The following paragraphs are taken from: Pasyalan.net
The First Filipina American legislator of Washington is from Bani, Pangasinan.
Velma Rosete Veloria was first elected to the Washington State Legislature in 1992. During her 9 years in the legislature she has served on several different committees including, Health Care, Judiciary, Labor and Commerce, State Government, Finance, Rules and Capital Budget. For the past six years she has been a member of the Trade and Economic Development Committee and has been the Democratic Chair of this Committee for the past three years.
Because of her immigrant and working class background, Veloria's work in the legislature and in the broader community revolves around concerns for peace and social justice. In addition to introducing legislation for economic development, women and minority businesses, Veloria has organized and led trade missions to Asia and the Pacific Rim. The mission to the Philippines in 1994 resulted in the Philippine Government opening a trade office in Seattle.
In 1995, accompanied by Gov. Mike Lowry and leaders of the Vietnamese American community, Veloria led the first state trade mission to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam where an agreement was signed to develop and discuss specific project proposals for improving commercial ties between the state of Washington and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Just last year, Veloria participated in an educational and humanitarian mission with other women in the legislative arena to Cuba, that once again instilled in Veloria a quest for better and fairer trade policies with other countries of the world.
