Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) is a bipartisan body of the United States House of Representatives. Its stated mission is "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights norms in a nonpartisan manner, both within and outside of Congress, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant human rights instruments."^[1]

The Commission was formed out of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 2008, following the death of Tom Lantos, with the passage of H.Res.1451, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Establishment Resolution.^[2] Through this mandate, the Commission became a formal body of the House which serves to provide educational and advisory services to Members of Congress, coordinate human rights initiatives in the House, and communicate with the Executive branch as well as international human rights entities to facilitate human rights initiatives in Congress.^[3] The Commission is nonpartisan and is led by two co-chairs, one Democrat and one Republican. The current co-chairs are Congressmen Jim McGovern and Chris Smith.^[4]

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission is not a national human rights institution (NHRI). The United States does not currently have such an institution.^[5] Some duties typical of an NHRI are conducted by the Department of State and Department of Justice.^[6][7]