Tom Lantos

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Tom Lantos
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 11th and 12th district
In office
January 5, 1981 – February 11, 2008
Preceded by William H. Royer
Succeeded by Jackie Speier
Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations
In office
January 3, 2007 – February 11, 2008
Preceded by Henry Hyde
Succeeded by Howard Berman
Personal details
Born Lantos Tamás Péter
February 1, 1928(1928-02-01)
Budapest, Hungary
Died February 11, 2008(2008-02-11) (aged 80)
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Annette Lantos
Alma mater University of Washington, University of California, Berkeley
Occupation college professor, international affairs analyst, business consultant
Religion Judaism

Thomas Peter "Tom" Lantos (February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008)[1] was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco. Lantos had announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for reelection because of cancer of the esophagus,[2][3] but died before finishing his term. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress.[4]

In speaking before the House of Representatives after his death, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that Lantos "devoted his public life to shining a bright light on the dark corners of oppression. . . He used his powerful voice to stir the consciousness of world leaders and the public alike."[5] U2 lead singer Bono called him a “prizefighter,” whose stamina would make him go “any amount of rounds, with anyone, anywhere, to protect human rights and common decency."[6]

In 2008, after his death, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which he founded in 1983, was renamed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Its mission is partly to "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights." In 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in central and eastern Europe and in the world.[7]

Contents

[edit] Early years

[edit] World War II

Thomas Peter Lantos (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlɒntoʃ ˈtɒmaːʃ ˈpeːtɛr]) was born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. Many of his family members were teachers, including an uncle who was a professor at the University of Budapest, and his grandmother who was a high school principal. His life in Hungary would change after the Third Reich annexing of Austria in 1938, with the Austrian border just 100 miles from Budapest. Lantos remembered this period and a newspaper headline he read when he was only 10, "Hitler Marches into Austria." Even at a young age, he understood the significance of this invasion:[8]

"I sensed that this historic moment would have a tremendous impact on the lives of Hungarian Jews, my family, and myself."

Six years later, in March 1944, the German military invaded Hungary and occupied Budapest, its capital. Lantos, then 16, was arrested because he was Jewish and sent to a forced labor camp outside of Budapest. He escaped but was soon caught by the Germans and beaten severely, to be returned to the labor camp. He again escaped but this time made his way back to Budapest, 40 miles away. There, he hid with an aunt in a safe house set up by Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat.[8]

Lantos then joined the anti-Nazi resistance movement and was able to move around freely due to his having blond hair and blue eyes, which to the Nazis were physical signs of Aryanism. As a result, he acted as a courier for the underground movement and delivered food and medicine to Jews living in other safe houses, and where he met his future wife, Annette Tillemann. In January 1945, less than year later, Russian military forces fought door-to-door battles and liberated Hungary from Nazi occupation. However, Lantos, then 17, returned home only to discover that his mother and other family members had all been killed by the Germans, along with 450,000 other Hungarian Jews, during the preceding 10 months of their occupation.[8] Wallenberg, for his part, was later credited with saving the lives of thousands of other Hungarian Jews.[9]

Lantos described some of his experiences in the Academy Award winning documentary film, The Last Days (1998), produced by Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. In his floor speeches as a congressman, he sometimes referred to himself as one of the few living members of Congress who had fought against fascism. In 1981, Lantos sponsored a bill making Wallenberg an Honorary Citizen of the United States and became a member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

In January 2006 he traveled to Hungary and attended a ceremony commemorating the 61st anniversary of the liberation of the Budapest Ghetto. The event was held at the Great Synagogue in Budapest,[10] (photo), today the largest synagogue in Europe.[11]

[edit] Education

In 1946 Lantos enrolled at the University of Budapest. As a result of writing an essay about Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was awarded a scholarship by the Hillel Foundation to study in the United States. He then emigrated to the U.S. and studied economics at University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned a B.A. in 1949 and an M.A. in 1950. He continued his post-graduate education at the University of California, Berkeley, and received a Ph.D in economics in 1953.

[edit] Early career

After graduation from Berkeley, he became a professor of economics at San Francisco State University. In subsequent years, he worked as a business consultant and television commentator on subjects of foreign policy. He eventually became a senior advisor to various U.S. Senators and in 1980 was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he remained until his retirement in January 2008.[8] Recalling his early life, he announced his retirement by stating to Congress, "I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."[8] He died the following month, in February 2008, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress.

