house important business before it i urge members to take their conversations off the floor those remaining on the floor please take their seats the clerk will resume reading  resolved that the clerk communicate these resolutions to the senate and transcend i copy there up to this family of the deceased resolved that when the house adjourned today in adjourn is a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the gentleman from california mr stark is recognized for one hour that is speaker i ask unanimous consent that my distinguished colleague from california mr dreier have half or by time to manage and pending that i would like to represent recognize the speaker for one minute without objection so ordered its the the general waving from california is recognized madam speaker i thank the gentleman for yielding i thank him for the formal notification of the congress that he presented earlier to the house of representatives and for thank him for bringing us this opportunity to express our that call was followed very quickly by a call from the president of the united states expressing to me as speaker but through me to each and every one of you his sadness over tom's passing and his words of praise for lost not only the house of congress the country has lost one of the most talented leaders in the world indeed the world has lost one of its greatest champions for human rights with the passing of comp chairman tom lantos he was a statesman he was a gentleman and he will be deeply missed as the only holocaust survivor ever elected to congress tom lantos devoted his public like to shining a bright light on the dark corners of oppression from the earliest days in the house when he found us with congressman john porter the congressional human rights caucus to his final days as chairman of the foreign affairs committee he used his powerful voice to stir the conscious conscienceless of world leaders and the public alike because he had lost his mother and so much of his family in the holocaust his wife annette his two daughters and that and katrina his grandchildren and great grandchildren were the center of his universe and i'm speaker i told some of our colleagues earlier that tom and annette and they were a team in every way whether it was establishing that the human rights caucus or working together for the benefit of our district his district and our country they were a team and all who knew tom knew how devoted he was to his family and to annette who he adored they worked as a team bringing great intellect experience and compassion to their outstanding work in public service and yet was alone after the holocaust as well and when they married they had two daughters and nat and katrina who produced this wonderful  family of the of the eighteen grandchildren and two daughters eighteen grandchildren they said to their parents you lost your families in the holocaust we are bringing to you a new family and how proud tom was of all of that having lived through the worst evil known to mankind tom lantos translated his experience into a lifetime commitment to the fight against anti semitism for the holocaust education and commitment to the state of israel tom lantos was not only a champion of human rights he was an expert on foreign affairs and diplomacy and the security of our country he had a rare combination of extraordinary lank knowledge great wisdom extraordinary skill and judgment and a great moral compass he rallied us to the cause of defending basic human freedom within the borders of the most powerful countries and in the most remote places in the world he stood tall and sometimes lonely fight for the people of china and tibet i was proud that we had the opportunity to work together and with the president of the united states in a bipartisan way to honor the people of tibet by privet presenting the congressional gold medal to the dalai lama last year tom when along with congresswoman ross layton was co sponsors and co authors of that legislation thank you congresswoman ross layton he fought to end the genocide in darfur and recently helped enact legislation to crack down on the sudanese regime he worked to strengthen sanctions against the military junta in burma and to and work for the release always used his experience in intellect to empower the powerless and to give voice to the voiceless throughout the world here at home tom lantos championed working families working families had no better friend in the congress of the united states than tom lantos and he was a strong leader in protecting our planet for the future he also authored key provisions of our landmark energy bill which the president signed into law thanks to tom lantos that long clothes provisions that will help the united states assume a greater leadership role in the world to fight climate change he will long be remembered for his efforts to expand to protect the golden gate national recreation area which one is one of the nation's most visited national parks and a treasure for bay area residents i had the privilege of serving with tom as we shared representation of the city of san francisco and it was one of my present the privileges of my service in congress to work with him on behalf of the people of san francisco congressman lantos was also well known for songs strong support of infrastructure improvements and closing the expansion of bart service and other mass transit solutions so as leadership was felt around the world he always remained a fierce advocate for his contest constituents in the twelfth congressional district tom lantos called himself an american by choice america is a stronger nation a more caring nation eighteen grandchildren and his great grandchildren i hope it is a comfort to them that so many people throughout the entire world mourn their loss and are praying for them