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(jiān)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(chuàng)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(xiàn)華裔的身影，比如美國現(xiàn)任能源部長朱棣文和商務部長駱家輝?，F(xiàn)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?！?/p>

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?！蔽覀兤诖@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(chuàng)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?shù)亟逃聲鸩?，有?4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(qū)，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(qū)內13%的選民為亞裔)，贏得包括拉美裔選民(區(qū)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(qū)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(qū)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。

其中就有共和黨人貝蒂·考其，她說，在和趙美心一起在蒙特利公園市市議會共事時，她與這位泰然自若的自由黨人之間找到了共同點并建立起友誼?！八龝龊霉ぷ?，會傾聽他人，而且她真的很關心別人?！笨计湔f。

趙美心，1953年7月7日出生于美國洛杉磯，在家里四個孩子中排行老二。父親是太平洋貝爾公司的電氣技術員，而母親則是一間罐頭廠的工人。趙美心的從政生涯最早可追溯到20世紀70年代早期，那時她正上大一，是圣蓋博谷的一名社會活動人士和政治領袖。當時，她學數(shù)學專業(yè)，想著以后要投身計算機科學領域，有一天，走在圣塔巴巴拉加大校園里，突然有人塞給她一張有關新課程——亞美史研究的宣傳單。她決定去選修這門課程?！澳蔷拖袷俏业哪X子里突然閃現(xiàn)的靈光?！壁w美心回憶道。通過這門課程，她了解到亞裔移民及其子孫的歷史，他們所遭受的歧視和遵循的陳規(guī)，以及他們對美國社會生活和文化所作出的貢獻。

該課程的其中一位客座講者是帕特·蘇米，她是第三代日裔美國人，她參與的社會活動包括為密西西比州和喬治亞州的黑人爭取選舉投票權，組織反對越戰(zhàn)的抗議活動等?！澳鞘俏业谝淮我庾R到，一位亞裔美國女性也可以成為一名領袖。” 趙美心說。之后，她開始志愿參與各種各樣的活動，并轉學到美國加州大學洛杉磯分校，放棄了計算機專業(yè)而轉學臨床心理學。

在加州大學洛杉磯分校讀書時，趙美心認識了她現(xiàn)在的丈夫——律師伍國慶。他們于1978年結婚。擁有心理學博士學位的趙美心先后在洛杉磯城市學院、東洛杉磯學院任教，而伍國慶則從事與移民法有關的工作。在20世紀80年代早期，夫婦倆在蒙特利公園市定居。當時，來自中國內地、臺灣和香港的移民大量涌向這里，引發(fā)一些久居此地的本地居民的不滿，要求店鋪外面的標識牌匾禁用中文。1986年，盡管市議會內對此有意見分歧，但最終的投票結果還是支持一項決議——把英語定為該國的官方語言。此時趙美心正在當?shù)氐慕逃聲ぷ?，而伍國慶則幫助成立了蒙特利公園市的“和諧聯(lián)盟”。

“朱迪和邁克一直在努力想辦法把人們團結起來?！薄昂椭C聯(lián)盟”的一位成員，現(xiàn)任匹澤學院副教授的喬斯·卡爾德隆說。他們夫婦創(chuàng)設了“和諧日”來慶祝這個城市的多元文化，他們還領導了一次請愿活動，提議市議會廢除其制造分裂的決議。1988年，趙美心經選舉進入市議會。2001年，她贏得了州議員席位。

瑪麗蓮·卡爾德隆是趙美心在州議會法律部門的下屬。她說，她的前上司(即趙美心)總是鼓勵下屬們要志存高遠，并且強調他們在議會工作是為了幫助那些需要他們的人。“她是一個非常勤奮、努力的人?！笨柕侣≌f。

周四(7月16日)，趙美心在華盛頓宣誓就職。她說，她計劃每周末回家。(編者注:美西地區(qū)的聯(lián)邦眾議員幾乎是“空中飛人”，周一至周五在華盛頓的國會大廈辦公，周末回到選區(qū)服務。)她和丈夫會繼續(xù)他們每周一次的“約會之夜”——出去吃飯或看電影——這是他們應對因工作而不在同一城市生活這一情形的方式。