[edit] Personal and family life

Lantos spoke English fluently, but retained his native Hungarian accent. During the German occupation of Hungary he met Annette Tilleman (or Tillemann), whose family escaped to Switzerland. They used Swedish passports issued by Raoul Wallenberg. After Hungary was liberated, she and her family returned to Budapest where she and Lantos met again. They married in 1950 after emigrating to the U.S. and remained married until his death from cancer in 2008.[12] Annette Lantos is a niece of Jolie Gabor, whose brother Sebastian was Mrs. Lantos' father, making actresses Zsa Zsa, Magda and Eva Gabor, Jolie's daughters, all originally from Budapest, Annette Lantos's cousins.[13]

Lantos and his wife Annette had two daughters, Annette and Katrina, and 17 grandchildren. His daughter Annette was married to Timber Dick, "an independent businessman in Colorado",[14] until his accidental death in 2008.[15][16]

Their daughter Katrina, is married to ambassador and former U.S. Representative from New Hampshire Richard Swett, and was herself a candidate for Congress in New Hampshire. One of Lantos' grandchildren, Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, is a noted opera singer and activist for organ donation. Lantos considered himself a secular Jew.[17]

[edit] Political career and positions

Lantos made his first run for office in 1980, when he defeated one-term Republican Congressman Bill Royer by 5,700 votes. He never faced another contest nearly that close, and was reelected 13 times.

Lantos earned a reputation in the Congress as a champion for various human rights causes, such as having Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang testify at a congressional hearing, when the company turned over the email records of two Chinese dissidents to the Chinese government, allowing them to be traced and one sentenced to jail.[18][19]

Lantos was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus[20] and repeatedly called for reforms to the nation's health-care system, reduction of the national budget deficit and the national debt, repeal of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, and has opposed Social Security privatization efforts. He supported same-sex marriage rights and marijuana for medical use, was a strong proponent of gun control[21] and was adamantly pro-choice.[22]

Lantos was a well-known advocate on behalf of the environment, receiving consistently high ratings from the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental organizations for his legislative record.[23] His long-standing efforts to protect open space brought thousands of acres under the protection of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including Mori Point, Sweeney Ridge and — most recently — Rancho Corral de Tierra, which will keep its watersheds and delicate habitats free from development permanently.[24][25] In 2005 he opposed an effort to expand public use of the Farallon Islands, a protected wildlife haven.

Lantos consistently championed local transportation projects that need federal funds and, given his seniority in Congress, proved successful at delivering this support.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Lantos

Lantos initially supported the Iraq War, but from 2006 onward made increasingly critical statements about the conduct of the war, and as the chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs he held 20 oversight hearings on the war in 2007. (See separate section below about the war in Iraq.)

[edit] Foreign affairs issues

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon with Lantos and his wife, Annette Lantos

Lantos served as the chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Through its more than 20 years of work, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus[26] — of which Lantos was co-chair with Representative Frank Wolf — has covered a wide range of human rights issues, including speaking for Christians in Saudi Arabia and Sudan to practice their faith, helping Tibetans to retain their culture and religion in Tibet, and advocating for other minorities worldwide. Lantos’s efforts to protect religious freedom in 2004 resulted in a bill to attempt to stop the spread of anti-semitism.[27]

Lantos was involved with his colleagues on the International Relations Committee on many decisions that affected other aspects of American foreign policy. Lantos spoke out against waste, fraud and abuse in the multi-billion-dollar U.S. reconstruction program in Iraq, and warned that the U.S. could lose Afghanistan to the Taliban if the Bush administration failed to take decisive action to halt the current decline in political stability there.

Lantos, as the ranking Democrat on the International Relations Committee, tried to disrupt U.S. military aid to Egypt, argued that the Egyptian military had made insufficient efforts to stop the flow of money and weapons across the Egyptian border to Hamas in Gaza, and had not contributed troops to internationally-supported peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Lantos was a strong advocate for Israel.

[edit] 1991 Gulf War

See also: Nurse Nayirah

Lantos was a strong supporter of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. During the run-up to the war, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, of which Lantos was co-chairman, hosted a young Kuwaiti woman identified only as "Nurse Nayirah", who told of horrific abuses by Iraqi soldiers, including the killing of Kuwaiti babies by taking them out of their incubators and leaving them to die on the cold floor of the hospital. These alleged atrocities figured prominently in the rhetoric at the time about Iraqi abuses in Kuwait.

The girl's account was later challenged by independent human rights monitors.[28] "Nurse Nayirah" later turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States.[28] Asked about his having allowed the girl to give testimony without identifying herself, and without her story having been corroborated, Lantos replied, "The notion that any of the witnesses brought to the caucus through the Kuwaiti Embassy would not be credible did not cross my mind... I have no basis for assuming that her story is not true, but the point goes beyond that. If one hypothesizes that the woman's story is fictitious from A to Z, that in no way diminishes the avalanche of human rights violations."[28]

Lantos and John R. MacArthur, the foremost critic of the Nayirah issue, each had op-eds in The New York Times, in which each accused the other of distortion. In 1993 MacArthur received the Mencken Award for best editorial/op-ed column for his New York Times exposé of "Nayirah", the Kuwaiti diplomat's daughter who helped fake the Iraqi baby-incubator atrocity.([29] MacArthur suggested that Lantos may have materially benefited from his having accommodated Nayirah.[30]

