U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is looking back on her long, storied career in Congress as she prepares to step down from her seat.
Even as the days count down, the Republican lawmaker has kept busy in her Washington, D.C. office. The road to Congress, a long and winding one, is coming to an end for the Cuban-born congresswoman.
“It’s been the greatest honor of my professional life to have represented our community for so many years, ’cause it’s almost 40 years,” she said.
Ros-Lehtinen, 66, escaped the Castro regime and migrated to the U.S. in 1960.
“I still have the [plane] ticket to go back, because we thought, ‘Oh, this is gonna blow over. It’s just another revolution,'” she said.
Her career in public service initially took her to Tallahassee in 1982. There, she helped create the Florida Prepaid College Program.
Seven years later, a special election cemented her place in history. Ros-Lehtinen came out on top of a brutal battle for the seat left vacant by the death of U.S. Rep. Claude Pepper, D-Fla.
“I had an opponent who said, ‘This is an American seat,'” she said. “That was his slogan.”
Ros-Lehtinen’s arrival in the nation’s capital was a historic one. She was the first Cuban-American elected to Congress and the first Republican woman elected from Florida.
“I did not set out to become the first of anything. It just sort of happened,” she said, “but I never said I am the only. I only said I’m the first; there are more coming.”
For nearly 30 years, she helped champion cause after cause. She stood out for being a staunch supporter for LGBT rights on the conservative side of the aisle.
“I always try to get my party to understand that LGBT rights are important, and that we need to wake up and that it’s no longer 1950,” she said.
Throughout her tenure, she never lost sight of her Cuban roots.
“Here in Congress, working on issues related to Cuba’s freedom, like the Helms-Burton Bill, the Toriselli Bill,” she said. “We passed a lot of good human rights legislation to help the people of Cuba.”
In a time of toxic politics, Ros-Lehtinen said she hopes her Democratic successor, Donna Shalala, continues to focus on the needs of the people.
“It’s time to put the politics aside and take care of the governance,” she said.
While in office, one of her most humorous memories came as a phone call she had not expected from President-elect Barack Obama in 2008.
“I said, ‘Oh, yeah, good one. All right, thanks. Yeah, good, you really got me. I’m hanging up,’ boom,” she said. “He calls me again, and I’m like, ‘Look, I’m not gonna fall for this. It’s not happening,’ boom.”
Ros-Lehtinen leaves behind a lifetime of fond memories.
“This is a picture of George W. Bush. He was speaking at [Florida International University],” she said. “He was speaking there.”
But now it’s time to look ahead to new experiences, as she readies for life after politics. In a speech on the House floor, she bid farewell to her colleagues and her constituents.
“From whatever life throws at me, all I have to say is, put me in, coach. Muchas gracias,” she said.
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