[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 60 (Friday, April 13, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO PATRICIA ANNE KINAGA--28TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT WOMAN OF 
                                THE YEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 13, 2018

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Women's History Month. Each 
year, we pay special tribute to the contributions made by our nation's 
women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making 
a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a 
remarkable woman, Patricia Anne Kinaga, of Pasadena, California.
   A third generation Japanese American, Patricia Anne Kinaga was born 
and raised in Los Angeles County. Her parents, Rose and Thomas Kinaga, 
met when they were interned during World War II. After the war, her 
parents moved the family to Palos Verdes Estates, where she experienced 
discrimination, and it was this negative childhood experience that set 
Patricia on a life-long path to advocate for the lives of Asian Pacific 
Islanders everywhere.
   Patricia received a B.A. cum laude in urban anthropology at 
University of California Los Angeles and obtained a Master in City 
Planning at the University of California Berkeley. Upon graduating from 
UC Berkeley she secured a position with the State of California 
Department of Housing and Community Development in Sacramento, where 
she was selected to participate in a White House sponsored program in 
the Sierra Nevadas to improve housing and economic conditions for the 
rural impoverished in that region. She graduated from Georgetown Law in 
1984 and moved back to Los Angeles to begin her legal career at the Los 
Angeles City Attorney's Office and in this position, she served as a 
prosecutor specializing in domestic violence and child abuse cases and 
as a civil trial attorney in the Employee Relations Section. After 
working as a partner in serval prestigious law firms including her own, 
Ms. Kinaga joined LTL Attorneys LLP as a partner.
   A community leader for well over thirty years, Patricia served on 
the board of directors of Planned Parenthood, Los Angeles, is a 
founding member of the Los Angeles chapter of Asian Pacific Islanders 
for Choice, Co-Founder of The Center for Asian Pacific American Women, 
and the Chair and Co-Founder of Asian and Pacific Islanders with 
Disabilities of California. She is a former member of the President's 
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, an alumni of the 
Japanese Leadership Delegation, past president of the Japanese American 
Bar Association, and is an appointed member of the American Bar 
Association Commission on Disability Rights.
   Ms. Kinaga has received numerous awards, including from Asian 
Americans Advancing Justice, the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, 
the State Assembly and Senate Women in Business Award, and the 
prestigious Peter E. Haas Public Service Award from UC Berkeley. In 
addition, Patricia is also an award winning writer/producer who 
received a Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards nomination for the film ``About 
Love'' on domestic violence. Other major works include a documentary on 
the 442 Regimental Combat Team, which has been distributed to schools 
by the History Channel.
   Patricia, her husband Peter Wong and their two children, Brandon and 
Emily live in Pasadena California.
   I ask all Members to join me in honoring an exceptional, well-
respected woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Patricia 
Anne Kinaga.

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