WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Tom Lantos
(D-San Mateo, San Francisco) today released the following statement:

    "Routine medical tests have revealed that I have cancer of the
esophagus. In view of this development and the treatment it will require, I
will not seek re-election.

    "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.

    "Annette is my full partner both in Congress and throughout my life;
she has dedicated herself to promoting human rights, and she sustains me
daily.

    "I am fortunate beyond measure to be surrounded by loving family
members, including two daughters and sons-in-law, 17 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren."

    Tom Lantos was elected to Congress in 1980 and is in his 14th term in
office. His Democratic colleagues elected him chairman of the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2007. He is a senior member of the
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The only Holocaust
survivor ever elected to Congress, Tom is the founding co-chairman of the
24-year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus, for which Annette has
directed as a volunteer since its inception.

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