Tom Lantos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Lantos

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district
Term of office: 1981 - present
Political party:	Democratic
Preceded by:	William H. Royer
Succeeded by:	Incumbent
Religion:	Jewish
Born:	February 1, 1928 Budapest, Hungary
Spouse:	Annette Lantos

Thomas Peter "Tom" Lantos (born February 1, 1928 as Lantos Tamás Péter) has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1981, representing California's 12th congressional district, located in the southwest part of San Francisco and the area just south in San Mateo County. He is the incoming chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Lantos was born in Hungary.

Lantos is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus^[1] and has 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 supports gay marriage rights and marijuana for medical use, is a strong proponent of gun control^[2] and is adamantly pro-choice.^[3]

Lantos is 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. ^[4] His long-standing efforts to protect open space have 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. ^[5] ^[6] In 2005 he opposed an effort to expand public use of the Farallon Islands, a protected wildlife haven.

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

1 Personal and family life
2 Foreign affairs issues
3 1991 Persian Gulf War
4 2003 Iraq War
5 Darfur
6 Lebanon
7 Trivia
8 References
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Personal and family life

Born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, Lantos was part of an anti-Nazi resistance movement during the German occupation of that country and sought refuge in a safe house established by Raoul Wallenberg. In 1981 Lantos sponsored a bill making Wallenberg an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

Lantos considers himself a secular Jew and is the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the House.^[7] Upon immigrating to the United States, he attended the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1953) and was a professor of economics, a television journalist, an administrative assistant, and an economic and foreign policy adviser to the United States Senate before entering the House.

For three decades prior to his service in Congress (1950-1980), Congressman Lantos was a professor of economics, an international affairs analyst for public television, and a consultant to a number of businesses. He also served in senior advisory roles to members of the United States Senate.

Tom and his wife Annette are the parents of two daughters — Annette and Katrina — and they have seventeen grandchildren. Though his wife, their children, and many of his grandchildren are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Congressman continues to retain his Jewish faith. Annette Lantos is a first cousin of the Gabor sisters, Zsa Zsa and Eva.^[8]

[edit] Foreign affairs issues

Congressman Lantos currently serves as the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. CounterPunch, an anti-Israel publication, has described Lantos as "probably the most virulent Zionist in the entire Congress".^[9]

Through its more than 20 years of work, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus^[10] — of which Congressman Lantos is co-chair with Representative Frank Wolf — has covered a wide range of rights and abuses, speaking out for Christians who want to practice their faith in Saudi Arabia and Sudan, fighting for Tibetans to be able to retain their culture and religion in Tibet and advocating for other oppressed minorities worldwide. Lantos’ efforts to protect religious freedom in 2004 resulted in a bill to halt the global spread of anti-Semitism.^[11]

Congressman Lantos and his colleagues on the International Relations Committee are also involved with many decisions that affect other aspects of American foreign policy. Lantos has spoken out strongly against waste, fraud and abuse in the multi-billion dollar U.S. reconstruction program in Iraq, and has warned that the U.S. may once again lose Afghanistan to the Taliban unless the Bush Administration takes quick action to halt the current decline in security and political stability in Afghanistan.

[edit] 1991 Persian Gulf War

Main article: Gulf War

During the run up to the Gulf War, Congressman Lantos played a prominent role in fostering the "Nurse Nayirah" hoax, which helped create an political atmosphere in support of an invasion. Lantos used his Congressional Human Rights Caucus to host a well-spoken young Kuwaiti woman identified only as "Nurse Nayirah". The woman 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. The televised testimony immediately became a part of the heated rhetoric in support of a declaration of war on Iraq, was cited by President Bush on at least six occasions, and convinced many members of Congress to vote in favor of war.

This story was, in fact, a complete fabrication, as reporters eventually discovered after searching in vain for evidence of any hospitals, witnesses, or any parents who had lost infants in Kuwaiti hostpitals. The woman was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, and had been coached on this story by the PR firm of Hill & Knowlton who were paid $14 million by representatives of the Government of Kuwait to create a PR campaign to generate US support for an invasion. Hill & Knowlton also provided free office space to the Congressional Human Rights Foundation, of which Lantos was co-chair at the time.^[12]

Not surprisingly, Congressman Lantos voted for the joint resolution authorizing the President to use the Armed Forces to enforce relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. ^[13]

[edit] 2003 Iraq War

Main article: 2003 Invasion of Iraq

Congressman Lantos voted to authorize military force to be used in Iraq as a last resort. He has made several official statements in his capacity as a Member of Congress and the International Relations Committee, many of which have been published in the Congressional Record. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Darfur

On 28 April 2006, Lantos, along with four other members of Congress and six other activists, was arrested for disorderly conduct in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington. They were protesting the alleged role of Sudan's government in ethnic cleansing in Darfur. ^[14]

[edit] Lebanon

Lantos said in Israel, at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, on August 27, 2006 he will block aid promised by President George W. Bush to Lebanon and free the funds only when Beirut agreed to the deployment of international troops on the border with Syria. He was meeting at the time with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

[edit] Trivia

Congressman Lantos appeared in the Academy Award winning film The Last Days, a documentary of the Holocaust's effect on Hungarian Jews, and "To Bear Witness", another documentary. ^[15]

Congressman Lantos often brings a small white terrier named Macko (say Mat-skoh) to his Capitol Hill office. The Lantos' previous dog, a small poodle named Gigi, was also a fixture in Washington.

[edit] References

^ Congressional Progressive Caucus membership list, accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Gun issues, accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Abortion issues, accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Environmental Issues, accessed 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. Accessed online 25 September 2006.
^ Bush signs Lantos’ open space bill, San Mateo Daily Journal, December 22, 2005. Accessed online 25 September 2006.
^ Janine Zacharia, Lantos's List, Jerusalem Post, dated 13 April but year not given, presumably 2001. Janine Zacharia, Lantos' D.C. office is a Living Tribute to Wallenberg, originally from Jewish Bulletin of Northern California (credited as a Jerusalem 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, Arab-American challenges Lantos in three-way race, Jewish News Weekly of Northern California (formerly Jewish Bulletin of Northern California), October 4, 2002. All accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Mark Simon, Lantos Sells House in Hillsborough, San Francisco Chronicle, June 22, 2000. Accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Gary Leupp: Democrats Can Be NeoCons, Too, CounterPunch, November 11 / 12, 2006, Accessed November 15, 2006.
^ Index of Congressional Human Rights Caucus stories on Lantos's congressional site. Accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Chronicle Washington Bureau, Bush inks Jewish bill by Lantos, San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 2004. Accessed 25 September 2006.
^ John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Suffer the Little Children: PR and Lies in Kuwait, excerpted from the book Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Common Courage Press, 1995; on ThirdWorldTraveler.com. Accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Final vote results for Roll Call 9: roll call of the vote to authorize the use of United State Armed Forces persuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 678, on the site of the U.S. House of Representatives. Accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Jim Doyle, Five members of Congress arrested over Sudan protest, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2006. Accessed 25 September 2006.
^ Tom Lantos at the Internet Movie Database. Accessed 25 September 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by: William H. Royer	United States Representative for the 11th Congressional District of California 1981–1993	Succeeded by: Richard W. Pombo
Preceded by: Thomas J. Campbell	United States Representative for the 12th Congressional District of California 1993-	Succeeded by: Incumbent
Preceded by: Henry Hyde	Chairman of the House International Relations Committee 2007–	Succeeded by: Incumbent