A Talk With Human Rights Champion, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Ret.)

A schoolteacher and former Florida state legislator who went on to serve in the Congress for almost 30 years, former U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), or Ileana, as she prefers to be called, has dedicated her professional life to public service. A long-time human rights champion, Ileana talks with Jason Poblete of the Global Liberty Alliance about the importance that Americans remain engaged in the world.

While in Congress Ileana served on several Congressional committees, but her favorite was the committee she went on to lead as Chairwoman, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Ileana has championed the advancement of freedom and democracy throughout her career and to this day. She was a pioneer in developing policy solutions to hold human rights abusers accountable, leading the fight to enact keystone laws in the use of economic sanctions, such as the 2012 Global Magnitsky Act.

Before being elected by her peers as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana served as Chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia; International Operations and Human Rights; International Economic Policy and Trade; and Africa; and as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Ileana also served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and was a member of the CIA Subcommittee and the National Security Agency and Cybersecurity Subcommittee.

On this podcast, Ileana and Jason talk about the use of economic sanctions as a tool in foreign policy, especially to advance the cause of human rights, and the need for American policymakers to address these topics. They crammed a lot in one hour, but we expect another podcast with Ileana  since there were a lot of issues they could not discuss, and, as you'll learn in the podcast, Ileana would like a tougher interview next time!

Further Reading

• Congressional Bio, United States House of Representatives.
• Global Magnitsky Law, US Department of the Treasury.
• NICA Act (Nicaragua Sanctions), US Department of the Treasury.