September 6, 2018
For Immediate Release
Contact: Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett
(603) 226-3636

CONCORD, NH – The Lantos Foundation proudly announces the release of “The Noble Banner of Human Rights: Essays in Memory of Tom Lantos.” This collection of essays, authored by a global group of academics and edited by Dr. Anna-Maria Biro and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, remembers the extensive body of Tom Lantos’ human rights work and offers new insights on a range of topical current issues including human rights education, religious freedom, post-conflict justice, minority rights, and identity politics. The book also features a tribute by former United States Vice President Joe Biden and an introduction by Lantos’ long time Chief of Staff, Ambassador Robert King.

Upon publication of the book, Lantos Foundation president, Katrina Lantos Swett, released the following statement:

“We are proud to have collaborated with the Tom Lantos Institute on this important book that honors my father’s life's passion. As the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the United States Congress, Tom Lantos held both a unique historic viewpoint and a powerful platform to address the wrongs he saw in the world. This book takes a current look at some of the key human rights issues to which he devoted his life. We are also extraordinarily grateful to Tom’s dear friends and confidantes who graciously contributed to the book, most notably Vice President Joe Biden. Readers will also gain incredible insight into Tom’s Congressional career through the eyes of his long-time Chief of Staff, Ambassador Bob King.”

Copies of "Noble Banner of Human Rights: Essays in Memory of Tom Lantos” can be purchased through the Brill website at https://brill.com/view/title/38919.

Book Excerpts:

Tribute, by Vice President Joe Biden:

“Tom saw the pull of evil in our world so clearly. He witnessed profound horrors as a teenager. Almost everyone he cared about in the world was ripped away from him. But rather than allow suffering to shutter his heart or blunt his capacity to care—a choice that would have been completely understandable given everything that he endured—Tom made it his life’s work to defend others from brutality. Tom always understood that because his life was saved, it must be filled with purpose, and he didn’t waste a single moment.”

Preface, by Katrina Lantos Swett:

“My father’s singular perspective as the only member of Congress who had experienced the horrors of the Holocaust from the Nazi despots of the right, and the grievous oppression of his native Hungary under the Communists of the left, gave Dad unparalleled credibility with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Beyond that, his combination of brilliance, wit and his special Magyar flair, made him one of the most admired Congressional voices. I literally can’t count the number of times ordinary Americans would reach out to our family to say; “I listened to your father on C-Span today, and he is the only one in Washington who seems to make any sense” or “Whenever I hear Tom Lantos on the radio or the TV I rush to listen because with his distinguished Hungarian accent and his analytical mind, he makes the others sound like amateurs” or my personal favorites were the countless people who wrote over the years to say, “We wish Tom hadn’t been born abroad so he could run for President - he would have my vote.”

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