[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 37 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 37

               Honoring the life of Sister Dorothy Stang.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2005

  Mr. DeWine submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
               Honoring the life of Sister Dorothy Stang.

Whereas Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Dorothy Stang moved to the Amazon 22 years 
        ago to help poor farmers build independent futures for their families, 
        and was murdered on Saturday, February 12, 2005, at the age of 73, in 
        Anapu, Para, a section of Brazil's Amazon rain forest;
Whereas Sister Dorothy, a citizen of Brazil and the United States, worked with 
        the Pastoral Land Commission, an organization of the Catholic Church 
        that fights for the rights of rural workers and peasants, and defends 
        land reforms in Brazil;
Whereas Sister Dorothy's death came less than a week after her meeting with 
        Brazil's Human Rights Secretary about threats to local farmers from some 
        loggers and landowners;
Whereas, after receiving several death threats, Sister Dorothy recently 
        commented, ``I don't want to flee, nor do I want to abandon the battle 
        of these farmers who live without any protection in the forest. They 
        have the sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they 
        can live and work with dignity while respecting the environment.'';
Whereas Sister Dorothy was born in Dayton, Ohio, entered the Sisters of Notre 
        Dame de Namur community in 1948, and professed final vows in 1956;
Whereas, from 1951 to 1966, Sister Dorothy taught elementary classes at St. 
        Victor School in Calumet City, Illinois, St. Alexander School in Villa 
        Park, Illinois, and Most Holy Trinity School in Phoenix, Arizona, and 
        began her ministry in Brazil in 1966, in Coroata, in the state of 
        Maranhao;
Whereas, last June, Sister Dorothy was named ``Woman of the Year'' by the state 
        of Para for her work in the Amazon region, in December 2004, she 
        received the ``Humanitarian of the Year'' award from the Brazilian Bar 
        Association for her work helping the local rural workers, and earlier 
        this year, she received an ``Honorary Citizenship of the State'' award 
        from the state of Para; and
Whereas Sister Dorothy lived her life according to the mission of the Sisters of 
        Notre Dame: making known God's goodness and love of the poor through a 
        Gospel way of life, community, and prayer, while continuing a strong 
        educational tradition and taking a stand with the poor, especially poor 
        women and children, in the most abandoned places, and committing her one 
        and only life to work with others to create justice and peace for all: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That the Congress hereby honors the life and work of Sister Dorothy 
Stang.
                                 <all>