Lantos made his first run for office in 1980 , challenging Republican Congressman Bill Royer , who had won a 1979 special election after Democrat Leo Ryan was killed in the Jonestown massacre . Lantos defeated Royer by 5,700 votes . He never again faced such a close contest , and was reelected 13 times . Lantos earned a reputation as a champion for various human rights causes , such as having Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang testify at a congressional hearing , when the company turned over the email records of two Chinese dissidents to the Chinese government , allowing them to be traced and one sentenced to jail
Jonestown massacre
Jonestown
Tom Lantos