[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO LT. LEILANI SALAMASINA STROKIN

  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, it is not very often that I appear 
before my colleagues in the well, but today I want to offer a special 
tribute to a young lady, a great American, with a proud Samoan heritage 
who just graduated from West Point. While it may be a common occurrence 
among my colleagues to witness a countless source of our Nation's 
finest young men and women who are nominated and accepted every year to 
attend our military academies, it is a very rare occasion for me to 
celebrate such an event among Samoan Americans, especially when there 
are only about 150,000 of us throughout the United States.
  First, my sincere thanks to the gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen], who after evaluating Salamasina Strokin's application, 
nominated her 4 years ago to attend West Point. Salamasina's father is 
a retired military officer himself from Florida, but her mother, Sina, 
is Samoan, and this is what makes this story special, Mr. Speaker.
  Salamasina's mother passed away last year and it was her dream to see 
that her daughter graduated from West Point. Nevertheless, Salamasina 
kept on going because she knew her mother would not want her to quit 
now regardless of what happened. To my knowledge, Mr. Speaker, I 
believe Salamasina Strokin is the only Samoan American who has 
graduated from West Point, and I pay this special tribute to her late 
mother, her father, her relatives, and her friends.
  This is certainly a proud moment for our Samoan community, and I give 
all my best to 2d Lt. Leilani Salamasina Strokin.

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