and a sad time go by tom my friend was an honor to call you colleague a privilege to serve with you and a joy to be your friend thank you madam speaker tom will be remembered as a passionate advocate for human rights around the world and a strong voice for better schools and a cleaner environment you know but you aries and my colleagues tonight will fill in many details and have much praise for the wonderful job that tom did in his period here i just tried to pick out a few things that he'll be remembered for as the speaker mentioned he worked to give a voice to the voiceless in burma tibet wherever oppression raised it ugly head in congress as in life he was a do or a leader fighter two years ago tom was arrested front of the sudanese embassy for protesting the genocide in he swam every morning at five thirty until recently he was a man who enjoyed and lived life to its fullest as has been mentioned he's survived by a large and wonderful family he loved and they loved grandchildren to appreciate i guess all the time accomplish we ought to think a little bit about his life before joining us here in congress he grew up in hungry and survived nazi labor camps arrived here in the united states in  a academic scholarship and it custom you think it's probably take off your shoes tao at customs he was greeted and they immediately confiscated his only possession a hunk garion salami so they were thorough then as they are now he married a net nine hundred fifty and he also received bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and then moved on to san francisco he received those at the university of washington in seattle he moved to san francisco and began a thirty year career teaching economics at chan francisco state in one hundred fifty three he received a ph d in economics from the university of california berkeley thomas elected in one nine hundred eighty three years later he co founded the congressional human rights caucus last month he announced to us that he'd been diagnosed with cancer and would not seek reelection and in that announcement he said and i quote him here i will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country similarly this house in our country will never be able to fully express our gratitude for columns decades of service you'll be missed by his colleagues constituents family and the people whose basic human rights he fought for every day i reserve dreier is recognized madam speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized madam speaker as is very evident this is a sad day and evening for the house of representatives of course the lantos family and for all of the american people and all who are lovers of freedom tom lantos devoted his life to shining a bright larrie on dark corners of oppression that was  speaker pelosi in her official statement in responding to the tragic news of thomas passing i'm gonna close speaker pelosi once again madam speaker tom lantos devoted his life to shining a bright light on dark corners of oppression now we've heard that tom lantos is the lone survivor of the holocaust ever serve in the congress of the united states we know of his tremendous accomplishments we know the fact that fifty eight years ago this coming july he and annette were married and we know that he had an absolutely wonderful family his two daughters did provide those eighteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren and i have to say that i personally  have had the opportunity to spend time with all of them and the reason is that i'm one of annette and tom's neighbors here on capitol hill and we always knew when the lantos household was filled over a justice court because kids were running around all over that area and it was such a wonderful thing and when i heard the speaker say today what tom's daughters said to him the fact that he lost his family in the holocaust would lead them to provide him with a family that he no longer had and obviously they did i've known of no parent or grandparent to be proud of their children and grandchildren that annette and tom lantos have been of their wonderful family and having heard speaker pelosi as words i now have an even greater understanding of the importance of the role that annette and christina played in providing him with that family we got the news i read this morning in the paper that just last week the prime minister of hungary was scheduled to present tom with the highest honor that hungary bestows on anyone and sadly he was too ill to receive that honor but we know that tom regularly described himself as one who was born hungary and but american by choice and i think that that underscores the extraordinary importance of immigration and the understand the great importance of what it is that has made the united states of america as great as that is one of the things i'm the first republican to stand up and i'm going to be turning this over to the distinguished ranking member of the committee on foreign in just a few minutes but as the first republican to stand up i have to say that one of the greatest things about tom lantos was that he regularly transcended political party he was known for the wonderful working relationship that he had with the former chairman of his committee who as we all know passed away sadly last year our colleague henry hyde and i regularly is a member the rules committee had the opportunity to see henry hyde and tom lant come together arm in arm working together in behalf of a very positive foreign policy for the united states i don't get me wrong there were more than a couple of occasions especially in the last couple of years where there was disagreement between henry hyde and tom lantos but time and time again both men demonstrated their extraordinary patriotism and their commitment to the greatness of the united states of