Tom Lantos has died of cancer. Rep. Lantos has been the House member for the 12th district (San Mateo) since 1981 and chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. A Hungarian Jew, he survived the Holocaust and came to the U.S. in 1947 and settled in San Mateo County in 1950. (The Chron’s bio is here.)
In a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2 to 1, Tom Lantos’ seat was the very definition of safe. Perhaps that safety gave him the freedom to break with the anti-Israel extremists in his own party and speak out against human rights abuses by America’s adversaries as well as its friends.
I suppose Tom Lantos’ longevity is an argument for term limits, but he tended to stay out of partisan frays and I found his presence reassuring. His replacement, whoever he (or she—most likely former State Senator Jackie Speier) is, will do well to emulate his restraint.
© 2008 Stephen Yuen
No comments:
Post a Comment