Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in favor of H.R. 3001, the Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Celebration Act. This bill will bestow the Congressional Gold Medal on a hero who is credited with saving thousands of lives during the Nazi occupation of Hungary in World War II. Raoul Wallenberg is one of the truly inspiring figures of the 20th century. Many prominent Americans owe their lives to Mr. Wallenberg and his heroic actions, including my friend and late colleague, Tom Lantos, and his lovely wife, Annette. Through the passage of this legislation, Congress can honor a true humanitarian for the sake of his family and the thousands of survivors who owe their lives to him. Raoul Wallenberg, as my colleague has just said, was a Swedish special envoy to Budapest on a diplomatic mission established in collaboration with the American War Refugee Board and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to initiate a rescue operation for Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary. Over 150,000 Hungarian Jews had already been deported to Nazi death camps by the time Wallenberg arrived in Budapest. But through his ingenuity and even at times his bribing of others through the issuance of fake Swedish protective passes and sheltering in official Swedish diplomatic houses, Wallenberg unrelentingly sought to save Jews from Germans and their accomplices, risking his own life numerous times in the process, while there were others who were involved who gave their lives in the process.…”