Human Rights

Statment from the Tom Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice: Keep America's promises in the fight against Global AIDS

From the U.S. it is hard to imagine the misery of the African continent, where 22.4 million people are living with HIV, and AIDS is the number one cause of death. Africa has the highest rates of tuberculosis (TB) in the world and 90 percent of all deaths from malaria occur on this continent. Before his death in 2008, California Congressman Tom Lantos fought to extend America’s hope to those suffering around the world. As a survivor of the Holocaust, he understood personally the impact U.S. involvement could make on the outcomes of a global tragedy like these deadly infectious diseases in Africa—in the form of infections prevented and lives saved.

The last major piece of legislation Lantos authored was the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Act of 2008. In this bi-partisan effort, Lantos and his Republican colleague Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde worked to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It has been one of the most successful global health programs in history. Like the Marshall Plan, which restored the devastated continent of Europe after World War II, PEPFAR, commonly known as Lantos-Hyde, put the global AIDS program on a path that has built greater local capacity to respond to communities in crisis. This landmark law is a rare bipartisan success story. It was championed by majorities in both the House and Senate, with strong backing from then-Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Tom Lantos was proud of the leadership role the U.S. played in expanding access to the blessing of HIV/AIDS treatment to those around the world who would otherwise needlessly suffer and die. Before PEPFAR, hospitals were clogged with AIDS patients. Instead of going to school, children, mainly girls, were obliged to stay home to care for their dying relatives. Tom Lantos believed treatment would save the lives of many HIV-positive African teachers and nurses at risk of dying of AIDS—and it did. He saw treatment as a way to avoid the enormous suffering, death and financial cost that results when millions of children are left to fend for themselves as orphans and when entire communities collapse. It contributed to prevention by making people who are living with the HIV virus less infectious to others. Lantos-Hyde called for a major expansion of prevention services, including prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child and greater access to proven, effective measures like circumcision for men.

For Tom, investment in HIV treatment and prevention was a wise and worthy investment for America to turn the tide, prevent death and suffering, and address the looming global impact of the AIDS pandemic in the future. Before he died, he spoke often about the Lantos-Hyde law, because he saw HIV/AIDS as a defining moral issue for our time. He called the lack of access to treatment a “fundamental injustice.”

But, today, the legacy of a bold and hopeful vision for the future for millions suffering from and affected by HIV, left to us by Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde, is faltering.

The global financial crisis has undoubtedly left the world in a state of uncertainty about our economic future. Nevertheless, among the difficult choices that have to be made, underfunding Lantos-Hyde should not be one of them.

Last December, Senators Barbara Boxer and Johnny Isakson, joined by six Senate colleagues, sent a letter to President Obama warning that “the success of our HIV/AIDS program is potentially compromised by a proposed slowdown in funding.” Another letter from nearly 300 physicians and scientists to the House Appropriations Committee leadership characterized the President’s FY11 budget as a “retreat” in the fight against AIDS. In May, a report from Doctors Without Borders showed a dramatic deceleration in the expansion of AIDS treatment, due in part to a decline in the pace of U.S. global AIDS funding.

Right now, the number of people in need of AIDS prevention, treatment and care services greatly exceeds the supply. Without a serious, scaled up response by the U.S. and other major global donors, the health delivery infrastructure put in place to provide life-saving drugs,
vaccines, and other critical health services for people with HIV as well as communities at large, especially in African countries, will begin to erode under the weight of millions of sick and dying men, women and children.

The U.S. has a moral imperative to re-assume its leadership role in the fight against HIV– by scaling up treatment and prevention investment, and rededicating our efforts towards the goal of universal access of HIV medications to all in need.

To some, scaling up HIV treatment and prevention is seen as a burden on the U.S. taxpayer. Instead, it should be seen as an investment that has already paid for itself many times over in good will towards our country and hope restored in African communities. Unfortunately,
Congress is now on course to provide little or no funding increase to AIDS programs.

