Rep. Tom Lantos: 1928 - 2008

Labor Mourns the Passing of Congressman Tom Lantos

Joint Statement from San Mateo County Central Labor Council executive secretary-treasurer Shelley Kessler and San Francisco Labor Council executive director Tim Paulson, Feb 11, 2008

The Bay Area Labor community is exceptionally saddened to learn of the passing of our friend, Congressman Tom Lantos. Tom’s strong and solid voice on our behalf will be sorely missed on Capitol Hill.

The passing of Congressman Tom Lantos is the departure of a true labor hero from our ranks. Elected in 1980, Tom never mentioned his election without mentioning that it was Labor who put him in office. He often said that he was beholden to us, but it is we who have been, and will be, beholden to him. In the 14 terms that he has served, Tom Lantos never lost sight of the issues that compelled him to run in the first place.

An extraordinary life by any measure, Tom was only 16 years old when, in his native Hungary he became a member of the anti-Nazi underground to resist their occupation.

Tom Lantos was a fighter. His passion for justice and his articulate and incisive analytical skills on our behalf will be a legacy that few elected officials will ever be able to match. His life experience gave a strong basis for his wisdom. Tom never forgot his roots, his dedication to those who fought oppression, or his compassion for humanity.

As a member of the House of Representatives, his fierce advocacy for working men and women won him a 100% voting record. He co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act to protect the right to organize, but in addition to legislation, Tom participated in many acts of support for working people. Hundreds of picket lines were graced with his presence, whether at the crack of dawn or a moonless midnight, Tom was there.

In his tenure, Tom had many hearings and meetings about the plight of workers;
Holding Safeway, Sutter, and many corporate heads accountable for abusive working conditions; taking McDonalds to task for having the “clown in charge” of health and safety for young workers; hosting a county wide town hall to expose the excesses of exploitation of those who toil while many of us sleep; and preventing janitorial companies from paying poverty wages at SFO; “I will NOT have people working in poverty at MY Airport!” And of course, voting correctly against every unfair trade agreement that the President (both Democratic and Republican) has thrown our way.

The list goes on, the many outstanding unsung deeds never to be fully accounted for in his tenure. The Bay Area was fortunate to have had such a dedicated public servant who fought against oppression and worked for a better quality of life for all people.

Tom Lantos, his family (Annette both wife and partner) and his staff, will be forever held in our hearts for their incredible commitment to the community they served.

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[The follwoing article is from Feb. 2008 San Mateo Labor, written before the death of Rep. Lantos]:

Congress member Tom Lantos announced Jan. 2 that he would retire at the end of his term. He was recently diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus and is receiving treatment in Washington, D.C. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lantos received the diagnosis from his doctors the week before Congress recessed in December, but spent two weeks consulting with doctors, his wife, Annette, and other family members before making his decision to retire. “In view of this development and the treatment it will require, I will not seek re-election,” Lantos said.

Lantos said he felt fortunate to have had a long career as a member of Congress. “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,” he said. “I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country.”

Lantos was the first Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. He is known as a champion of human rights. He became chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January 2007 after years of serving as ranking member under the Republican majority. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that she felt “great personal sadness and deep appreciation for his outstanding leadership. His experience, intelligence and compassion will be deeply missed” Pelosi said. Pelosi called Lantos “one of America’s leading experts on foreign affairs and most effective advocates for human rights both at home and abroad.” She added, “As the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, he has used his position to fight for those whose voices have been silenced by hatred and oppression.”

Born in Budapest in 1928 to middle-class Jewish parents, Lantos was only 16 when the Nazis rolled into the Hungarian capital in 1944. He twice escaped from a labor camp and eventually made it to a safe house run by the Swedish humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg. Lantos and his wife Annette survived but lost almost their entire families in the death camps. Their experiences in the Holocaust would shape his priorities in Congress. In 1983, he founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Annette Lantos, who works as volunteer in his Washington office, has directed the caucus ever since.

Lantos & Labor
Rep. Lantos credited organized labor with making his election to Congress possible in the 1980 election that saw Republican Ronald Reagan become president and many democrats lose seats in Congress. He ran after other Democrats passed on the chance to challenge the Republican incumbent Bill Royer. “I’m profoundly conscious of the fact that without labor’s energetic and committed campaign, I would not have begun my long Congressional career,” Lantos said at a breakfast meeting held by the San Mateo County Central Labor Council last October.

