[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25648]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO ROZITA VILLANUEVA LEE

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today to honor Rozita Villanueva 
Lee for her many years of advocacy on behalf of the Nevada Asian 
American/Pacific Islander community. Asians and Pacific Islanders refer 
to her as the mother of their communities in southern Nevada. Lee 
started as a former special assistant to former Governors George 
Arioshi of Hawaii and Robert Miller of Nevada. She then began 
advocating for Nevada's Asian and Pacific Islanders. Her Hawaii 
Polynesian connection led to her being the producer of ``Drums of the 
Island,'' the longest running Polynesian show on the Las Vegas strip.
  As cofounder of the Asian Pacific's Forum in 1993 in response to the 
growing Asian Pacific Islander population and their need for a voice 
and representation, she championed many causes to address the 
challenges faced by her community including social justice advocacy and 
political representation. She was often the first person called 
regarding issues of the APIA community in Las Vegas. Lee helped 
facilitate the reorganization of a dormant Pacific Asian Chamber to 
what is now the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce serving as its 
founding chairperson. She also served as chairperson for the Philippine 
American Youth Organization, PAYO, helping the younger generation of 
Filipino ancestry establish a voice and an avenue to learn more about 
their culture and heritage. She fulfilled all these roles while serving 
as the conduit for many organizations including the Hawaiian Civic 
Club, Japanese American Citizens League, Organization of Chinese 
Americans and National Federation of Filipino American Association. In 
addition, she empowered cultural organization and their leaders within 
the Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani and other APIA ethnic 
communities.
  Rozita has been politically active also. She was the president of the 
Women's Democratic Club of Clark County and was leading her fellow 
Democrats to help bring about change. As a result, President Obama 
turned Nevada blue by winning Clark County with 380,765 votes. Mrs. Lee 
championed the Asian American Studies Bill in the Nevada State 
Legislature which was instituted by the Clark County Commission and 
became law. She has been actively serving as the chairperson for the 
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance--APALA--in southern Nevada and 
has been the prime mover of political activism with the APIA for more 
than a decade. She initiated the first outreach to establish an APIA 
voting block through education and voter registration and was the 
liaison between the Philippine Ambassador and the Senate on behalf of 
the Filipino World War II Veterans. It is clear that Rozita is a 
dedicated community activist.
  Rozita Villanueva Lee was named one of the most influential women in 
Las Vegas by the Women of Diversity, and one of 100 most influential 
Filipina women in the U.S. by Filipina Women's Network. The OCA Asian 
Pacific American organization awarded Rozita the Lifetime Achievement 
Award in 2007. I congratulate Rozita Lee on her success as a 
businesswoman, a Democratic activist, and as an advocate for Asian and 
Pacific Islanders.

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