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sent investigators to Kuwait who went through the hospital and counted the incubators and they found that "except for one or two that may have been misplaced" all of the incubators were still in the hospital. The investigators concluded that there were no deaths resulting from stolen equipment. And the doctor who provided Amnesty International with the number of babies killed dropped from 312 to 72 and then 30, 19 of which died before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. After the war The New York Times in an editorial entitled DECEPTION ON CAPITOL HILL wrote, "It's plainly wrong for a member of congress to collaborate with a public relations firm to produce knowingly deceptive testimony on an important issue. Yet Representative Tom Lantos has been caught doing exactly that. His behavior warrants a searching inquiry by the House Ethics Committee." (ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times [1851 - 2007] pg. A20)[30]

[edit] War in Iraq

On October 4, 2002, Lantos led a narrow majority of Democrats on the House International Relations Committee to a successful vote in support of the Resolution for the Use of Force, seeking the approval of the United Nations and under the condition that President George W. Bush would allow UN weapons inspectors to finish their work and that Bush would need to return to Congress for an actual declaration of war before invading Iraq. The resolution later passed the House and the Senate with a total of 373 members of Congress supporting it. "The train is now on its way," said Lantos after his — and Bush's — victory.[31] In later hearings on the war, Lantos continued his enthusiastic support. At one point he was confronted by witnesses who questioned the likelihood of enthusiastic Baghdadis welcoming the invading Americans; Lantos called this a kind of racism, to suggest the Iraqis might be so ungrateful.

Starting in early 2006, Lantos distanced himself from the Bush Administration's Iraq policy, making critical statements at hearings, on the House floor and in published media interviews about the conduct of the war. During hearings of the House International Relations Committee, where he was then the ranking member, Lantos repeatedly praised the investigative work of the office of the Special Inspector of Iraq Reconstruction General Stuart Bowen, which uncovered evidence of waste, fraud and abuse in the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to help secure and rebuild Iraq.

Lantos was an immediate and consistent critic of the troop surge advocated by President Bush. On the night in January 2007 that Bush announced his plan, Lantos responded, "I oppose the so-called surge that constitutes the centerpiece of the President's plan. Our efforts in Iraq are a mess, and throwing in more troops will not improve it." And during a joint House hearing on September 10, 2007, featuring General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Lantos said,

The Administration’s myopic policies in Iraq have created a fiasco. Is it any wonder that on the subject of Iraq, more and more Americans have little confidence in this Administration? We can not take ANY of this Administration's assertions on Iraq at face value anymore, and no amount of charts or statistics will improve its credibility. This is not a knock on you, General Petraeus, or on you, Ambassador Crocker. But the fact remains, gentlemen, that the Administration has sent you here today to convince the members of these two Committees and the Congress that victory is at hand. With all due respect to you, I must say … I don't buy it.

At the same hearing, Lantos drew comparisons between some of the current U.S. activities in Iraq to U.S. support two decades ago of Islamic militants in Afghanistan:

America should not be in the business of arming, training and funding both sides of a religious civil war in Iraq. Did the Administration learn nothing from our country’s actions in Afghanistan two decades ago, when by supporting Islamist militants against the Soviet Union, we helped pave the way for the rise of the Taliban? Why are we now repeating the short-sighted patterns of the past?[32]

[edit] Human rights advocate

Presenting the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal, 2007

[edit] Tibet

As co-founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 2006 and as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Lantos would "stir the consciousness of world leaders and the public alike," according to Representative Nancy Pelosi. She adds: “Wherever there was injustice or oppression, he used his expertise and moral authority to put the United States on the side of justice and human rights.”[33]

In 2007, in his effort to help the people of China and Tibet, he presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal. He also worked to help the people of Burma by asking for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner held under house arrest for almost 15 years until her release in November 2010.[33]

[edit] Darfur

On April 28, 2006, Lantos and four other Democratic U.S. Representatives (Sheila Jackson Lee, Jim McGovern, Jim Moran, and John Olver), along with six other activists, took part in a civil disobedience action in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. They were protesting the role of the Sudanese government in carrying out genocide in the Darfur conflict and were arrested for disorderly conduct.[34] Lantos proclaimed, "We have been calling on the civilized world to stand up and to say, 'Enough,' The slaughter of the people of Darfur must end."[33]

[edit] Hungarian minorities

Tom Lantos stood up for the rights of Hungarian minorities several times[35][36] as a member of the US House of Representatives. In a 2007 letter he asked Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia to distance themselves from the Beneš decrees, a reasonable process in the Hedvig Malina case, and to treat members of the Hungarian minority as equal.[37][38] He indirectly blamed the Slovak government for ethnically motivated attacks on Hungarians because the country's governing coalition included ultra-nationalist parties.[39]

