Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 36. Few people in history have shown the sort of bravery for which we will be honoring Raoul Wallenberg. As Sweden's special envoy to Hungary during the Second World War, Mr. Wallenberg quietly issued thousands--and I say thousands--of protective passports and sheltered as many Jews as he could in Swedish Embassy buildings, protecting them from being rounded up by the Fascist authorities. It is estimated that his efforts saved potentially up to 100,000 Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust. Sadly, as the gentlewoman from Michigan pointed out, Mr. Wallenberg would never see the impact of his great work. As the Iron Curtain descended on Eastern Europe, he was apprehended by Soviet authorities, never to be seen again; but if not for his commitment to the protection of human rights, untold thousands would not be among us today. One of the lives that he saved was that of our former colleague, Congressman Tom Lantos, who wrote the bill making Raoul Wallenberg an honorary citizen of the United States in 1981. In 2012, we posthumously awarded Raoul Wallenberg the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust. This resolution will allow the use of the rotunda for a ceremony presenting the Gold Medal to his family in honor of Mr. Wallenberg for his noble and selfless actions.…”