NEW YORK - Last week’s Voice of Fil-America feature, Rep. Robert Scott of Virginia, is officially the first member of the United States Congress with Filipino blood running through his veins.
Come November, Steve Austria, a state senator from Ohio, will attempt to become the second American man with Filipino heritage elected to the US Congress.
Austria, currently representing Ohio's 10th Senate District, is completing his second term in the Ohio Senate and is serving in the GOP leadership as majority whip. He is seeking election to represent Ohio's 7th Congressional District, currently held by Congressman Dave Hobson who announced his retirement late last year and has strongly endorsed Senator Austria's election.Austria was born in 1958 in Cincinnati; grew up in Xenia and was the oldest of nine children; and has lived in Beavercreek for the past 20 years with his wife Eileen and their three sons—Brian, Kevin and Eric.
In 1984, the Austria family was chosen as the "Ohio Family of the Year" and subsequently was chosen as one of only nine families throughout the country as "The Great American Family" by the Reagan Administration. First Lady Nancy Reagan with President Reagan presented this award to the Austria family at the White House.
Senator Austria was twice unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve in the Senate leadership position of Majority Whip, where he helps decide which bills and what policies are considered.
Prior to his service in the Ohio Legislature, Senator Austria was a small businessman and financial advisor. He successfully ran for state representative in Ohio in 1998, got elected to the Ohio Senate in 2000 and re-elected again in 2004.
Throughout the community, Austria is an active member of several advisory boards, statewide associations, local Chambers of Commerce's and the Xenia Rotary Club, where he has made meaningful contributions to people of all ages through many youth and senior programs.
Austria coached all three of his sons in basketball, soccer and baseball and has been part of the annual Dr. Clement G. Austria Senior Citizen Christmas Party, which was named after his father who organized the event 30 years ago, before he passed away.
Dr. Clement G. Austria, was a "guerrilla under (American) Gen. Douglas MacArthur while studying medicine at the University of Santo Tomas," that was turned into prison camp by Japanese Invading Forces during World War II, according to a previous Asian Journal article.
The elder Austria was born in Tiaong, Quezon and came to the United States to attend medical school. An active community leader, Dr. Austria died at the age of 62 in November 1986.
The Columbus Dispatch, a newspaper in Columbus, OH has endorsed Austria’s candidacy and called him a better choice than the Democrat lawyer who is also running because of his 10 years of experience in the General Assembly.
“Austria has built a reputation as a solid state lawmaker who's able to work with Democrats. As a fiscal conservative, Austria said, his goals in Congress include eliminating wasteful spending and ensuring that the federal budget is balanced.
Austria will find achieving those goals among his biggest challenges if he wins the seat. Many congressional candidates decry the sky-high budget deficits, but once in Washington find it politically difficult to raise taxes or reduce spending. Austria said a balanced budget can be reached through spending cuts, not increased taxation,” The Dispatch said in its endorsement.(www.asianjournal.com)
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