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Top Italian American and Washington Leaders Attend Sons of Italy Gala in DC
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
 WASHINGTON,
D.C. - May 27, 2005 White
House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, along
with members of Congress including
Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman and
Nancy Pelosi joined the Sons of Italy
to honor top Italian American leaders
and students at the Sons of Italy Foundation
(SIF) gala, May 26 in Washington, D.C.
The
SIF's 17th annual National Education & Leadership
Awards (NELA) Gala also celebrated
the 100th Anniversary of the Sons of
Italy. Addressing the crowd, Card noted
that the greatest immigration of people
from a homeland was Italy and the extent
to which America has benefited by those
that came here. "The new world wouldn't
be what it is without Italian Americans," he
said.
Speaking to military efforts and
the friendship between Italy and the
United States Card said, "Today we
are fighting new battles, the Italian
Americans are there, so are the Italians."
This
year's honorees were Dana Gioia, chairman
of the National Endowment for the Arts;
Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of
America's Health Insurance Plans;
Joseph Battipaglia, chief investment officer of Ryan Beck & Co, Inc.; and Joseph
G. Procacci, president of Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation.
Thirteen Italian
American students received scholarships to top universities including University
of Pennsylvania, Columbia University Medical School, John Hopkins University
and Harvard University.
 The event helped the SIF raise nearly one million dollars
for scholarships, medical research, disaster relief and cultural programs. Since
1959, the SIF has given nearly $90 million to these causes.
The evening's hosts
were Paul Polo and Joseph Sciame, respectively the president and chairman of
the Sons of Italy Foundation. Guests included past NELA honorees AIDS researcher
Anthony Fauci, M.D.; breast cancer activist Fran Visco;
Robert Gallo, M.D., Institute
of Human Virology Director; Empire State Development Chairman and honorary NELA
Chairman Charles Gargano; and the night's master of ceremonies,
television and screen actor Joe Mantegna.
Attending from Congress, U.S. Representatives
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT); John Larson (D-CT) Bill
Pascrell (D-NJ), Nancy Pelosi (D-CT),
Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Don
Sherwood (R-PA), Tom Tancredo(R-CO), Patrick
Tiberi (R-OH); and U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Joseph
Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum (R-PA). Guests also included leaders from
business, the arts and the Italian Embassy.
 Among the Order Sons of Italy in America
(OSIA) supporters were members and officers from the Grand Lodges of
California,
Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The SIF is the philanthropic arm
of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the largest and oldest national
organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States. Italian
Americans are the nation's fifth largest ethnic
group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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