Calif. Rep. Tom Lantos dies after being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, has died, his spokeswoman said Monday.

Lynne Weil said that Lantos, 80, passed away at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland.

Lantos, a Democrat who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee, disclosed last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus.

He said at the time that he would serve out his 14th term but would not seek re-election in his Northern California district, which takes in the southwest portion of San Francisco and suburbs to the south including Lantos’ home of San Mateo.