america on january second just last month our friend tom announced that he would not be running for reelection of course he'd gotten the news of of his illness and in that statement announcing his retirement he madam speaker said it is only in the united states that a panelist survivor of the holocaust and a fighter in the end i not see 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 the united states congress i will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country no matter speaker one of the things that i regularly say about the united states of america i think like most of the people who are here in this chamber this moment we were born here and people who are born here can have a tendency to take the greatness of the united states of america for granted but i will say that tom lantos demonstrated fully to every single aspect of his life the profound appreciation that an immigrant has for something that many of us who are native born have a tendency to take for granted and i regularly work to fight against that and seeing someone like tom lantos has played a big role in inspiring me and i know there are other great great immigrants who serve in this country in this congress and obviously in this country as well and i think that his life underscores that as i look over and see our distinguished majority leader mr hoyer i'm reminded of the great work that became the volunteer director of the human rights caucus because of her extraordinary commitment to that cause and obviously it was led by tom through these so many years and i will just say that for me personally i was elected with tom in november of one thousand nine hundred eighty twenty eight years ago this coming november and this is a professional loss but obviously for so many of us a very profound personal loss and i want to say to all of the family members how much i have appreciated the friendship our thoughts and prayers are with them and the world is a better place the world clearly is a better place for the life majority leader is recognized i thank my friend for yielding this is a sad day not only for this institution for those of us who were tom's friend clearly for his family but it is a sad day for our country david dreier just mentioned my service on the helsinki commission as chairman of that body for the house with my friend chris smith we shared responsibility for focusing on the human rights of people particularly within the european theater and particularly in the soviet union and we work very hard at that but no member of this body has been a stronger voice more compelling voice for the rights of individuals whatever their background wherever they lived and whatever the excuse was for acting against them well undermining their rights in time spoke especially on matters dealing with human rights america's role in the world the importance of confronting and defeating dictatorial regimes are both left and right his words contained a moral clarity and intellectual gravity that was seldom matched those of us who had an opportunity to be with tom when we met with people from around the world knew that tom lantos would be candid diplomatic but certain in his message tom quite simply was a man of great substance an immigrant to america who like so many immigrants before him and after but few matching his contribution to our great country speaker pelosi indicated that tom referred to himself as an american by choice he was a great humanitarian whose remarkable life serves as an inspiration to all of us to his family and to his country he was an his life story of course is well known and i will not repeat it here others will talk more specifically last month tom was unable to attend the united nations annual commemoration of the holocaust however his daughter katrina married to one of our colleagues dixwell it delivered his remarks which called on the international community to try to and i quote dedicate ourselves to stopping current tragedies such as the genocide in darfur and to preventing such and human cruelty in the future tens of thousands hundreds of thousands millions around this globe have lost an extraordinary voice for them individually and collectively tom went on to note that the veneer of civilization is paper thin that's a lesson for all of us we know that the mob can be uncaring of human rights of individuals tom lantos focused on that issue when he said that that the new year is very thin john lewis another great humanitarian and champion of individual and rights and civil liberties he went on to say we are its guard and we can never rest not only did he say that but he lived his life without rest for those he saw beleaguered until his last day on this earth tom lantos never rested because of what he had seen and experienced he was an indefatigable advocate for human rights and human decency and now with his passing it falls to us to honor his enduring legacy not just by speaking on this floor of what he did but committing ourselves to continue his advocacy for liberty and human rights there's no more fitting tribute to this wonderful man who lived a wonderful life marked by hardship tragedy and also triumph and who now is at rest in god's hands madam speaker i especially want to speak of a net you cannot speak of to lantos without speaking of annette i don't know of any couple that i've ever met that was in fact as well as in marriage soni ceremony verbiage to people who became one kindred spirits born of equal experience equally committed with a passion and a courage and an untiring commitment on behalf of who needed a voice annette is with us still and therefore tom is with us still they we honor him remember him and hold high the torch that he held so high so successfully for so long god bless you  colleague tom lantos our sorrow is at news of his death is