Robert Cortez Scott is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 3rd congressional district since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the dean of Virginia's congressional delegation and the first Filipino American voting member of Congress. The district serves most of the majority-black precincts of Hampton Roads, including all of the independent cities of Norfolk, Newport News and Portsmouth, and parts of the independent city of Chesapeake. From 2019 to 2023, Scott was chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. He has been ranking member on that committee since 2023.

Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Spanish–American War at the end of the 19th century, when the Philippines was ceded from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris.