in order to encourage international support for an end to the genocide in Darfur. In addition, when Ros-Lehtinen returned from a trip to Darfur in April 2007 where she visited Sudanese refugee camps, she strongly encouraged the United States and the international community to find a solution to this humanitarian crisis.
 * Darfur

Ros-Lehtinen is opposing US support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Palestinian Authority. She describes herself as a "strong supporter of Israel" and regards the U.S. relationship with Israel as "critical to the national security interests of both nations". As of 2010, she is the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. After comments by State Department over Israeli settlements, she demanded that the Obama administration halt its "condemnations" of "an indispensable ally and friend of the United States." In September 2011, she introduced a bill to cut off US funding to any UN organization that recognises Palestinian statehood.
 * Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Ros-Lehtinen plays a prominent role in the Cuban-American lobby, which puts pressure on the Cuban government to bring about political change in Cuba. She is a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. She is the daughter of Enrique Ros, a Florida-based Cuban business man and anti-Fidel Castro activist. Ros-Lehtinen also advances strongly held views on Cuba, and has lobbied against ending the United States embargo against that country. In 2004 she formed the Cuba Democracy Group aimed at curtailing U.S. agriculture exports and preventing U.S. banks from doing business with the Cuban government.
 * Cuba

Ros-Lehtinen has defended former fugitive Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government, In the 1980s, Ros-Lehtinen lobbied for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who had been convicted of terrorist acts and has also been accused of involvement in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which killed 73 people, helping organize an "Orlando Bosch day" to gain support for his release. Ros-Lehtinen played a prominent role in the unsuccessful attempt by relatives of Elian Gonzalez to gain custody of six-year-old from the Castro regime, describing Cuba as "that system of godless communism". She also attempted to block Jimmy Carter's visit to the island in 2002.

She stirred controversy by calling for the assassination of Cuban Leader Fidel Castro. She appeared in a British documentary, which was entitled 638 Ways to Kill Castro, saying: "I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people." After a 28-second clip began circulating on the Internet, she claimed the filmmakers spliced clips together to get the sound bite. Twenty-four hours after the controversy erupted, director Dollan Cannell sent unedited tapes of his interview with Ros-Lehtinen to reporters. The uncut version contradicted her response, showing she had twice welcomed an attempt on Castro's life. Although she attempted to distance herself from her denial, filmmaker Cannell requested an apology.

Ros-Lehtinen voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in its initial September 29, 2008 vote, which failed, but voted in favor of the revised bill in its October 3, 2008 vote, which passed.
 * 2008 "Bailout"

Ros-Lehtinen played a key role in keeping the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010 from being passed into law. Although the bill had unanimously passed the Senate with bipartisan support, she persuaded enough Republicans in the House to vote against the bill so that it did not receive the required two-thirds majority. She reportedly invoked concerns about the legislation's cost and that funds could be used to promote abortion.
 * Child marriage

Ros-Lehtinen has been an opponent of funding for the Peace Corps. In 2011, she led a hearing about the perils that volunteers faced and the lack of concern for victims of sexual abuse while serving.
 * Peace Corps

Following the 2008 elections, then President-elect Barack Obama rang Ros-Lehtinen to congratulate her on her re-election. She hung up on him, believing that it was a prank call from a radio station. She did the same to Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel when he rang to confirm the original call was genuine, and only accepted the call after Congressman Howard Berman managed to speak to her.
 * Obama "prank" calls

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Foreign Affairs (Chairwoman)

Caucus membership

 * Co-Chair, Congressional Vision Caucus
 * Co-Chair, National Marine Sanctuary Caucus
 * LGBT Equality Caucus
 * Congressional Taiwan Caucus
 * Congressional Hispanic Conference
 * International Conservation Caucus

Notable staff members

 * Rene Garcia, member of the Florida House of Representatives and former intern
 * Enrique Pollack, host and founder of "Havana Rock," the Miami, Florida show on radio station WWFE 670 AM and former Congressional Aide
 * Marco Rubio, United States Senator, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and former intern
 * Mauricio J. Tamargo, was the 14th Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and former Chief of Staff
 * R. Clarke Cooper, current Executive Director of Log Cabin Republicans and former legislative staffer

Notable campaign contributors
A major individual campaign contributor to Ros-Lehtinen is Irving Moskowitz, a funder of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The lobby group J Street has called on Ros-Lehtinen to return campaign contributions from Moskowitz, saying he "actively undermines the two-state solution and the foreign policy of the United States by funding illegal settlements in the occupied territories". American Council on World Jewry president Jack Rosen has "great concern" about this demand.

Personal life
She married Florida State Representative Dexter Lehtinen, on June 9, 1984, while she was serving in the Florida Legislature. They have two children, Rodrigo and Patricia Marie. She is also step-mother to Katherine and Douglas Lehtinen.

Project Vote Smart lists Ros-Lehtinen as Episcopalian. Ros-Lehtinen's maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews from Turkey who had been active in Cuba's Jewish community. Her mother later converted to Catholicism.

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