Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (born July 15, 1952) is a Republican US Representative for Florida's 18th congressional district since 1989. She was born in Havana, Cuba.
Contents
Affiliations
Israel Lobby
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen represents the nexus of two of America’s most powerful ethnic lobbies, the Israel Lobby and the anti-Cuba Lobby. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia, she plays a key role in shaping policy towards the region. According to her House biography, she is a proponent of “increased support for Israel,” and ”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”. She played the leading role, along with Tom Lantos, in enacting the embargo on the Palestinian Authority last year. As revenge for the Mecca agreement she influenced the congress to withhold $86 million in “security assistance” meant for Mahmoud Abbas (which was promised in return for collaboration against Hamas with US-Israel). To preempt the Baker-Hamilton Commission’s recommendations for opening talks with the Hamas-led Palestinian government, Ros-Lehtinen, along with Tom Lantos, authored and got congressional approval for the Palestinian Anti-Terror Act of 2006, on behalf of AIPAC, which put a ban on any such talks. With Tom Lantos, she also spearheaded a resolution “that calls on the president to instruct government officials to match any reference to Palestinian refugees in international fora with a reference to Jewish and Christian refugees from Arab lands.”[1]
Anti-Cuba Lobby
Ros-Lehtinen's rise to congress was coordinated by Jeb Bush, who became her campaign manager and was endorsed by Jorge Mas Canosa, former head of the Cuban-American National Foundation. Notorious for openly calling for the assassination of Fidel Castro, she has also lobbied for the release and pardon of the terrorist Orlando Bosch, who was involved in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455 which killed 73 people. She helped organise an “Orlando Bosch day” to gain support for his release. She has defended former fugitive Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government. She also attempted to block Jimmy Carter’s visit to Cuba.
Church of Scientology
Ros-Lehtinen has supported and sponsored several pieces of legislation for the Church of Scientology, [1] attended Scientology events, [2] received recognition from Scientology publications, [3] and collected numerous sizable campaign donations from prominent Scientologists. [4]
Committees
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs - Ranking Member
- House Committee on Government Reform
- Subcommittee on Energy and Resources
- Subcommittee on National Security Emerging Threats and International Relations
- House Committee on International Relations
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia - Chair
- Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Coalitions and Caucuses
Notes
- ↑ 'FLORIDA POLITICIANS AND OFFICIALS LENDING UNDUE CREDIBILITY TO SCIENTOLOGY', web.archive.org/Tampa Bay website, accessed 2 April, 2009.
- ↑ 'Church Of Scientology Celebrity Centre International Hosts 35th Anniversary Gala', Celebrity Centre website
- ↑ Thomas G. Whittle and Linda Amato, 'Global Advocate for Human Rights and Democracy: U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen', [1]
- ↑ 'alt.religion.scientology', Google Groups, 23 August, 2003.