The American Hungarian Federation recognized Congressman Lantos for his "Leadership in Support of Democracy, Human Rights and Minority Rights in Central and Eastern Europe,” awarding him the organization's highest award, the "Col. Commandant Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom," at the October 19, 2005, Congressional Reception commemorating the 49th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.[40]

[edit] Lebanon

On August 27, 2006, at the Israeli Foreign Ministry building in Israel, Lantos said he would block a foreign aid package promised by President George W. Bush to Lebanon until Beirut agrees to the deployment of international troops on the border with Syria and Lebanon takes control of its borders with Syria to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas.[41]

[edit] Morocco and Western Sahara

Lantos supported Morocco's demand to gain sovereignty over Western Sahara, and criticized the Polisario Front, which demands independence for the disputed region. In 2007, he backed Morocco's proposal to make the region autonomous under Moroccan rule, saying: "I urge the leadership of the Polisario to realize that they will never again get such a good deal for the population they purport to represent."[42]

[edit] Death and legacy

On January 2, 2008, after having been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Lantos announced he would not run for a 15th term in the House but planned to complete his final term, and thanked Congress:

It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."[43][44]

Lantos died of complications from esophageal cancer on February 11, 2008, before finishing his term. A special election was held to fill his seat on April 8, 2008 and was won by former State Senator Jackie Speier, whom Lantos had endorsed as his successor.[45] Shortly after his death, Roy Blunt, the House Republican Whip, stated that "Chairman Lantos will be remembered as a man of uncommon integrity and sincere moral conviction — and a public servant who never wavered in his pursuit of a better, freer and more religiously tolerant world."[46]

A memorial service was held for Lantos on February 14, 2008 at Statuary Hall in the Capitol. Speakers included Senator Joe Biden, Bono of U2, Rep. Steny Hoyer, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Rep. Christopher Shays, Elie Wiesel, and his grandson, Tomicah Tillemann, speechwriter for current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.[47]

On June 19, 2008, President George W. Bush posthumously awarded Lantos the Medal of Freedom. In a ceremony at the White House, Bush stated "We miss his vigorous defense of human rights and his powerful witness for the cause of human freedom. For a lifetime of leadership, for his commitment to liberty, and for his devoted service to his adopted nation, I am proud to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously, to Tom Lantos, and proud that his loving wife Annette will receive the award on behalf of his family."[48] That same year, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which he founded in 1983, was renamed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Its mission is partly to "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights."

The first Lantos Human Rights Prize, named in the congressman's memory, was presented to the 14th Dalai Lama in 2009.[49]

In 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in central and eastern Europe and in the world.[7] A the opening ceremonies in June, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the Hungarian Parliament:

Now when Tom grew up here in this country that he loved so much, the only debate that mattered was the one between freedom and fascism, and then between freedom and communism. Tom believed that in our country there were partisan political differences, of course, between Republicans and Democrats or between a President Reagan and a President Clinton, just to pick one. (Laughter.) But Tom always believed that regardless of our political party, we were fundamentally on the same side. We were for freedom. We were for democracy. And that through debate, sometimes contested, we would keep working toward what our founders set as the goal, a more perfect union.[50]

On Saturday, September 10, 2011, the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA officially opened the new Tom and Annette Lantos Center for Compassion, located at 1450 Rollins Rd. in Burlingame, CA. The facility was funded with a naming gift in the Lantos's honor by Oracle founder, Larry Ellison, and his wife Melanie.[51]

[edit] Congressional scorecards

See also

Project Vote Smart provides the following results from congressional scorecards.[52]

[edit] Controversies

During a 1996 Congressional inquiry into the "Filegate" scandal, Lantos told witness Craig Livingstone that "with an infinitely more distinguished public record than yours, Admiral Boorda committed suicide when he may have committed a minor mistake." Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations, had taken his own life after his right to wear Combat V decorations had been questioned. Lantos was criticized by some (including fellow Congressman Joe Scarborough) who interpreted the remark as a suggestion that Livingstone too should kill himself.[54] Craig Livingstone forgave Lantos for his remark by stating to the gallery, "He (Lantos) obviously learned much from the Nazis and speaks like them today."[citation needed]

On May 3, 2000, Lantos was involved in an automobile accident while driving on Capitol Hill. Lantos drove over a young boy's foot and then failed to stop his vehicle. He was later fined over the incident for inattentive driving.[55]

In 2002, Lantos, who was on the House Committee on International Affairs, took Colette Avital, a Labor Party member of the Israeli Knesset, by the hand and, according to Ha'aretz, tried to reassure her with these words: "My dear Colette, don't worry. You won't have any problem with Saddam. We'll be rid of the bastard soon enough. And in his place we'll install a pro-Western dictator, who will be good for us and for you."[56] He later denied saying this, but Avital confirmed it, according to Ben Terrall, an adviser to Maad H. Abu-Ghazalah, a Libertarian Party candidate who ran against Lantos that year.[57]

