as the -- my wonderful friend, the colleague from the state of washington, pointed out, my name is ileana ros-lehtinen and i represent florida's proud and beautiful 18th congressional district that covers from ball harbor all the way down to sunny key west, 265 miles of coastal beach area. i'm a daughter, a mother, a grandmother a wife of a vietnam veteran a former educator and a former small business owner. i fled castro's communist cuba with my parents when i was 8 years old. i'm proud to be a naturalized american. cuban by birth, american by choice. i am also a republican woman. i enter public service after talking to my parents, at a small, bilingual school we operated together. after hearing from the parents at the school i operated about their hopes and dreams and the problems and concerns that they had, i decided that the best way to help them was not just to help them individually but to help them in a bigger way by being involved in the legislative process in order to change the policies that were causing them difficulties and as we have said here tonight, mr. speaker, our nation