Losing Another Congressional Champion on Global Development: Lantos to Retire

*This is a joint post with Sheila HerrlingThe announcement Wednesday that House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA) will not seek reelection in 2008 following a diagnosis of esophageal cancer is another loss for what is becoming a slim group of congressional champions for development and responsible U.S. global engagement. In a press release from his office, Lantos said:

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. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country.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. My wife, Annette, and I look forward to continuing this vital work with purpose and verve every day for the remainder of my term.

Our community is grateful for the tireless work and attention Chairman Lantos and his dedicated staff have brought to global development during his nearly 28 years of service in the House. A patriot, internationalist and multilateralist, Lantos cared deeply about America's credibility and stature in the world. He has been a leader in raising awareness and promoting an active U.S. response to global warming, and is the author of the international portions of the Energy Independence and Security Act. He has pushed for accountable U.S. foreign assistance that reduces poverty and provides opportunities for the world's poor. At times, he has been an outspoken critic of the administration's foreign assistance reform efforts for not adequately informing Congress (see We Are Not A Potted Plant: Congress Responds to U.S. Foreign Aid Reform). Lantos also worked across the partisan divide with the late Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL), then chairman of the House International Relations Committee, to craft the Millennium Challenge Account legislation, with support from his staff members Paul Oostburg Sanz and later Robin Roizman. He continues to play a key role in authorizing (and reauthorizing) legislation for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with support from staff member Pearl-Alice Marsh. And he is well known for his work on human rights for all.Congressman Lantos, much like Congressman Kolbe who stepped down in 2006 (see Kolbe's Decision to Leave Congress a Loss for Development) seemed to understand that America's prosperity and security have become inextricably linked to the prosperity and security of other nations and their people. And that America had a special responsibility to be a moral and economic leader in ensuring that our policies help us while also helping responsible states around the world.Our warmest thoughts and thanks go out to Chairman Lantos, his family, and staff. And as we look towards the next elections, here's hoping that a new generation of congressmen and women will fill the void left by Lantos, Kolbe and others to become the new congressional champions for global development.