In June 2007, Lantos called former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder a "political prostitute" at the dedication ceremony of the Victims of Communism Memorial, which caused a political backlash from the German government. Lantos was referring to Schröder's ties to energy business in Russia, and remarked that this appellation would offend prostitutes.[58]

In October 2007, Dutch parliament members said Lantos insulted them while discussing the War on Terror by stating that the Netherlands had to help the United States because it liberated them in World War II, while adding that "Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay."[59]

[edit] Electoral history

California's 11th congressional district: Results 1980–1990[60]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
1980 Tom Lantos 85,823 46% Bill Royer 80,100 43% Wilson Branch Peace and Freedom 13,723 7% William S. Wade, Jr. Libertarian 3,816 2% *
1982 Tom Lantos 109,812 57% Bill Royer 76,462 40% Chuck Olson Libertarian 2,920 2% Wilson Branch Peace and Freedom 1,928 1% *
1984 Tom Lantos 147,607 70% Jack Hickey 59,625 28% Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff American Independent 3,883 2%
1986 Tom Lantos 112,380 74% Bill Quraishi 39,315 26%
1988 Tom Lantos 145,484 71% Bill Quraishi 50,050 24% Bill Wade Libertarian 4,683 2% Victor Martinez Peace and Freedom 2,906 1% *
1990 Tom Lantos 105,029 66% Bill Quraishi 45,818 29% June R. Genis Libertarian 8,518 5%
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1980, Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff, American Independent Party, received 1,550 votes (1%). In 1982, Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff, American Independent Party, received 1,250 votes (1%). In 1988, Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff, American Independent Party, received 1,893 votes (1%).
California's 12th congressional district: Results 1992–2006[60]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
1992 Tom Lantos 157,205 69% Jim Tomlin 53,278 23% Mary Weldon Peace and Freedom 10,142 4% George O'Brien Libertarian 7,782 3%
1994 Tom Lantos 118,408 67% Deborah Wilder 57,228 33%
1996 Tom Lantos 149,049 72% Storm Jenkins 49,276 24% Christopher V.A. Schmidt Libertarian 6,111 3% Richard Borg Natural Law 3,472 2%
1998 Tom Lantos 128,135 74% Robert Evans, Jr. 36,562 21% Michael J. Moloney Libertarian 8,515 5%
2000 Tom Lantos 158,404 75% Mike Garza 44,162 21% Barbara J. Less Libertarian 6,431 3% Rifkin Young Natural Law 3,559 2%
2002 Tom Lantos 105,597 68% Michael Moloney 38,381 25% Maad H. Abu-Ghazalah Libertarian 11,006 7%
2004 Tom Lantos 171,852 68% Mike Garza 52,593 21% Pat Gray Green 23,038 9% Harland Harrison Libertarian 5,116 2%
2006 Tom Lantos 138,650 76% Michael Moloney 43,674 24%

