[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E173-E174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING THE CONDOLENCES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON THE DEATH 
     OF THE HONORABLE TOM LANTOS, A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE OF 
                               CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 12, 2008

  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to honor the life and legacy 
of Tom Lantos. The passing of Chairman Lantos is a great loss to the 
Congress, our Nation, and to oppressed people worldwide.
  Born in Budapest, Congressman Lantos was 16 in 1944 when Nazis 
captured and occupied the city. He twice escaped Nazi labor

[[Page E174]]

camps and was one of the thousands of Jews saved from the Holocaust by 
the humanity of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Yet most of his 
family members did not survive the Holocaust.
  At the end of the Second World War, Representative Lantos came to the 
United States with his childhood sweetheart, and soon-to-be wife, 
Annette Tillemann. Over the past 58 years, Lantos and Tillemann were 
rarely far apart and worked tirelessly together to champion human 
rights around the globe. Today, my thoughts and prayers are with her 
and the Lantos children.
  When Lantos came to Congress in 1980, the first major piece of 
legislation he introduced was to award honorary American citizenship to 
Raoul Wallenberg, whom he called ``the central figure in my life.'' 
Wallenberg was a central figure in the lives of many European Jews.
  A few years later Tom founded the Human Rights Caucus. As co-chairman 
of the caucus, Lantos was the leading critic of abusive and despotic 
regimes abroad. He was unafraid to confront the Chinese Government for 
its human rights record and he was undeterred in his efforts to end the 
ongoing genocide in Darfur. Most recently he helped move through 
Congress tough sanctions on the Burmese junta to help restore that 
country's democracy.
  As chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for the past 
year, Congressman Lantos continued to be a moral leader on human rights 
and an advocate for those who had none.
  Tom Lantos was a friend to me and to all people who believed in the 
basic rights of all people. I am honored to have served with him and I 
will do my best to work for continued fulfillment of his ideals.

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