Wendy Sherman: “we're all deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Lantos. He not only made history here in Washington; he embodied…”

“we're all deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Lantos. He not only made history here in Washington; he embodied history, having survived the Holocaust. And he didn't just survive the Nazis; he fought them in the anti-Nazi underground during World War II. His personal history added to the gravitas of everything he said and everything he did here in Washington. Tom was our Nation's most passionate, eloquent, and respected advocate for human rights, for democracy and for freedom. Tom never bowed to political pressure in the face of any humanitarian atrocity. As our friend, Gary Ackerman, pointed out, in a town with too many sheep, Tom Lantos was a lion, for Darfur, for Tibet, wherever human rights were trampled. And of course Tom Lantos led the walk out in 2001 from the Durban South Africa U.N. conference when that conference degenerated into an anti-Semitic hatefest. Madam Speaker, I came here as a tax professional expecting to serve on the Ways and Means Committee someday. And when that day arrived, Tom Lantos convinced me to stay involved instead on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He convinced me with his words, but more than that he convinced me with his example. He was courteous, gracious, beyond what you expect; but more than that, he was passionate and he was eloquent. And he was an example of what it is to be a great advocate for human rights here in Congress.”