EDITORIAL: A patriot retires
Los Angeles Daily News, January 3, 2008
Having served more than a quarter of a century in Washington, San Francisco Rep. Thomas Lantos is no stranger to controversy. An outspoken Democrat in an age of partisan rancor, he rhetorically gives as much as he gets. But in announcing that he has cancer and plans to retire from government, the 79-year-old Lantos has uttered words that ought to unite all Americans.
"It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a member of Congress," Lantos said in a statement.
Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, was part of the Hungarian underground who managed to escape a Nazi work camp. Upon coming to the U.S., he earned degrees at the University of Washington and at Berkeley. A distinguished career in academia, business and media preceded his distinguished career in politics.
Diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, Lantos has decided not to seek another term. But he shows no self-pity and only appreciation for the opportunities America afforded him. "I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country," Lantos said.
The country, in turn, should express its profound gratitude to Lantos - as well as its best wishes for his health - for the beautiful witness he has borne to the American dream.