Nation : Cuban-American Takes House Seat
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WASHINGTON — Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, elected to succeed the late Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.), was sworn in today to become the first Cuban-American elected to Congress.
Ros-Lehtinen, 37, won a special election Aug. 29, defeating Democrat Gerald Richman. The state senator’s victory gave the GOP the Miami-area House seat that had been held by Pepper for 26 years.
“As a Cuban-American whose family has fled the horrors of communism I think that this day serves to solidify the belief and the truth that the United States truly is the land of opportunity where all of our dreams can be made possible if we try hard enough,” she said in a brief address to the House after Speaker Thomas S. Foley administered the oath of office.
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