NEW : Secretary of state calls Rep. Tom Lantos `` a true American hero '' Lantos was only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress . California congressman disclosed last month he was suffering from cancer . He escaped and was sheltered in a Budapest safe house set up by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg , who was credited with saving tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II . WASHINGTON (CNN) --
NEW : Secretary of state calls Rep. Tom Lantos `` a true American hero '' Lantos was only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress . California congressman disclosed last month he was suffering from cancer . WASHINGTON (CNN) --