TB stands out as being woefully underfunded. It is the biggest killer of people living with HIV/AIDS, and Lantos-Hyde requires the Administration to set forth a bold strategy on the disease. Currently, the administration is supporting a TB plan with treatment goals lower than those mandated by Lantos-Hyde.

The Obama administration’s $63 billion Global Health Initiative (GHI) calls for a “rebalancing” of the global health portfolio and is an important signal of the intention of the U.S. government to expand its leadership on global health. It is commendable. Unfortunately, the proposed funding will not accommodate both the scope of Lantos-Hyde and provide the additional funding proposed for neglected tropical diseases, reproductive, maternal and child health, and health system strengthening support.

The U.S. is retreating from its formidable leadership role in the war against the ravages of disease on vulnerable societies. This is a war in which all of humanity is a winner. It is worth the investment and the sacrifice.

Inadequate funding will pit disease against disease and patient against patient. A tiny fraction of the U.S. budget is needed to fully fund the programs authorized by Lantos-Hyde. Maintaining this level of commitment to the international fight against misery provides a clear example to the international community. This is the type of leadership that Tom Lantos, Henry Hyde, and all the supportive Democratic and Republican congressmen and congresswomen envisioned.

The U.S. must remain steadfast, courageous, and committed to defeating the AIDS pandemic and mitigating its heartbreaking implications for children and families. President Obama and Congress need to join together to put America back on course to keeping its promises.

San Francisco Airport Terminal Three Hub Renamed - Tom Lantos Rotunda dedicated in commemoration of Congressman's Life of Public Service

Internationally renowned human rights leader, and former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Tom Lantos, will be honored today at the Dedication of the Tom Lantos Rotunda at the San Francisco International Airport.

Lantos who traveled extensively on behalf of human rights throughout his life was also a forceful advocate for the San Francisco International Airport which was in his congressional district. Congresswoman Jackie Speier, and numerous other dignitaries will join Mrs. Lantos and other representatives of the Lantos family on the occasion of the dedication of the Rotunda. Honoring Congressman Lantos, a permanent bronze plaque donated to the airport by the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice will be unveiled at a 2pm ceremony in the Louis A. Turpin Aviation Museum in the International Terminal.

In remarks prepared for the occasion, Mrs. Annette Lantos, Congressman Lantos’ wife of 58 years said, “Most of Tom’s travel took him across the globe in pursuit of his great passion for human rights and justice. Many of those trips began and ended right here in the International Terminal of the San Francisco Airport. My husband had a 60 year love affair with San Francisco, and no matter where we found ourselves in the world he would always request that someone sing his favorite song—I Left my Heart in San Francisco!”

Annette Lantos' statement regarding Helen Thomas' remarks about Israel

Helen Thomas' remarks on May 27th have outraged people of good conscience across the globe. My late husband Congressman Tom Lantos and I both lost family members in Europe during the horror of the Holocaust. It was the searing experiences of our youth that led us to our profound commitment to fight for human rights and justice. Through our work in Congress and now through the Lantos Foundation we have worked to shine a bright light on the lingering evils of bigotry, hatred, and anti-Semitism in the often dark corners of the world. I never imagined that same bright light would be shone on the center chair of the White House Press Corps. It is almost inconceivable that the “Dean” of this distinguished group of talented journalists could have made such offensive and profoundly ill-informed comments. Helen Thomas’ deplorable views do nothing to foster peace in the Middle East, but rather encourage the behavior that has caused such misery in the region. Unfortunately, her tepid and evasive apology cannot undo the far-reaching damage that her thoughtless words fuel.

Statement on the Restrictive Language Law Recently Adopted in Slovakia

Free and democratic societies share the characteristics of tolerance, respect for diversity, and a robust protection of human and minority rights. With its recent enactment of a highly restrictive and punitive language law, Slovakia has taken yet another disturbing step away from these democratic values toward intolerance and discrimination. Under the provisions of this oppressive law, Slovakia becomes the only EU member state, post accession, to legislate financial penalties on some of its citizens for speaking their native language in public.

This law violates Slovakia’s obligations under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities as well as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. At a more basic level it is an affront to the human rights of the minority populations in Slovakia, particularly the more than 500,000 members of the historic Hungarian community.

