Thirty years ago, then-Sen. Joe Biden co-sponsored a resolution proclaiming Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg to be an honorary citizen of the United States.

Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who, while serving in Budapest during World War II, both issued Swedish passports to Hungarian Jews hunted by the Nazis and sheltered them in Swedish diplomatic property. Among those whom he saved was a young Tom Lantos, who would immigrate to America and rise to become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Wallenberg’s tail, of course, ends in tragedy: After the Soviets invaded Hungary, they arrested Wallenberg, took him to Moscow, and ultimately executed him.