Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Establishment Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding and for his generous words.

Madam Speaker, I want to express my appreciation to the many Members and staff who worked on the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Establishment Act. It was truly a collaborative, bipartisan effort, and a genuine desire to pay tribute to the work and legacy of our former colleague, Tom Lantos.

I want to thank Chairman HOWARD BERMAN and Ranking Member ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN for all of the support and guidance they have provided. They, and their incredible staffs, were true partners in crafting this resolution. I especially want to thank my colleague from Virginia, my fellow cochair of the Human Rights Caucus, FRANK WOLF, for welcoming me as his new partner and for his leadership in shaping this resolution.

I also want to thank his staff, Molly Miller, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Elyse Anderson, who contributed so much time and careful attention to the resolution before us today.

I also want to thank my staff, Cindy Buhl and Keith Stern, who have done magnificent work in making this resolution a reality.

Madam Speaker, I can't think of a more fitting tribute to Congressman Tom Lantos than institutionalizing human rights work by Members of this House. This commission will be a living, breathing legacy to the vision and inspiration of Tom Lantos. It reminds us that protecting and promoting human rights is not just the right thing to do, but it has the capacity of transforming us, of making us better people, better Members of Congress, and better citizens of the world. That's what helping to save lives around the world can do to you. That is what giving voice to the voiceless can do to you. That is what standing up for something, standing for the universal declaration of human rights can do to you.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission will promote and protect human rights, whether that is the freedom to worship as you choose, run a newspaper or be a journalist without interference, organize a union, expect fair and equal justice before the courts, or receive fair treatment regardless of your gender, race, or your sexual orientation or your racial or ethnic heritage. And most importantly, it is the right to live your life, raise your family, and carry out your daily activities without the constant threat of being killed, jailed or disappearing.

When Speaker Pelosi appointed me to be just the second Democratic cochair in the history of the Human Rights Caucus, I couldn't quite grasp what it would mean to try to follow in the footsteps of Tom Lantos. Then Annette Lantos gave me a call, and Kathryn Cameron Porter came in to visit me, and they gave me their support and their blessing. We talked about how to strengthen the structure and permanence of the caucus, how to encourage and support other Members, especially new Members of Congress to become active on human rights issues so the United States will continue to be recognized throughout the world as a leader in the defense of human rights.

It was in this spirit that the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Establishment Act gradually took form and came into being.

Madam Speaker, there is one other person I would like to recognize and thank for all his knowledge and insights in the many discussions and process of establishing this commission, and that is Hans Hogrefe. Hans handles the human rights portfolio for the Foreign Affairs Committee, and he also staffs the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. I cannot think of anyone else on the Hill who has his institutional memory on human rights legislation and the many human rights issues that Members have worked on over the past 25 years. He is a human rights encyclopedia, and I want to thank him for his dedication to the cause of human rights.

Madam Speaker, I believe establishing the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission will allow Members of Congress to take human rights work to a new level, and it will better serve and support the Members of this House as they take up human rights issues.

As I have often said, it is my strong belief that if the United States is going to stand for anything, it needs to stand out loud and foursquare for human rights. I look forward to working with FRANK WOLF and taking on this task, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution and join us in our work.

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