First Vietnamese-American Congressman?

I thought readers would be interested in reading this article about Red County/OC Blog blogpen member Quang X. Pham from the March/April issue of Nha magazine:

The First Vietnamese American Congressman?
Quang X. Pham wants to represent his community, but it may not want him.
by Paulette Chu Miniter
Nha Magazine MARCH | APRIL 2007

On the second day of the 2004 Lunar New Year festival in Garden Grove, Calif., Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez took to the stage in full Vietnamese costume. On each side of the stage waved American flags, with the flag of pre-communist Vietnam interspersed in between. Sanchez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, was upbeat. Wearing a dark purple ao dai, the traditional long Vietnamese dress, and a gold khan dong crown on her head, the fourth-term Democrat beamed at thousands of constituents as she began her speech.

“Chuc mung nam moi!,” she exclaimed, giving the traditional “Happy New Year” greeting before introducing herself in Vietnamese. “Ten toi la Loretta Sanchez,” she said, prompting applause and a few whistles from the crowd. After a few jokes and thanks to the community, she then declared, to loud cheers, “My wish for the new year to all of you is that next year -- next year -- we will celebrate Tet in Saigon in a free Vietnam!”

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Comments

[What's Quang with this picture?]

Quang seems like a decent fellow but my guess is he never gets to Congress. He’s like the kid in school growing up who wanted desperately to be referred to by a self imposed nickname…they never stuck no matter how many times they told their friends what they wanted to be called. Quang may have a tough time getting elected to the city council or school board let alone Congress. Quang is long on self confidence but short on a realistic estimation of his political abilities. Time will tell. Have Adam run a poll and post the results...

[Eric Linder]

Pham should follow in the footsteps of Van Tran, a great American Leader of Vietnamese descent. Run for local office. Prove yourself on the battlefield as Van Tran has. Then, after you've paid your dues, run for congress.

Van Tran is a great role model for up & comers like Pham, and I'm glad to see this kind of inspiration within the Vietnamese community

[Sage]

Quang Pham to run for Congress? He needs to pay his dues first...and take a number.

[Loretta]

That's right rookie. Pay your dues like me. At age 36, I beat B-1 Bob Dornan in my first run at Congress, running as a Republican (Loretta Bixey-Sanchez) after losing in the Anaheim city council race in 1994. I spanked B1 again two years later and have squashed everyone else you threw at me. The Vietnamese love me more than Lucy Dunn does fer sure. Later.

Sage - Eric - "Loretta" seems he's "paid more dues" than Van Tran has...read his bio and then see what you think, here is an excerpt: Quang X. Pham is an entrepreneur and author of the acclaimed memoir, A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey. At the age of 10, he fled the war in Vietnam and resettled in California. He later served as a U.S. Marine pilot in the 1991 Gulf War then started his own company. Quang has given many speeches and has appeared on national radio and television. His writings have been published in numerous newspapers. Visit his web site at www.asenseofduty.com.

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Quang X. Pham is an entrepreneur and an author. He is currently serving as a consultant to several companies. He was vice president with QTC, a medical disability company, and CEO of Lathian Systems, a pharmaceutical solutions company he founded. He volunteers his time on the boards of charitable organizations and has received numerous business, community and military awards.

In his acclaimed debut book, A Sense of Duty, Quang delves into the difficulties of emigrating to the U.S. as a child refugee after the fall of Saigon. His father, a U.S.-trained South Vietnamese pilot, was held captive for twelve years in communist reeducation camps while Quang, his mother and his three sisters, were evacuated to California. His separation from his father and his own military service as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot in the Gulf War and Somalia brought many challenges to Quang’s life. He recounts overcoming those obstacles with this affecting memoir about fate, hope and the aftermath of the most divisive war America has fought.

Quang has given many speeches and has appeared on NBC, CNN, PBS and NPR. His writings have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and The Orange County Register. A graduate of UCLA, he lives in Orange County, California with his family.

[Amy Queroz]

This coward has a problem trying to murder people then telling them godbless. She is a dangerous detective from the city of Irvine