趙美心：美國國會首位華裔女議員

美國東部時間7月16日上午11時30分(北京時間7月17日零時30分)，在美國眾議院議長佩洛西的監督下，美國國會首位華裔女議員趙美心在華盛頓國會山宣誓就職。這一天她創造了美國華裔從政的新歷史。她也是繼吳振偉之后的第二位華裔國會議員。

奧巴馬上臺后，美國政府高層中不斷出現華裔的身影，比如美國現任能源部長朱棣文和商務部長駱家輝。現在，趙美心說:“我很驕傲能夠成為美國國會第一位華裔女議員。”

趙美心當選美國國會首位華裔女議員一事在海內外華人之間反響熱烈，正如美國首位華裔女市長陳李琬若所言:“希望趙美心能夠‘登高一呼’，為華裔做些實際好事，而不僅僅是為國會增加了一個黃面孔和一個中國姓氏。”我們期待這位始終保持微笑的巾幗女杰能在新的崗位上大顯身手，再創佳績!

On Tuesday (July 14th)， adding to a 24-year political career launched on a local school board， Judy Chu became the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress. She won a special election—with nearly 62% of the vote—in the 32nd 1)Congressional District.

She won this election in much the same way she 2)posted earlier victories—expanding on her Asian base (about 13% of voters in the congressional district) to win support among 3)Latinos (who make up almost half of the registered voters in the district)， 4)organized labor (a major element in the largely working-class district) and women. Her years on the 5)Garvey School Board and the 6)Monterey Park City Council and representing a local 7)Assembly district made her a trusted household name among8)San Gabriel Valley political leaders， many of whom crossed party and ethnic lines to support her.

One is Republican Betty Couch， who said she found common ground—and friendship—with the9)unabashedly liberal Chu when they served together on the Monterey Park City Council. “She does her homework， she listens， and she really cares about people，” said Couch.

Judy Chu was born on July 7， 1953， in Los Angeles， and was the second of four children in her family. Her father worked as an electrical technician for 10)Pacific Bell and her mother was a 11)cannery worker. Judy Chu can trace the beginnings of her career as a San Gabriel Valley activist and political leader back to the early 1970s and her freshman year in college. As the young math major， intent on a career in computer science， was crossing the 12)UC Santa Barbara 13)quad one day， someone 14)thrust into her hand a 15)flier about a new Asian American studies course. She decided to give it a try. “It was like a light went off in my head，” Chu recalled. She learned about the history of Asian immigrants and their children， the discrimination and stereotypes they endured and their contributions to American life and culture.

One of the guest speakers was Pat Sumi， a third-generation Japanese American whose activism included registering blacks to vote in Mississippi and Georgia and organizing protests against the Vietnam War. “It was the very first time it occurred to me that an Asian American woman could be a leader，” said Chu， who began volunteering with various causes， 16)transferred to 17)UCLA and gave up computers for 18)clinical psychology.

It was while she was a student at UCLA that Chu met her future husband， attorney Mike Eng. The couple married in 1978. Chu， who holds a 19)doctorate in psychology， continued teaching at20)Los Angeles City College， then at 21)East Los Angeles College， and Eng practiced immigration law. By the early 1980s， the couple had settled in Monterey Park， which was experiencing an 22)influx of immigrants from Mainland China， Taiwan and Hong Kong， sparking a 23)backlash among some longtime residents who sought a ban on Chinese-language 24)storefront signs. When a divided City Council voted in 1986 to support a resolution 25)endorsing English as the nation’s official language， Chu， by then on the school board， and Eng helped form the Coalition for Harmony in Monterey Park(CHMP).

“Judy and Mike were always trying to find ways to bring people together，” said Jose Calderon， another member of CHMP who is now an associate professor at 26)Pitzer College. They started “harmony days” to celebrate the city’s various cultures， and they led a 27)petition drive that moved the council to 28)rescind its divisive resolution. Chu was elected to the council in 1988 and， in 2001， won an Assembly seat.

Marilyn Calderon， who served on Chu’s legislative staff in the Assembly， said her former boss always encouraged her employees to aim high and insisted they remember they were there to help people who needed them. “She’s a hard， hard worker.” Calderon said.

Chu， who sworn in Washington， D.C. on Thursday (July 16 th)， said she plans to come home every weekend. She said that she and Eng will continue their practice of once-weekly “date nights” of dinner out or a movie—their way of coping with careers that put them in different cities.

星期二(7月14日)，趙美心，從當地教育董事會起步，有著24年從政生涯的她，成為了首位進入美國國會的華裔女性。在第32選區，她以近62%的選票支持率從特別選舉中勝出。

她贏得這場選舉的方式和她以往取得勝利的方式很是相同——拓寬她的亞洲根基(區內13%的選民為亞裔)，贏得包括拉美裔選民(區內幾乎一半的登記選民為拉美裔)、工會工人(工薪階層為主的選區的主要組成部分)和婦女的支持。她在嘉偉教育董事會和蒙特利公園市市議會工作過，還擔任過地方議會區代表，這些經歷使她成為備受圣蓋博谷政界領袖信任的明星人物，他們中許多人跨越了黨派和種族界別來支持她。……