In conjunction with the ceremony honoring UUSC founders Martha and Waitstill Sharp posthumously, tributes to their courage and selflessness have poured in from Capitol Hill and the White House. They included a letter from the president, Congressional resolutions, and testimonials from U.S. senators and representatives.

In a letter to the Sharps' family, President Bush praised "these remarkable citizens and their bold efforts to save others during the Holocaust."

"During World War II, the brave efforts of Martha and Waitstill Sharp helped many people escape cruelty and injustice and brought hope in the midst of violence and persecution," wrote the president. "Their story of strength and sacrifice continues to inspire people around the world and reminds us of our responsibility to oppose hatred, aggression, and murderous ambitions wherever they exist."

In a ceremony at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Rev. Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister, and his wife Martha, who left their family, church, and community to help rescue victims of Nazi persecution, became only the second and third Americans to be enshrined with a plaque on the museum's Wall of Rescuers. Martha Sharp is the first American woman.

Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor serving in the U.S. Congress, said the Sharps "were true heroes of the Holocaust," their story is a "powerful reminder" to everyone of the moral obligation to challenge crimes against humanity.

"The Sharps' courageous, sacrificial and selfless example should motivate all of us to do everything we possibly can to prevent the horrors of genocide taking place anywhere on this planet," said Lantos in remarks to the House of Representatives.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island pointed out that the Sharps left their two small children in the care of their church and community to go to Europe to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and to help many of them escape to safety in the United States and elsewhere.

"It is an honor to pay tribute to Waitstill and Martha Sharp whose courage is truly remarkable," said Reed in his tribute. "Words cannot express the importance of their work to save so many people during one of the most horrific events ever recorded. They faced unspeakable danger, and their valor will be remembered for generations to come."

"We must also commend the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as they carry forward the torch of the Sharps with the people of Darfur."

Sens. Reed and Lincoln Chafee, also of Rhode Island, and Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts co-sponsored a Senate resolution paying tribute to the Sharps that was passed unanimously the day of the ceremony. Martha Sharp is a native of Rhode Island and a graduate of Brown University. Waitstill Sharp is a Massachusetts native and a graduate of Harvard University Law School.

The resolution praises the Sharps as "genuine American heroes" whose remarkable work during World War II saved the lives of hundreds of Jews and anti-Nazi dissidents, and resulted in the creation of an institution, UUSC, that continues their legacy of challenging genocide in distant corners of the world such as in the Darfur region of Sudan.

"The Sharps recognized that they were dependent upon a much larger circle of friends and colleagues who made their heroism possible," the resolution said. "The Sharps' efforts resulted not only in the rescue of thousands of people, but in the creation of what is now known a the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an institution that multiplied the number of rescues a thousand-fold in the years that followed."

On September 29, Reps. Lantos and McGovern and 15 colleagues introduced H. Res. 1063 in the House of Representatives honoring the legacy of the Sharps.