Media Release

Members of Congress Gather to Dedicate Lantos Archives, Remember and Honor the Late Congressman Lantos
A moving ceremony at the U.S. Capitol marks the dedication of an important source of information on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial

Washington, D.C. April 24, 2009 – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) jointly hosted the dedication of the Tom Lantos Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial Archives at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. In a moving ceremony, members of Congress and other dignitaries expressed their support for the establishment of the Lantos Archives and praised both MEMRI and the Lantos Foundation for their important work and efforts to combat anti-Semitism and human rights violations
worldwide.

The event’s list of distinguished speakers featured a bipartisan mix of members of Congress, including: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator George Voinovich, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Congressman Gary Ackerman, Congressman Eric Cantor, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao, and Congressman Eni Faleomavaega. Additionally, the standing room only crowd heard remarks from the Israeli Ambassador Salai Meridor, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) Kay Mayfield, and Paul Shapiro, Director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Many of the speakers recalled their former colleague Congressman Tom Lantos, the archives’ namesake, and his dedication to combating anti-Semitism and all forms of injustice. Vice President Joe Biden echoed this theme in a letter expressing his support for the new Lantos
Archives, which read, “The Lantos Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial Archives will help future generations understand why we confront injustice, why we defend human rights, and why we honor all that Tom Lantos stood for… I think it is fair to say, Tom would have been proud to be associated with an archive that not only documents past injustices, but acts as a tool to help prevent future intolerance.”

The Lantos Archives, which represent a collaborative effort between the Lantos Foundation and MEMRI, will be the repository of MEMRI’s Anti-Semitism Documentation Project. These remarkable archives document anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in every form of media
throughout the Greater Middle East. The project also focuses on those brave individuals in the Arab and Muslim world who courageously speak out against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. MEMRI's Anti-Semitism Documentation Project maintains the largest archives in the
world of translated Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, and Urdu - Pashtu material on anti-Semitism from the past decade. It has become the preeminent source of information on the global upsurge in antiSemitism and is regularly used as a primary source for legislators, policymakers, and researchers around the world.

About the Lantos Foundation

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice was founded to further the work of Congressman Tom Lantos, distinguished Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Co-Founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and the only survivor of the Holocaust
to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Chairman Lantos worked tirelessly to advance the role of human rights and justice in American foreign policy. The Foundation’s three-part mission is to recognize, support, and honor the heroes of the human rights movement, to educate and mentor a new generation of young leaders, and to partner with and provide assistance to other human rights organizations working in the trenches.

About the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, and Urdu-Pashtu media, as well as
original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East. Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c) 3 organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C. and branch offices in London, Tokyo, Rome, Baghdad, Shanghai, and Jerusalem. MEMRI research is translated into English, German, Hebrew, Italian, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese.

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