tempered by our admiration for his extraordinary contributions to our great country an unfailing gracious and courageous man tom was recognized by colleague says as a leader who left than enviable legacy of service to our country we were fortunate indeed  have known him annette and the entire lantos family have our heartfelt condolences tom in a net heroic journey to america through extraordinary adversity is well known to us all and is the topic perhaps for a future biographer who can adequately capture the tenor of life under the oppressive yoke of fascism during those terrible times more than half a century ago tom's unsurpassed work as a champion of human rights and for human dignity cannot be separated from his fiery trials through which he passed as a young his life bears witness to the in durance of the human spirit as a colleague tom enjoyed the respect of his peers across the political spectrum because all of us admire him as an ar t american patriot during our many meetings together when we met with foreign leaders here and abroad his love of country was always evidence he understood an truth that all of us would do well to really learn united we stand and divided we fall to be sure tom could be a vehement critic of an administration policy during house debate but he would not hesitate to remind a visiting group of european parliamentarians to temper their criticism of u s policy or risk being labeled as hypocrites for their feeble resistance to genocide at auschwitz or at modern day death camps in sudan his defense of the national security policies would surprise and perhaps rankle some but not to not those photo of communist tyranny all of us here tonight have so many stories to share about tom about his life with the net and his vital work and we will surely honor him in the months ahead another appropriate ways it is fitting though that we honor the life of this great patriot for it was his work and his life that enriched us so tonight rather than merely mourn his passing let us thank god that tom lived among us and left such a strong legacy for us to follow i often said to tom during or before our committee hearings that it was a great testament to our wonderful nation that two naturalized citizens witnesses to the evils of communism and oppression would serve as chairman and ranking member of the committee charged with developing and overseeing our foreign policy efforts and i cannot fully explain to tom and his family my deep gratitude to tom for his service and for his dedication and annette our prayers are with you and your family and how odd to say as mr hoyer pointed out how odd to say in that without saying tom and annette for they were they were a unit thank you tom  godspeed my friend with that our reserve the balance of our time the gentlewoman from florida windsor gentleman from california mr berman is recognized to men's i please to recognize for two minutes the gentleman from new york mr nest the gentleman from new york mr nadler is recognized for two minutes california tom lantos had passed away and he was our good friend unfailingly courteous and kind and helpful to all time has left an inspiring legacy and his passing is a great loss to our country and to the entire world have his life time devoted himself to human rights and to the cause of persecuted racial religious and ethnic minorities as a survivor of the holocaust and the only survivor ever to serve in congress he had seen firsthand real evil and he became a tireless advocate for human rights as a youth he was a member of the anti nazi underground and his life's work was built on a commitment to opposing anti semitism and all forms of racism and oppression and attempted genocide and on supporting israel the country that emerged as a haven for the survivors and refugees from the holocaust congressman lantos once said i will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country but it is this nation that will never be able to express adequately its gratitude gratitude to this great man his life and devotion to human rights should serve as an inspiration to us all my thoughts and prayers our thoughts and prayers and those  grateful nation are with annette and with the rest of tom's family and friends during this said time and in this hour of bereavement as we mourn the loss of this great man what can we finally say other than to thank god for time's life and gentleman from california reserves the challenge general a lady from florida thank you so much man a speaker i yield fixed time as you may consume to the gentleman from new jersey mr smith a member of our foreign affairs that committee and someone who worked  gifted articulate smart persuasive and compassionate and i would add courageous members of congress ever to serve over the years i like so many other colleagues here in this chamber got to know and deeply respect to honor this this great man we traded places as chairman and as ranking member of the international human rights subcommittee and works seamlessly on north korea so then human trafficking child labor jewish refused nicks and china to name a few of the very difficult issues that we're confronted in the late in the one nine hundred eighty s mr lantos played a significant role in this mantling atheistic communism in eastern europe including his native hungary as well as in the soviet union holocaust survivor tom lantos had a special well focused empathy for those who suffered torture degrading or in your main treatment he was especially vocal and determined when it came to liberating political with the latter in confronting dictatorship he refused to allow the banalities and the excessive niceties of modern day diplomacy to obscure his clear and compelling message because certain freedom democracy and human rights on the issue of anti semitism he had no