[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 381 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 381

 Remembering and commemorating the lives and work of Maryknoll Sisters 
Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and Cleveland 
 Lay Mission Team Member Jean Donovan, who were executed by members of 
          the Armed Forces of El Salvador on December 2, 1980.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 14, 2007

 Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Casey, 
Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Durbin) submitted the following resolution; which 
                      was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Remembering and commemorating the lives and work of Maryknoll Sisters 
Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and Cleveland 
 Lay Mission Team Member Jean Donovan, who were executed by members of 
          the Armed Forces of El Salvador on December 2, 1980.

Whereas on December 2, 1980, four churchwomen from the United States, Maryknoll 
        Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and 
        Cleveland Lay Mission Team Member Jean Donovan, were violated and 
        executed by members of the National Guard of El Salvador;
Whereas in 1980, Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford were working in the 
        parish of the Church of San Juan Bautista in Chalatenango, El Salvador, 
        providing food, transportation, and other assistance to refugees, and 
        Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and Cleveland Lay Mission Team Member Jean 
        Donovan were working in the parish of the Church of the Immaculate 
        Conception in La Libertad, El Salvador, providing assistance and support 
        to refugees and other victims of violence;
Whereas these four churchwomen from the United States dedicated their lives to 
        working with the poor of El Salvador, especially women and children left 
        homeless, displaced, and destitute by the civil war in El Salvador;
Whereas these four churchwomen from the United States were among the more than 
        70,000 civilians who were murdered during the course of the civil war in 
        El Salvador;
Whereas on May 23 and May 24, 1984, five members of the National Guard of El 
        Salvador, Subsergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Aleman, Daniel Canales 
        Ramirez, Carlos Joaquin Contreras Palacios, Francisco Orlando Contreras 
        Recinos, and Jose Roberto Moreno Canjura, were found guilty by the El 
        Salvador courts of the executions of these four churchwomen from the 
        United States and were sentenced to 30 years in prison, marking the 
        first time in El Salvador history in which a member of the Armed Forces 
        of El Salvador was convicted of murder by an El Salvador judge;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador was 
        established under the terms of the historic January 1992 Peace Accords 
        that ended 12 years of civil war in El Salvador and was charged to 
        investigate and report to the El Salvador people on human rights crimes 
        committed by all sides during the course of the civil war;
Whereas in March 1993, the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El 
        Salvador found that the execution of these four churchwomen from the 
        United States was planned, that Subsergeant Luis Antonio Colindres 
        Aleman carried out orders from a superior to execute them, that then 
        Colonel Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, then Director-General of the 
        National Guard and his cousin, Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Edgardo Casanova 
        Vejar, then Commander of the Zacatecoluca military detachment where the 
        murders were committed, and other military personnel knew that members 
        of the National Guard had committed the murders pursuant to orders of a 
        superior, and that the subsequent coverup of the facts adversely 
        affected the judicial investigation into the murders of the churchwomen;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador determined 
        that General Jose Guillermo Garcia, then Minister of Defense, made no 
        serious effort to conduct a thorough investigation of responsibility for 
        the murders of these four churchwomen from the United States;
Whereas the families of these four churchwomen from the United States continue 
        their efforts to determine the full truth surrounding the murders of 
        their loved ones, appreciate the cooperation of United States Government 
        agencies in disclosing and providing documents relevant to the murders 
        of the churchwomen, and pursue requests to release to the family members 
        the few remaining undisclosed documents and reports pertaining to the 
        case;
Whereas the families of these four churchwomen from the United States appreciate 
        the ability of those harmed by violence to bring suit against El 
        Salvador military officers in United States courts under the Torture 
        Victim Protection Act of 1991 (28 U.S.C. 1350 note);
Whereas the lives of these four churchwomen from the United States have, for the 
        past 27 years, served as inspiration for and continue to inspire 
        Salvadorans, Americans, and people throughout the world to answer the 
        call to service and to pursue lives dedicated to addressing the needs 
        and aspirations of the poor, the vulnerable, and the disadvantaged, 
        especially among women and children;
Whereas the lives of these four churchwomen from the United States have also 
        inspired numerous books, plays, films, music, religious events, and 
        cultural events;
Whereas schools, libraries, research centers, spiritual centers, health clinics, 
        women's and children's programs in the United States and in El Salvador 
        have been named after or dedicated to Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, 
        Dorothy Kazel, and lay missionary Jean Donovan;
Whereas the Maryknoll Sisters, headquartered in Ossining, New York, the Ursuline 
        Sisters, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, numerous religious task 
        forces in the United States, and the Salvadoran and international 
        religious communities based in El Salvador annually commemorate the 
        lives and martyrdom of these four churchwomen from the United States;
Whereas the historic January 1992 Peace Accords ended 12 years of civil war in 
        El Salvador and have allowed the Government and the people of El 
        Salvador to achieve significant progress in creating and strengthening 
        democratic, political, economic, and social institutions in El Salvador; 
        and
Whereas December 2, 2007, marks the 27th anniversary of the deaths of these four 
        spiritual, courageous, and generous churchwomen from the United States: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) remembers and commemorates the lives and work of 
        Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, and Dorothy Kazel and lay 
        missionary Jean Donovan;
            (2) extends sympathy and support for the families, friends, 
        and religious communities of these four churchwomen from the 
        United States;
            (3) continues to find inspiration in the lives and work of 
        these four churchwomen from the United States;
            (4) calls upon the people of the United States and 
        religious congregations to participate in local, national, and 
        international events commemorating the 27th anniversary of the 
        martyrdom of these four churchwomen from the United States;
            (5) recognizes that while progress has been made in El 
        Salvador during the post-civil war period, the work begun by 
        these four churchwomen from the United States remains 
        unfinished and social and economic hardships persist among many 
        sectors of El Salvador society; and
            (6) calls upon the President, the Secretary of State, the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development, and the heads of other United States Government 
        agencies to continue to support and collaborate with the 
        Government of El Salvador and with private sector, 
        nongovernmental, regional, international, and religious 
        organizations in their efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and 
        to promote educational opportunity, health care, and social 
        equity for the people of El Salvador.
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