Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a former American politician and lobbyist who served as a U.S. Representative for Florida's 27th congressional district from 1989 until 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she made history as the first Cuban American elected to Congress and the first Republican woman to represent Florida in the House. Throughout her lengthy tenure, she held various leadership roles, including chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011 to 2013. Ros-Lehtinen's career is marked by her advocacy on international issues, her support for same-sex marriage, and her significant contributions to U.S. foreign policy discussions.

Early life and career

Ileana Ros y Adato was born on July 15, 1952, in Havana, Cuba, to Enrique Ros, a businessman and anti-Fidel Castro activist, and Amanda Adato. At the age of seven, her family immigrated to the United States, settling in Miami, Florida. Ros-Lehtinen completed her secondary education at Southwest Miami Senior High School. She pursued higher education at Florida International University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and a Master of Arts degree in educational leadership. Additionally, she attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, obtaining an Ed.D. in higher education.

Raised in a Catholic household, Ros-Lehtinen later converted to Episcopalianism. Her maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews who emigrated from the Ottoman Empire to Cuba, where they were active in the local Jewish community. Her grandfather fled to Cuba in 1913, escaping the turmoil caused by the First Balkan War. Her mother converted to Catholicism to marry her father.

Before entering politics, Ros-Lehtinen worked as an educator and operated a private school in Miami-Dade County. Her political career began in 1982 when she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. During her time in the Florida House, she met Dexter Lehtinen, a fellow state representative. They married on June 9, 1984, after he switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party. Both served in the Florida Senate after being elected in 1986, with Ros-Lehtinen representing District 34 and her husband representing District 40. Following Dexter Lehtinen's resignation to become the U.S. Attorney for South Florida in 1988, Ros-Lehtinen resigned her seat to pursue a position in the U.S. Congress.

House tenure

Ros-Lehtinen's congressional career began with a special election held on August 29, 1989, to fill the vacancy left by the late Democratic Congressman Claude Pepper. She won the election against Democrat Gerald Richman, securing 53% of the vote. This victory made her the first Cuban American and the first Republican woman from Florida to be elected to the U.S. Congress. In the subsequent 1990 election, she successfully secured a full term with 60% of the vote, and throughout her career, she was re-elected to fourteen full terms, consistently winning with significant margins.

During her time in the House, Ros-Lehtinen was known for her bipartisan approach and willingness to collaborate across party lines. She joined a congressional delegation led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to the United Nations, advocating for international support to end the genocide in Darfur. Following a visit to Sudanese refugee camps in April 2007, she emphasized the need for the U.S. and the international community to address the humanitarian crisis in the region.

In a notable incident following the 2008 elections, then-President-elect Barack Obama called Ros-Lehtinen to congratulate her on her re-election. Initially, she believed the call was a prank and hung up, only to do the same with Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, before accepting the call after confirmation from another congressman.

Ros-Lehtinen played a significant role in various legislative matters, including opposing the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010. Despite the bill's bipartisan support and unanimous passage in the Senate, she successfully persuaded a sufficient number of Republicans in the House to vote against it, citing concerns about its costs and potential implications for abortion funding.

Legislative focus and committees

Throughout her congressional tenure, Ros-Lehtinen was actively involved in foreign affairs and international relations. She served as chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011 to 2013, during which she addressed a range of global issues. Her leadership came at a time of significant geopolitical events, including the Libyan civil war. Initially supportive of the Libyan opposition, she later expressed concerns about the Obama administration's military intervention in Libya, questioning the clarity of U.S. security interests in the region.

Ros-Lehtinen was also known for her advocacy in cutting U.S. aid to various foreign entities, including the State Department and the Peace Corps. She consistently pushed for reductions in funding to organizations such as the U.S. Institute of Peace and the East-West Center, as well as military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces and the West Bank and Gaza.

In addition to her foreign policy work, Ros-Lehtinen made headlines for her progressive stance on social issues within her party. In September 2011, she became the first Republican member of Congress to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which aimed to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. By July 2012, she publicly supported same-sex marriage, marking a significant shift in her party's stance on the issue.

After nearly three decades in Congress, Ros-Lehtinen announced in April 2017 that she would not seek re-election in 2018. Her decision marked the end of a notable career characterized by her pioneering role as a Cuban American and Republican woman in U.S. politics, as well as her contributions to legislative discussions on both foreign and domestic issues.