He was praised by many union activists and labor leaders for his unyielding support for labor. San Mateo County Central Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Shelley Kessler noted that Rep. Lantos had fought on the side of labor for three decades. “He took on Safeway and McDonalds, he helped on trade issues and he walked countless picket lines with us.” He maintained a 100 percent voting record in support of labor issues.

During the 2003 lockout of grocery workers in Southern California and subsequent negotiations between Safeway and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, Lantos wrote to Safeway CEO Steve Burd to urge him to meet the union’s demands. Lantos was a staunch ally of unions at the San Francisco International Airport and joined many rallies. In 2004, he rallied with screeners represented by the Service Employees International Union at the headquarters of Covenant Security to support their demand for a fair contract. He also fought for the rights of immigrant workers at the airport after the Department of Homeland Security changed citizenship requirements for screeners and baggage handlers.

Daz Lamparas, a former organizer for SEIU and currently Secretary of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance San Francisco Chapter, said that, “In 2002, immigrant airport screeners who were legal permanent residents were threatened to be laid off by the Federal government because of the passage of the Aviation Transportation Security Act (ATSA), which mandates that only U.S. citizens could work at the airport. At San Francisco International Airport, more than 1,000 Legal Permanent Residents (green card holders), mostly Filipinos and other Asian Pacific immigrants, were affected. The Bay Area Organizing Committee, a coalition of labor, churches and community groups approached Congressman Lantos early in the morning sometime in September 2002 to help pressure the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Regional Director to expedite more than 300 SFO airport screeners who were qualified to be naturalized. He is a true friend of labor and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.” Lamparas said he wished Lantos good luck for his retirement.

Stan Kiino, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Council 11, SFO, said that “Congressman Tom Lantos is an AFA-CWA Hero. He consistently and enthusiastically supports aviation workers in a volatile airline sector. And on a much larger scale Tom is an important friend of labor and the communities he represents. We wish number one that Tom’s health and strength continues in this challenging personal time.”

Delegates to the San Mateo County Central Labor Council wrote expressions of their thanks for and support of Tom Lantos as he fights the next battles. Machinists Local 1414 Business Rep. Don Barbe noted that, “We are all better off because of your compassion and hard work.” Adrienne Zanini of the American Federation of Teachers Local 3267 wrote that, “The world is a better place because of you. Teachers everywhere thank you for all you’ve done for children everywhere.”

Lantos & Iraq War
While Lantos played a role in urging Democrats to pass the 2002 measure authorizing President Bush to go to war in Iraq, he has since become an opponent of the war and eloquent critic of the failed policy. He faced a challenge in the Democratic primary in 2004 because of his vote to back the war. Then last year, as Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he held hearings looking into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq and noted that the Bush Administration policy of awarding private contracts with no accountability was like “throwing suitcases full of cash into quicksand.” He said that, “After seven years, we now have oversight—which we didn’t have under the Republican majority—and Bush hates it.”

Lantos called the war in Iraq, “Clearly the most devastating policy and performance in American history. The number one need is to end it to prevent more young Americans from losing life and limb. I go to the hospital in D.C. and see these young people. It’s the most tragic and moving phenomenon.”

Lantos pointed out that, “because of the unbelievable waste of money, our infrastructure is crumbling.”

Michael Eisenscher, National Coordinator for U.S. Labor Against the War, said that Lantos played an important role in helping USLAW win support for its resolution at the AFL-CIO Convention calling for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. “In 2005, when U.S. Labor Against the War was seeking to bring six Iraqi labor leaders to the U.S. for a 26-city speaking tour, it became quickly clear that the State Department would seek to block their entry by denying them visas,” Eisenscher said. “We turned to members of Congress for help. Through Walter Johnson, who had a long-term relationship with Cong. Lantos during his service as Executive Director of the SF Labor Council, we sought assistance from the Congressman, among others, to enable these courageous union leaders to be heard by the American people.

“Even though he did not embrace USLAW’s position for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, Tom Lantos recognized the fundamental human rights and civil liberties issues at stake in obtaining visas for the Iraqis. He promptly assigned his staff to work with us to secure those visas, and in no small measure as a consequence of his intervention the Iraqi trade union leaders were able to enter and tour the U.S. in June of 2005.

“Their ability to tell the working people of the U.S. what impact the invasion and occupation was having on Iraqi working people and its re-emerging labor movement was instrumental in influencing unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO to endorse a resolution calling for rapid withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Iraq that was adopted at the federation’s July, 2005 convention. It was the first time in its 50-year history that the federation had broken with an administration over its foreign and military policies during time of war, and represented a turning point in the growth of USLAW and the struggle to end the Iraq occupation.”