[edit] References

  1. ^ "AP News Alert". Associated Press. 2008-02-11. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijDA5bgxiHlTvS_r-SSjskS1Tq1wD8UO5ODO0. "Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress, died early Monday morning, his spokeswoman said." 
  2. ^ Lantos, stricken with cancer, to retire at the end of the year San Francisco Chronicle, January 2, 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  3. ^ Simon, Richard (January 3, 2008). "California's Lantos says cancer will prevent another House run". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080216025244/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lantos3jan03,1,6382612.story?ctrack=1&cset=true. Retrieved 29 January 2008. 
  4. ^ Louis Sandy Maisel et al. (2001). Jews in American Politics. Rowan & Littlefield. http://books.google.com/books?id=7g1jaWlsY24C&pg=PA370&dq=Tom+Lantos+Jew&hl=en&ei=jgMSTd7SMMP7lwfCnrXsCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Tom%20Lantos%20Holocaust%20Budapest&f=false. Retrieved 21 May 2011.  "The only Holocaust survivor to serve in the United States Congress, Tom Lantos was born February 1, 1928, in Budapest. Just 16 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary, Lantos was active in the underground resistance before he was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp in Hungary."
  5. ^ Representative Nancy Pelosi, "The World Lost One Of Its Greatest Champions Of Human Rights" video, 7 min.
  6. ^ "Bono Remembers the Honorable Tom Lantos" video clip, 2 minutes
  7. ^ a b "Tom Lantos Institute set up in Budapest", Politics.hu, May 2, 2011
  8. ^ a b c d e "Tom Lantos Biography, Biography Channel, 2010
  9. ^ "Lantos's list". Jerusalem Post. http://info.jpost.com/C001/Supplements/Shoah/hol_LantosList.html. Retrieved 2007-02-15. "Born in Hungary in 1928 to assimilated Jewish parents, he escaped from a forced-labor brigade, joined the resistance and was eventually, with his later-to-be-wife Annette, among the tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews rescued by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg." 
  10. ^ "Congressman Lantos Commemorates Liberation of Budapest Ghetto", U.S. Dept. of State, 2006
  11. ^ Steves, Rick. Rick Steves' Budapest, Public Affairs publ. (2009) pp. 72-73
  12. ^ Timmerman, Kenneth R. Countdown to crisis: the coming nuclear showdown with Iran, Random House (2005)
  13. ^ "Lantos the master storyteller, communicator" SFGate.com, January 1, 2007
  14. ^ "Tom Lantos for Congress – Biography". Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071227055137/http://www.lantos.org/biography.php. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  15. ^ Pankratz, Howard (April 11, 2008). "Denver inventor Dick dies after crash". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_8891919. 
  16. ^ Timber Dick, a former city council candidate, dies, Rocky Mountain News, April 11, 2008.
  17. ^ "Project Vote Smart: Tom Lantos". Votesmart.org. http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=26739. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  18. ^ "Yahoo Criticized in Case of Jailed Dissident". New York Times. Associated Press. November 7, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/technology/07yahoo.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2009-04-19. "'While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies,' Tom Lantos, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said angrily after hearing from the two executives, Jerry Yang, the chief executive, and Michael J. Callahan, the general counsel." 
  19. ^ Janine Zacharia, Lantos's List, Jerusalem Post, dated 13 April but year not given, presumably 2001. Janine Zacharia,D.C. office is a Living Tribute to Wallenberg, originally from Jewish Bulletin of Northern California (credited as aJerusalem Post Service story, and appears to be a reworking of the previous story), April 20, 2001; reproduced on Lantos's congressional web site. Aleza Goldsmith,challenges Lantos in three-way race, j. (formerly Jewish Bulletin of Northern California), October 4, 2002. All accessed 25 September 2006.
  20. ^ Congressional Progressive Caucus membership list. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  21. ^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Gun issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  22. ^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Abortion issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  23. ^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Environmental Issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  24. ^ Edward Epstein, BAY AREA: Recreation area about to get bigger: Historic rancho near Devil's Slide a deal at $15 million, San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  25. ^ Bush signs Lantos’ open space bill, San Mateo Daily Journal, December 22, 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  26. ^ Index of Congressional Human Rights Caucus stories on Lantos's congressional site. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  27. ^ Chronicle Washington Bureau, Bush inks Jewish bill by Lantos, San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  28. ^ a b c CONGRESSMAN SAYS GIRL WAS CREDIBLE, The New York Times. January 12, 1992
  29. ^ Kuwaiti Gave Consistent Account of Atrocities, The New York Times. January 27, 1992
