Dalai Lama receives award on Capitol Hill

Oct. 6, 2009 | Kitty Felde | KPCC

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The Dalai Lama was not invited to the White House this week, but he got a big reception on Capitol Hill today.  KPCC’s Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde says congressional leaders presented the Tibetan Buddhist leader with the first Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize.

Kitty Felde: The ceremony honored Tom Lantos as much as it did the man who received the award.  Lantos died just over a year ago.  He was the only member of Congress who’d survived the Holocaust.

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Democratic Congressman Howard Berman of Van Nuys, who succeeded Lantos as head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that wartime experience turned Lantos into a champion for human rights on Capitol Hill.

Howard Berman: Tom had experienced what it meant to be hunted, to be oppressed, to be friendless, and to be without a champion.  It was this experience that made him determined to become a defender of the rights of his fellow human beings. 

Felde: The first recipient of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize is a non-violent advocate for Tibetan autonomy.  The Dalai Lama said that he and the late congressman had more in common than distinctive hairstyles and strongly accented English.

The Dalai Lama: He really, I think, carry his belief fearlessly.

Felde: Some political observers have criticized President Obama for a lack of courage.  The president declined to meet with the Dalai Lama until after he’s met with the Chinese president. Congressional Republicans say that sends the wrong message to China.

At the Capitol Hill ceremony, Republican Senator John McCain described support for the Tibetan cause as a moral responsibility.  Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it a challenge to the conscience of the world.

Nancy Pelosi: Unless we speak out for human rights in China and in Tibet, we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights anywhere. 

Felde: Human rights issues aren’t on the official agenda when President Obama’s scheduled to meet next month with Chinese President Hu Jintao.  The two leaders do plan to talk about trade and climate change.

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