Compassion & Intelligence
Shelley Kessler said that Lantos’ staff shared his commitment to his constituents and could always be counted on to help. “There was never a time when we couldn’t call staff in his office and get help for our members,” she said. “They are incredibly responsive to so many really diverse and tough situations and are willing to work with us to help union members and the greater community.”

Lantos held a Town Hall Meeting on the underground economy and low wage workers several years ago attended by many local elected officials. “As a trained economist with great political acumen, Tom’s understanding of how the economy impacts people goes beyond just policymaking,” said Kessler. “He has a concrete understanding of how economic policies affect people in the community.”

“He defended the rights of janitors at the airport to not have to work for poverty wages, in front of the head of the SFO contractors,” Kessler added. “He’s not afraid to be unpopular and go up against corporate CEO’s or Bush Administration officials. But at the same time he is the consummate diplomat, very gracious and personable. He did many things for which he got no public acknowledgment. He visited injured veterans at Walter Reed hospital out of compassion and caring, not for any fanfare, when he didn’t have to do so.”

Lantos also used his understanding of economics to point out the flaws and dangers of so-called free trade agreements. “We never had to question him on his commitment to fair trade over ‘free trade.’ He understands the implications of ‘free trade’ agreements and their impact on workers,” Kessler said.

Bill Nack, Business Manager of the San Mateo Building and Construction Trades Council, said Lantos was consistent in his support for union members being employed in rebuilding the state’s infrastructure. “He’s been a strong advocate for the building trades unions and recognizes that skilled labor built America and unions not only protect the rights of those workers but provide the training to create a skilled workforce,” Nack said.

Jackie Speier to Run
Lantos was facing the possibility of a primary challenge again this year. Former State Senator Jackie Speier had formed an exploratory committee to run for the seat, and on January 14 formally announced her candidacy at Leo Ryan Park in Foster City. The district had been represented by her former boss, Rep. Leo Ryan, who was gunned down in Guyana in 1978 by the followers of the Rev. Jim Jones. Speier, Ryan’s congressional aide, was seriously injured in the shooting.

In her announcement speech as Democratic Party candidate for the 12th District Speier said, “It has been almost two weeks since we heard the sad news that Congressman Lantos was diagnosed with cancer. As I begin this journey, let us keep Congressman Lantos and his family in our prayers, and let us thank him. For nearly three decades he has been a passionate champion of human rights around the world. Tom also had a talent for skewering stonewalling bureaucrats. That’s a talent I admire. All of our best hopes go with Tom and Annette during this difficult time.”

Speier said she was running for Congress because, “We spend $10 billion a month in a senseless war in Iraq, while just $10 billion a year would cover every uninsured child in America. Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are denied quality healthcare in a nation that asks them to make the ultimate sacrifice. This is ridiculous. We can do better, and that is why I am running for Congress.”

She said that she was also running because, “Each day thousands of Americans have their personal financial information traded for money or outright stolen. I would like to see the same type of tough financial privacy laws passed at the federal level that I got passed here in California,” and that, “The federal government is fighting to keep California from cleaning our own air. I’d like to see an Environmental Protection Agency that is on the side of the environment and not the polluters.”

Speier also said she wanted to promote, “a vision to create universal healthcare for all Americans, to put an end to the 47 million who go without and a vision to support funding for schools and colleges because investing in children and our future is not simply a moral obligation but a national honor.”

See Speier’s full announcement at www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/01/jackie_speiers.html.
Speier served 10 years in the state Assembly and eight in the state Senate before losing a tight race for lieutenant governor in 2006. Green Party member and 2006 Assembly candidate Barry Hermanson also announced that he is a candidate for the 12th District seat.

Lantos: Vital Work To Do
At the October meeting with union members, Rep. Lantos said the 2008 presidential election would be historic and that, “It would be a nightmare to miss the opportunity to elect a pro-labor candidate,” which he said any of the Democratic Party candidates would be.

He pointed out that electing a Democrat to the presidency would benefit labor with better appointments at the cabinet level and to the National Labor Relations Board. “We need to control the Executive branch,” he said. “You couldn’t find a better example [of anti-labor appointments] than the Bush administration.” Lantos also is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would streamline union elections with provisions for card-check elections rather than going through the NLRB election process.

Lantos said that he would finish his term and continue the work he has done for his 27-plus years in the House of Representatives. “Throughout my adult life I have sought to be a voice for human rights, civil liberties and social justice, both at home and around the world,” Lantos said in a statement. “My wife, Annette, and I look forward to continuing this vital work with purpose and verve every day for the remainder of my term.”