Alcee Hastings: “I thank my good friend Tom Lantos, who has been stalwart in fighting not only anti-Semitism but bigotry throughout this…”

“I thank my good friend Tom Lantos, who has been stalwart in fighting not only anti-Semitism but bigotry throughout this world. I would like to start by saying that I am very grateful for the bipartisan cooperation of many House leaders to ensure that this important legislation was so promptly brought to the House floor. In particular, I would like to thank my good friends and colleagues, the majority leader, John Boehner; Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi; of course, as I have mentioned, my extremely good friend and mentor, the incoming chair of the House International Relations Committee, the distinguished gentleman from California, Tom Lantos; the current chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia; and my fellow Floridian and very, very good friend and colleague and classmate and ally in a number of mutual efforts on behalf of our respective constituencies; and the ranking Democratic member, Gary Ackerman from New York. I sincerely appreciate the assistance of all of these colleagues in allowing me to introduce this legislation and bring it to the floor for a vote on the second-to-last day of the legislative year and, importantly, prior to the occurrence of this nasty conference.”