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

That the Congress hereby honors the life and work of Sister Dorothy Stang.