Since their introduction on September 1, 2009, the punitive measures of the Slovak Language Law have caused widespread intimidation in Hungarian-inhabited communities of Slovakia. In schools, post offices, shops and on public transportation, ethnic Hungarians no longer risk speaking Hungarian, because Slovak citizens order them to “speak Slovak in Slovakia,” or threaten to report them to the authorities.

Although Slovakia has pledged to international bodies not to implement the law until next year, the Slovak Commerce Authority has launched an official investigation and threatened to impose the law's punitive sanctions (between 100 and 5,000 Euros) against the Hungarian weekly Szabad Újság (Free Newspaper) for billboards advertising the Hungarian newspaper to Hungarian readers in Hungarian. Authorities have called the mayor of Nagytárkány (Velké Trakany) to account for making public service announcements to the 99 percent Hungarianinhabited village in the Hungarian language.

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice calls on Slovakia to abandon this ill-advised and discriminatory law and urges the United States Congress to press for reversal of these severe and senseless restrictions on the rights of minorities in Slovakia.

Wife of the Late Congressman Tom Lantos and Chair of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice Makes a Statement on the Awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mary Robinson

In 2001, my late husband Congressman Tom Lantos led, at the urging of Secretary of State Colin Powell, the U.S. delegation’s walk out from the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. In a piece he later published about his experiences at Durban, Tom wrote, “To many of us present…it is clear that much of the responsibility for the debacle rests on the shoulders of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who, in her role as secretary-general of the conference, failed to provide the leadership needed to keep the conference on track.”

Even before the conference, Iran, Iraq, and other rejectionist Middle Eastern governments had made clear their intent to commandeer the conference to denounce the policies and legitimacy of the state of Israel, while ignoring ongoing terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens and refusing to criticize human rights abuses in any other specific country in the world. The United States and several European and moderate Arab delegations made a concerted effort to eliminate this vitriolic language, but those diplomatic initiatives collapsed when Commissioner Robinson spoke in favor of a one-sided approach. Although Commissioner Robinson did much to nurture the global dialogue on racism leading up to the 2001 conference, her actions at Durban were troubling, to say the least.

Today Mary Robinson is being honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award that my own husband received posthumously in 2008. While I am deeply disappointed by the decision to honor former Commissioner Robinson in this manner, I also feel that this provides a good opportunity to reflect on the failures of Durban. As Tom wrote, “One lesson of Durban is clear – strong, principled leadership from the
United States and the United Nations is critical in order to prevent hostile forces within the international community from hijacking vital multilateral institutions.”

Earlier this year President Obama rightly decided that the United States would not send a delegation to the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, noting that conference organizers were determined to expressly endorse the unacceptable resolutions of the 2001 Durban Conference. That may not have been an easy decision for an administration committed to increased engagement, but it was an essential step. It is my hope that this decision and others like it will help to eventually restore the U.N. Human Rights Council as a force for promoting tolerance and human dignity.

The Honorable Tom Lantos, 1928 - 2008. Recipient of the "One from the Heart Award"

To be presented by The Honorable Tom Campbell, Friend and Colleague of Congressman Lantos, 101st - 106st Congresses

Received on behalf of The Lantos Family and the Lantos Foundation by Foundation Trustee Evelyn Szelenyi

Distinguished Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Co-Founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Tom Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor ever to be elected to the US Congress. Alongside human rights, health care was also a significant concern for Congressman Lantos. He understood the importance of hospice care and knew how critical the Medicare hospice benefit was to all Americans. Whenever approached about preserving this benefit, he provided his solid support.

Congressman Lantos worked tirelessly to strengthen the role of human rights in American foreign policy. Before his death in 2008, he requested that The Lantos Foundation be established in his name to advance the important work of standing up for our nation’s most important values of decency, dignity, freedom and justice in every corner of the world.

Quote from Congresswoman Jackie Speier, 12th Congressional District:

“It is more than fitting for Congressman Lantos to receive the John W. Gardner Visionary Award. Tom Lantos was truly a visionary when it came to health care, always fighting for those unable to fight for themselves and doing all he could to make sure that hospice care and other services directed toward the most frail in society were funded at adequate levels.