  30. ^ a b Deception on Capitol Hill, The New York Times. January 15, 1992
  31. ^ "THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION; LAWMAKERS BEGIN PUSH TO GIVE BUSH AUTHORITY ON IRAQ," by Alison Mitchell, The New York Times, October 4, 2002
  32. ^ Petraeus Hearing, Opening Statement by Chairman Lantos at hearing With General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. September 10, 2007
  33. ^ a b c Pelosi, Nancy. Democratic Leader.gov
  34. ^ Jim Doyle, Five members of Congress arrested over Sudan protest, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2006.
  35. ^ "Letter of Lantos, titled "The Arrest Of Hungarian Intellectual Miklós Duray By The Government Of Czechoslovakia"". US Congressional Record. http://www.duray.sk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230&Itemid=2. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  36. ^ "Official Letter from Tom Lantos to Vojislav Kostunica". Congress of the United States, Committee on International Relations. http://www.hhrf.org/hhrf/en/lantosltr.htm#english. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  37. ^ "Official Letter from Tom Lantos to Robert Fico" (PDF). Congress of the United States, Committee on Foreign affairs. http://www.hacusa.org/press/lantos_letter.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  38. ^ "Chairman of U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee Calls on Slovakian Prime Minister to disavow Beneš decrees, ensure justice for Hungarian minority". Washington, D.C.: Hungarian-American Coalition. October 22, 2007. http://www.hacusa.org/press/lantos_102207.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19.  (Press release)
  39. ^ "U.S. lawmaker blames Slovak government for ethnically motivated attacks on Hungarians". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/05/europe/EU_GEN_Hungary_US_Slovakia.php. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  40. ^ "Honoring Congressman Tom Lantos". The American Hungarian Federation. 2008-06-12. http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/news_Tom_Lantos.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-30. 
  41. ^ "Lantos: Withhold aid to Lebanon until troops secure border", Haaretz, Aug. 27, 2006
  42. ^ Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of House of Representatives. “U.S. Policy Challenges in North Africa.” Serial No. 110-76, June 6, 2007, Pgs 1–2. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/35873.pdf Accessed March 21, 2010
  43. ^ Congressman Tom Lantos to Complete his Congressional Service at the End of Current Term
  44. ^ "California Dems Expected to Vie for Lantos Seat". CQ Politics. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002651163. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  45. ^ "Inside Bay Area – Lantos endorses Speier as 'our best candidate'". Insidebayarea.com. http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_7996173. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  46. ^ "– Rep. Tom Lantos of California dies at 80". Cnn.com. 2008-02-11. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/11/lantos.obit/index.html?iref=newssearch. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  47. ^ "Funeral: Tom Lantos (2008)". Nndb.com. http://www.nndb.com/group/640/000168136/. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  48. ^ Jewish Telegraph Agency – Bush awards Lantos freedom medal[dead link]
  49. ^ "Sindh Today – Online News » Dalai Lama shunned by Obama, gets award from speaker Pelosi". Sindhtoday.net. 2009-10-06. http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/57945.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-15. [dead link]
  50. ^ "Tom Lantos Institute Inauguration In Budapest", Xpatloop.com, July 5, 2011
  51. ^ "New Peninsula Humane Society Opens in Burlingame", burlingame.patch.com, September 9, 2011
  52. ^ "Representative Tom Lantos (CA)". vote-smart.org. Project Vote Smart. Archived from the original on 2006-03-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20060301222402/http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=26739. Retrieved 2007-12-31. [dead link]
  53. ^ "Scorecard for the 109th Congress U.S. House of Representatives". Secular.org. Secular Coalition for America. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928021433/http://www.secular.org/scorecard/2006/house.html. Retrieved 2007-12-31. 
  54. ^ George Lardner, Jr, Panel Sputters; Immunity Vote Fails, The Washington Post, May 14, 1998. Retrieved September 11, 1997.
  55. ^ Jackie Kucinich, In trouble with the law: run-ins with police are fact of Capitol life, The Hill, May 11, 2006. Accessed Feb. 15 2008.
  56. ^ Akiva Eldar, They're jumping in head first Ha'aretz, September 30, 2002
  57. ^ Ben Terrall, Tom Lantos' Big Lie: The Pro-War Congressman Calls for Replacing Saddam with a Pro-West "Dictator" CounterPunch, October 25, 2002
  58. ^ US Lawmaker's "Prostitute" Remarks Provokes Germany | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 13.06.2007
  59. ^ The Associated Press, Senior US Democratic lawmaker offends Dutch counterparts with historical remarks, International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  60. ^ a b "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. Retrieved 2008-01-10. 

