[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 632 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 632

Urging the Government of Romania to provide equitable, prompt, and fair 
 restitution to the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic 
  Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Unitarian Church, the 
  Hungarian Reformed Church, the Jewish community, and other affected 
religious communities for property confiscated by the former Communist 
                         government in Romania.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2004

 Mr. Tancredo (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, 
and Ms. Kaptur) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
              to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Urging the Government of Romania to provide equitable, prompt, and fair 
 restitution to the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic 
  Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Unitarian Church, the 
  Hungarian Reformed Church, the Jewish community, and other affected 
religious communities for property confiscated by the former Communist 
                         government in Romania.

Whereas the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the 
        Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Unitarian Church, the Hungarian 
        Reformed Church, the Jewish community, and other affected religious 
        communities have suffered the confiscation of their property in Romania;
Whereas on December 1, 1948, the Communist government in Romania enacted 
        legislation which dissolved the Romanian Greek Catholic Church and 
        transferred most of its property to the Romanian Orthodox Church;
Whereas many Romanian Greek Catholic churches, Roman Catholic churches, 
        Evangelical Lutheran churches, Unitarian churches, Hungarian Reformed 
        churches, and Jewish institutions were closed by the Communist 
        government and many of their secular properties seized;
Whereas a central element of persecution by the Communist government in Romania 
        was the uncompensated confiscation of real and personal property from 
        individuals and religious communities;
Whereas on January 2, 1990, the 1948 decree which dissolved the Romanian Greek 
        Catholic Church was abrogated, Greek Catholics began to worship openly 
        again and three secretly ordained bishops emerged from hiding;
Whereas the Romanian Government adopted Law-Decree NR. 126/1990 to lay down 
        legal provisions and procedure for the return of confiscated property 
        that originally belonged to the Greek Catholic Church, stipulating that 
        ``[t]he property seized by the State pursuant to Decree No. 358/1948 and 
        currently in the possession of the State shall, with the exception of 
        agricultural lands, be returned in their present state to the Romanian 
        Greek Catholic Church United with Rome. For the sole purpose of 
        establishing identification procedures, a commission shall be set up 
        consisting of representatives of the State and the Romanian Greek 
        Catholic Church United with Rome appointed by the Government to draw up 
        the inventories and procedures necessary for restitution'';
Whereas to date, religious communities have reportedly received less than five 
        percent of their former properties;
Whereas on June 1, 2002, Pope John Paul II urged Romania to return all assets of 
        the Romanian Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches that were 
        confiscated by the Communist government in Romania, stating ``[i]t's my 
        sincere hope that, for example, implementation is given--in terms of 
        ecclesiastic structures--to the agreements reached among those 
        responsible of the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and the Holy 
        See'';
Whereas while speaking at a conference on June 3, 2002, regarding the role of 
        churches in Romania's drive to join NATO and the European Union, 
        Romanian President Ion Iliescu refused to actively pursue the 
        restitution of Catholic Church property seized by the former Communist 
        government because ``[t]he state cannot interfere in restituting 
        churches to the Catholic Church'', and added that handing back Catholic 
        property ``is a bit more complicated because the state cannot interfere 
        in the church hierarchy'';
Whereas the affected religious communities deserve the return of or compensation 
        for property seized by the Communists;
Whereas since 1990, post-Communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe have 
        grappled with the question of how to redress these wrongful 
        confiscations of property with Romania lagging significantly behind the 
        others; and
Whereas with respect to the role of the Romanian courts in the restitution 
        process, the Chairman of the United States Commission on Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe observed: ``In the mid-1990s . . . hundreds of 
        court decisions in favor of property claimants were reversed by the 
        supreme court after they had become final and irrevocable judgments. The 
        European Court of Human Rights has recently ruled that these actions 
        violated the European Convention on Human Rights.'': Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) notes with concern the apparent unwillingness of the 
        Government of Romania to provide equitable, prompt, and fair 
        restitution to the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman 
        Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Unitarian 
        Church, the Hungarian Reformed Church, the Jewish community, 
        and other affected religious communities for property 
        confiscated by the former Communist government in Romania; and
            (2) calls on the Government of Romania--
                    (A) to provide fair, prompt, and equitable 
                restitution to the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the 
                Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
                the Unitarian Church, the Hungarian Reformed Church, 
                the Jewish community, and other affected religious 
                communities under Romanian law and in accordance with 
                the Constitution of Romania and all applicable 
                international agreements to which Romania is a party;
                    (B) to respect the constitutional rights of 
                existence and practice of the Romanian Greek Catholic 
                Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical 
                Lutheran Church, the Unitarian Church, the Hungarian 
                Reformed Church, the Jewish community, and other 
                affected religious communities, and to fully enforce 
                all court decisions regarding the restitution of or 
                access to seized properties;
                    (C) to stop the demolition and dismemberment of 
                Greek Catholic churches and to immediately ensure the 
                security of all Greek Catholic churches and other 
                buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries;
                    (D) to provide restitution for the property rights 
                of all agricultural and forestry lands belonging to the 
                Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic 
                Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Unitarian 
                Church, the Hungarian Reformed Church, the Jewish 
                community, and other affected religious communities;
                    (E) to repeal Law-Decree NR. 126/1990, as the 
                transfer of juridical duties of a state to a mixed 
                ecclesiastic committee has proven ineffectual and 
                seriously hampers the ability of the Romanian Greek 
                Catholic Church to seek redress, and to allow the 
                claims submitted under Law-Decree NR. 126/1990 to be 
                heard by an independent, unbiased, nonreligious 
                commission; and
                    (F) to ensure that the special commission 
                instituted under Law 501/2002 considers the thousands 
                of applications for restitution in an open, 
                transparent, and prompt manner, and expeditiously 
                issues decisions on the return of properties to 
                religious communities.
                                 <all>