U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN
(R) Eighteenth District of Florida
Chair, Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia
Member, Subcommittee on Wellness and Human Rights

"Looking out Five Years -- A Strategic View of the Middle-East"

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the first Hispanic woman elected to the United States Congress. She was born in Havana, Cuba on July 15, 1952, and came to the United States with her family fleeing communist aggression when she was seven years old.  She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Florida International University and her Associate Degree in Arts from Miami-Dade Community College.  She has honorary doctorates from Barry University and Nova Southeastern University.  Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen began her career as an educator by establishing a private elementary school in South Florida.

Ileana and her husband, Dexter Lehtinen, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, met in the Florida House, were State Senators together, and have four children: Amanda, Patricia, Douglas and Katherine, plus four wonderful dogs.