[edit] External links

Portal icon Biography portal
. 
  • ^ Pankratz, Howard (April 11, 2008). "Denver inventor Dick dies after crash". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_8891919. 
  • ^ Timber Dick, a former city council candidate, dies, Rocky Mountain News, April 11, 2008.
  • ^ "Project Vote Smart: Tom Lantos". Votesmart.org. http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=26739. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  • ^ "Yahoo Criticized in Case of Jailed Dissident". New York Times. Associated Press. November 7, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/technology/07yahoo.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2009-04-19. "'While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies,' Tom Lantos, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said angrily after hearing from the two executives, Jerry Yang, the chief executive, and Michael J. Callahan, the general counsel." 
  • ^ Janine Zacharia, Lantos's List, Jerusalem Post, dated 13 April but year not given, presumably 2001. Janine Zacharia,D.C. office is a Living Tribute to Wallenberg, originally from Jewish Bulletin of Northern California (credited as aJerusalem Post Service story, and appears to be a reworking of the previous story), April 20, 2001; reproduced on Lantos's congressional web site. Aleza Goldsmith,challenges Lantos in three-way race, j. (formerly Jewish Bulletin of Northern California), October 4, 2002. All accessed 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Congressional Progressive Caucus membership list. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Gun issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Abortion issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Environmental Issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Edward Epstein, BAY AREA: Recreation area about to get bigger: Historic rancho near Devil's Slide a deal at $15 million, San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Bush signs Lantos’ open space bill, San Mateo Daily Journal, December 22, 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Index of Congressional Human Rights Caucus stories on Lantos's congressional site. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ Chronicle Washington Bureau, Bush inks Jewish bill by Lantos, San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  • ^ a b c CONGRESSMAN SAYS GIRL WAS CREDIBLE, The New York Times. January 12, 1992
  • ^ Kuwaiti Gave Consistent Account of Atrocities, The New York Times. January 27, 1992
  • ^ a b Deception on Capitol Hill, The New York Times. January 15, 1992
  • ^ "THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION; LAWMAKERS BEGIN PUSH TO GIVE BUSH AUTHORITY ON IRAQ," by Alison Mitchell, The New York Times, October 4, 2002
  • ^ Petraeus Hearing, Opening Statement by Chairman Lantos at hearing With General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. September 10, 2007
  • ^ a b c Pelosi, Nancy. Democratic Leader.gov
  • ^ Jim Doyle, Five members of Congress arrested over Sudan protest, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2006.
  • ^ "Letter of Lantos, titled "The Arrest Of Hungarian Intellectual Miklós Duray By The Government Of Czechoslovakia"". US Congressional Record. http://www.duray.sk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230&Itemid=2. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  • ^ "Official Letter from Tom Lantos to Vojislav Kostunica". Congress of the United States, Committee on International Relations. http://www.hhrf.org/hhrf/en/lantosltr.htm#english. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  • ^ "Official Letter from Tom Lantos to Robert Fico" (PDF). Congress of the United States, Committee on Foreign affairs. http://www.hacusa.org/press/lantos_letter.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  • ^ "Chairman of U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee Calls on Slovakian Prime Minister to disavow Beneš decrees, ensure justice for Hungarian minority". Washington, D.C.: Hungarian-American Coalition. October 22, 2007. http://www.hacusa.org/press/lantos_102207.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19.  (Press release)
  • ^ "U.S. lawmaker blames Slovak government for ethnically motivated attacks on Hungarians". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/05/europe/EU_GEN_Hungary_US_Slovakia.php. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  • ^ "Honoring Congressman Tom Lantos". The American Hungarian Federation. 2008-06-12. http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/news_Tom_Lantos.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-30. 
  • ^ "Lantos: Withhold aid to Lebanon until troops secure border", Haaretz, Aug. 27, 2006
  • ^ Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of House of Representatives. “U.S. Policy Challenges in North Africa.” Serial No. 110-76, June 6, 2007, Pgs 1–2. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/35873.pdf Accessed March 21, 2010
  • ^ Congressman Tom Lantos to Complete his Congressional Service at the End of Current Term
  • ^ "California Dems Expected to Vie for Lantos Seat". CQ Politics. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002651163. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  • ^ "Inside Bay Area – Lantos endorses Speier as 'our best candidate'". Insidebayarea.com. http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_7996173. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  • ^ "– Rep. Tom Lantos of California dies at 80". Cnn.com. 2008-02-11. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/11/lantos.obit/index.html?iref=newssearch. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  • ^ "Funeral: Tom Lantos (2008)". Nndb.com. http://www.nndb.com/group/640/000168136/. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 
  • ^ Jewish Telegraph Agency – Bush awards Lantos freedom medal[dead link]
  • ^ "Sindh Today – Online News » Dalai Lama shunned by Obama, gets award from speaker Pelosi". Sindhtoday.net. 2009-10-06. http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/57945.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-15. [dead link]
  • ^ "Tom Lantos Institute Inauguration In Budapest", Xpatloop.com, July 5, 2011
  • ^ "New Peninsula Humane Society Opens in Burlingame", burlingame.patch.com, September 9, 2011
  • ^ "Representative Tom Lantos (CA)". vote-smart.org. Project Vote Smart. Archived from the original on 2006-03-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20060301222402/http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=26739. Retrieved 2007-12-31. [dead link]
  • ^ "Scorecard for the 109th Congress U.S. House of Representatives". Secular.org. Secular Coalition for America. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928021433/http://www.secular.org/scorecard/2006/house.html. Retrieved 2007-12-31. 
  • ^ George Lardner, Jr, Panel Sputters; Immunity Vote Fails, The Washington Post, May 14, 1998. Retrieved September 11, 1997.
  • ^ Jackie Kucinich, In trouble with the law: run-ins with police are fact of Capitol life, The Hill, May 11, 2006. Accessed Feb. 15 2008.
  • ^ Akiva Eldar, They're jumping in head first Ha'aretz, September 30, 2002
  • ^ Ben Terrall, Tom Lantos' Big Lie: The Pro-War Congressman Calls for Replacing Saddam with a Pro-West "Dictator" CounterPunch, October 25, 2002
  • ^ US Lawmaker's "Prostitute" Remarks Provokes Germany | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 13.06.2007
  • ^ The Associated Press, Senior US Democratic lawmaker offends Dutch counterparts with historical remarks, International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  • ^ a b "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. Retrieved 2008-01-10. 

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    United States House of Representatives
    Preceded by
    William H. Royer    		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
    from California's 11th congressional district
    1981–1993    		 Succeeded by
    Richard W. Pombo
    Preceded by
    Tom Campbell    		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
    from California's 12th congressional district
    1993–2008    		 Succeeded by
    Jackie Speier
    Political offices
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    Henry J. Hyde
    Illinois    		 Chairman of House Committee on Foreign Affairs
    2007–2008    		 Succeeded by
    Howard Berman
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