Presentation of the Democracy Service Medal Honoring the life and work of Tom Lantos (1928 - 2008)

Remarks by Howard Berman, U.S. House of Representatives

Thank you, Dick (Gephardt) - and my thanks as well to Carl Gershman, Vin Weber and the National Endowment for Democracy for the invitation to take part in this event.

As it celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, the NED can point with pride to a meaningful legacy.  It has played a key role in pro-democracy movements around the globe, supporting human rights leaders against repressive regimes and steep odds.

The NED is a truly bipartisan undertaking, supported from the start by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and it enjoys the enduring and unreserved backing of Congress.  My distinguished predecessor as committee chairman, the late Tom Lantos, was one of the NED’s most enthusiastic supporters.

Tom would have been pleased to see the Democracy Award go today to individuals who have strived so mightily to bring freedom to China.

He was a good friend of China in many ways, but he was also one of its most unrelenting critics on the subject of human rights -- vocal in support of the aspirations of Tibet and its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama; unafraid to raise his voice on behalf of oppressed minorities such as the Uighurs; and speaking out repeatedly against restrictions on the Internet.  

Tom and Annette Lantos shared a life-long commitment to upholding the rights of the oppressed.

As people who had known all too well what authoritarian regimes could do, having lived through two of them in their native Hungary, Tom and Annette’s experiences spurred them to work for the benefit of humankind.  As the co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus - with Annette working by his side all these years - Tom made the most of his high-profile opportunity to rally people everywhere against the darkness of despotism. 

How appropriate it is, then, that the Democracy Service Medal that Annette will receive on Tom’s behalf today features a flaming torch. 

In pursuing his efforts to promote human rights, Tom took care to work with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, very much in the spirit of the NED.  While differences in political philosophies might often cause members of Congress to part ways, we are united in our love for the values of democracy: the rule of law, freedom of expression, civic education, good governance, labor rights ... the values that NED represents and our country holds dear - nobody more so than our friend and colleague, Tom Lantos.

I am honored now to present this medal -- inscribed, “For Service in the Cause of Democracy” -- to Annette Lantos.