I thank Pathways for recognizing Congressman Lantos with this award.”

Fashion Institute of Technology's First Tom Lantos Scholar - ITM Major: Soo Jin Yoon

We are pleased to announce that Phil Friedman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Computer Generated Solutions (CGS), and Paul Magel, Senior Vice President of CGS and ITM advisory board member, have chosen Soo Jin Yoon as the recipient of the 2009 Representative Tom Lantos International Studies Scholarship.

Soo Jin will receive $10,000 in scholarship funds, an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to speak at CGS’ annual International User Conference, and a summer internship with CGS.
Soo Jin has five years of merchandizing experience, having worked for prestigious companies in South Korea such as Handsome Corp., where she managed a $45 million fashion brand; Gucci Group Korea; and Mine, S.A. She holds Master of Human Ecology in Fashion Marketing and Bachelor of Home Economics in Clothing and Textiles degrees from Seoul National University.

In her selection as the scholarship recipient, Soo Jin was recognized by CGS primarily for her ability to connect her background and goals with the ideals of Rep. Tom Lantos, the depth of her experience, and her demonstrated capacity to succeed in her chosen career. In her application for the 2009 Tom Lantos International Studies Scholarship, Soo Jin indicated her goal of pursuing a career in global marketing and using it as a means to build a bridge between the fashion industry and society by expanding her role to also protect intellectual property rights. The judges were very impressed with all of the scholarship candidates, noting the professionalism of their applications, their impressive backgrounds, and their drive to make a special contribution to international business and humanitarian causes.

Rep. Tom Lantos was a distinguished U.S. Congress Representative from 1981 until his death in February 2008. Rep. Lantos was Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He was a vocal speaker on issues undertaken by U.S. Congress’ International Relations Committee. Early in his career, Rep. Lantos was a professor of economics, an analyst on international affairs, and advisor of U.S. senators. He was also a well-known advocate of the environment, receiving consistently high ratings from the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental organizations. He also passionately championed human rights.

A close personal friend of Mr. Friedman, Rep. Lantos was very interested in the international aspects of the fashion industry and was a regular participant in CGS’s annual International User Conference. Mr. Friedman established the scholarship to honor Rep. Lantos and to promote his humanitarian values as well as global views to future generations.

Founded in New York City in 1984 as a systems integrator to the fashion industry, CGS currently serves North America, Europe, and Asia with 20 global locations and 2500 employees worldwide. CGS enables mid-market enterprises, Fortune 1000 companies, and government agencies to drive business transformation and improve operating performance by adapting and implementing advanced technology solutions.

Congratulations, Soo Jin!

Lantos Foundation Gives Full Support to Legislation for Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

Newly passed legislation upgrades status of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice today offered its unequivocal support for legislation passed yesterday, which establishes a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in place of the existing Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Congressman Lantos co-founded the Caucus a quarter century ago and acted as co-chairman for nearly his entire congressional career.

Representative Jim McGovern (D – Mass.), current co-chair of the Human Rights Caucus, introduced House Resolution 1451 and said in his remarks on the floor, “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.”

House Resolution 1451 institutionalizes the Human Rights Caucus by upgrading it to the status of a Commission. Most notably, this means that the Commission will be able to submit for its own budget, as part of the larger Foreign Affairs Committee budget. It will also be able to hire its own staff.

Annette Lantos, wife of the late Congressman Lantos and chairman of the Lantos Foundation, worked alongside her husband as the unpaid Executive Director of the Human Rights Caucus for 25 years. She expressed her gratitude and support for the legislation.

“It is almost unbelievable that this Caucus, which was literally nonexistent when Tom was elected in 1980, is standing on the threshold of becoming a permanent part of the U.S. Congress,” she said. “I am so pleased and I know Tom would have been honored to have this organization named for him. More importantly, he would be thrilled to know that the vital work of the Human Rights Caucus will now be carried on by the Commission.”