equal in the days immediately prior to the interests of timber eleventh attacks on america tom lantos brilliantly defended both the united states and israel at the u racism conference held in durban south africa a world conference that deteriorated into an anti semitic hate fest has incited recommendations i think are of particular importance and  the united nations gears up for what is likely to be durban two he wrote and i quote at the time for me and this is his quote having experienced the horrors of the holocaust firsthand this was the most sickening and unabashed display of for jews i have seen since the nazi period he went on however in a positive vein to say the u s must urge friendly middle eastern countries to recognize the link between hate mongering and violence arab states need to look deeply within themselves analyze their missteps seized inflammatory lies and embrace the path of openness and political reform realizing their citizens positive energy he went on to say we cannot defeat terrorism if our coalition partners continue to peddle the hate that breeds it the cold war ended with the collapse of the international communism but in the resulting vacuum radical forces bent spreading fundamentalists the ologies have arisen propelled by the very globalization developments they often disdain the u n world conference on racism provided the world with a glimpse into the abyss of international h discrimination and indeed racism the terrorist attacks on september eleventh demonstrated the evil such hate spawn that we are to prevail in our war against terrorism we must take to heart the lessons o recognized i think i think the speaker and i recognize for two minutes tom's colleague from california generally from california an issue but the general idea from california  evening childhood sweethearts to his two exceptional daughters to his son in laws to his eighteen grandchildren and his two great grandchildren i have known tom lantos for many decades but long before republican it was a real upset in the twelfth congressional district and so tonight i'm thinking about the people of the twelfth congressional district because they not only handed him a victory he never forgot it and he used his public service to fulfill the great responsibility in the charge that they gave to him our congressional districts are next door to one another tom always said that he stood between  speaker and myself because his congressional district was between ours tom lantos was truly a gentleman he was a gentleman with old world  manners and he was a scholar he taught economics when he spoke everyone knew that he was scholarly and so the old term a scholar and a gentleman really belonged to tom he was an immigrant and i think during these times were immigrants are really not fully appreciated the tom lantos should remind us of what comes to this country in terms of immigrants he came here as he said penniless but he came here and brought all the hopes and the aspirations they have thirty seconds more  that all of these accolades that he so is deserving of would be said about him a poet wrote and so he passed on and then all the trumpets sounded on the other side god rest your soul t thank you for what you have given to america thank you what you for what you did in the house of representatives thank you for what you did for the people of the twelfth congressional district we are forever grateful the gentleman from florida is recognized thank you so much madam speaker i am proud to yield such time as she may consume to the gentle late he from illinois miss bigger to share her thoughts about our beloved friend homeland the gentleman from illinois mrs figured it was reco to make and so i think that the gentle lady for yielding to me and madam speaker i rise today to say goodbye to a good man and a cherished colleague chairman lantos was one of those most respected and distinguished members of the of the u s house of representatives and he will be missed turn his fourteen terms in this body championed the causes of people everywhere who face oppression and cruelty to his leadership of both the foreign affairs committee and of the human rights c us policy with morality and integrity as i listened to mrs eshoo she used the same words as i would say of him he was truly a gentleman one of those rare breeds of all world statesman who brings clarity and respect to our national debate and while he was indeed an accomplished speaker chairman lantos inspired not only by his words but through his own personal story and i think we all think of him standing here in the chamber rail straight rail posture and saying after you my dear the the gentleman that that he was always portrayed but from his tragic experience experiences  nancy camps to his rise in congress he showed how one truly remarkable individual can overcome the worst sort of tyranny and achieve great things so to chairman lantos wife annette and his daughters his grand  daughter grandchildren and his great grandchildren i send my thoughts and prayers we can all take comfort in the fact that his he had a full life with a legacy that will never be forgotten with that i yield back the balance of my time by choice but a citizen of the world he was a warrior for human rights a lawyer for justice and fairness he spoke up and he spoke up for people around the world madam speaker the world community had a loss or tal afar voice for human rights and for human dignity how do you hide do you on  a man how do you pay tribute to a man like tom lantos we could name buildings streets schools post office but the best way for us to on a tom lentils is to pick up where he left off continue to fight for human rights continue to fight for peace continue to bil a war community at peace with his stuff tom thank you for all your gear to make us all free