HW 30: Citizenship Symposium 2

I was really interested in this speech by Tom Lantos because World War II and the Holocaust interest me, even though it was so awful. In school World War II is the most emphasized war so it is one that I know more about. Tom Lantos was introduced by his daughter, Katrina Sweat, who proudly presented her father, the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to serve in the United States Congress. Katrina gave some background about her father who came to America right after World War II when he was 19 years old. In 1980 he decided to run for congress. In 2006 he became a the head chair member of the foreign committee.
Tom is an immigrant from Germany, and is very, very patriotic of the United States. Tom’s main theme for his speech was “America did not teach men the idea of freedom, she taught them how to practice it,” a quote from the President of France who Tom is acquainted with. Tom spoke a lot about American History and the steps they took toward freedom, the equality of all men, and the equality of women.
Tom closed his speech telling us what our new, upcoming president, whomever it may be, has two responsibilities as our president. One is they must bring our country together domestically, and two they must rebuild the prestige, respect, and status for the United States internationally. Tom was very passionate about his ideas and thoughts and you could tell that he loves what he is doing. He wants everyone to keep their promises and he believes the United States will have a great future if this is done.