US Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee released the following statement today on the passing of Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA):

"Tom Lantos was one of the most gifted, articulate, smart, persuasive, and compassionate members of Congress ever to serve.

"Chairman Lantos played a significant role in dismantling atheistic communism in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union.  A Holocaust survivor, Tom had a special empathy for political prisoners worldwide, trafficking victims and no one in Congress was a better or more reliable friend of the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi.  And he had no equal in the fight against anti-Semitism.

"My wife Marie and I will deeply miss our friend. Our prayers are with Annette and his family at this difficult time," said Smith.