First Vietnamese-American elected to Congress
December 10, 2008
Big news for Asian Americans and politics. On December 6, the first Vietnamese-American was elected to Congress. Cao came to the United States when he was only 8 years old. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Baylor University and a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University. He was even a Catholic seminarian for a short while and eventually earned a law degree from Loyola University in 2000.
CNN reports:
“The Louisiana man who Saturday became the first Vietnamese-American elected to the House says he hopes his win will push more young people to become politically active.
“I am very honored and at this point, somewhat speechless to be the first Vietnamese-American congressman,” Anh “Joseph” Cao told CNN on Sunday. “But I also hope that many of our young people will consider being more politically active and being move involved in the community. Because as you can see, really anything can happen.”
The Republican defeated nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson in the mostly African-American and heavily Democratic New Orleans-area district. Jefferson had been expected to win a 10th term despite battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years.”
Read the full story: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/07/louisiana.cao/
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