[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 761 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 761

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      October 21, 2009.
Whereas in the early morning hours of November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests and 
        faculty members of the Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas 
        (UCA) located in San Salvador, El Salvador--Father Ignacio Ellacuria, 
        Ignacio Martin-Baro, Segundo Montes, Amando Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno, 
        and Joaquin Lopez y Lopez--and housekeeper Julia Elba Ramos and her 
        daughter, Celina Mariset Ramos, were executed by members of the 
        Salvadoran Army;
Whereas Father Ignacio Ellacuria, 59, was since 1979 rector of the UCA, and an 
        internationally-respected intellectual and advocate for human rights and 
        a negotiated solution to the Salvadoran civil conflict;
Whereas Father Ignacio Martin-Baro, 44, was the vice rector of the UCA, a 
        leading analyst of national and regional affairs, the founder and 
        director of the respected polling organization, the Public Opinion 
        Institute, former Dean of Students, Dean of the Psychology Department, 
        an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of social psychology 
        and pastor of the rural community of Jayaque;
Whereas Father Segundo Montes, 56, was Dean of the Department of Social Sciences 
        and a sociology professor at the UCA, and the founder and director of 
        the Human Rights Institute at the UCA (IDHUCA), who did extensive work 
        on Salvadoran refugees in the United States during the period of the 
        Salvadoran conflict, including providing documentation and advice to 
        United States Members of Congress on refugee issues;
Whereas Father Amando Lopez, 53, was a philosophy and theology professor at the 
        UCA, former director of the Jesuit seminary in San Salvador, and served 
        as pastor of the Tierra Virgen community in Soyapango, a poor 
        neighborhood in the periphery of San Salvador;
Whereas Farther Juan Ramon Moreno, 56, was a professor of theology at the UCA, 
        former novice-master for the Jesuits, and a tireless pastoral worker and 
        spiritual guide;
Whereas Father Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, 71, was one of the creators of the UCA and 
        the founder, organizer, and director of Fe y Alegria (Faith and Joy) to 
        address the lack of education in El Salvador, which opened 30 
        educational centers in marginalized communities throughout the country 
        where 48,000 people received vocational training and education;
Whereas Julia Elba Ramos, 42, was the cook and housekeeper for the Jesuit 
        seminarians at the UCA and wife of Obdulio Lozano, the UCA gardener and 
        groundskeeper;
Whereas Celina Mariset, 16, had finished her first year of high school at the 
        Jose Damian Villacorta Institute in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, and was 
        staying with her mother the night of November 15, 1989;
Whereas the six Jesuit priests dedicated their lives to advancing education in 
        El Salvador, protecting and promoting human rights and the end of 
        conflict, and identifying and addressing the economic and social 
        problems that affected the majority of the Salvadoran population;
Whereas the six Jesuit priests, as faculty and administrators at the UCA, 
        educated many students throughout the 1970s and 1980s, students who 
        subsequently became Salvadoran government, political, and civil society 
        leaders, and thus helped facilitate communication, dialogue, and 
        negotiations even during the turbulent years of the armed conflict;
Whereas these six priests and two women joined the more than 75,000 
        noncombatants who perished during the Salvadoran civil war;
Whereas on December 6, 1989, United States Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives Thomas Foley appointed a Special Task Force on El 
        Salvador consisting of 19 Members of the House of Representatives, 
        chaired by Representative John Joseph Moakley of Boston, Massachusetts, 
        to monitor the Salvadoran government's investigation into the murders of 
        the Jesuit priests and two women and to look into related issues 
        involving respect for human rights and judicial reform in El Salvador;
Whereas the Speaker's Task Force on El Salvador found that members of the High 
        Command of the Salvadoran military were responsible for ordering the 
        murder of the Jesuits and two women and for obstructing the subsequent 
        investigation into the crimes;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador (Truth 
        Commission) was established under terms of the January 1992 Peace 
        Accords that ended El Salvador's 12 years of war and was charged to 
        investigate and report to the Salvadoran people on human rights crimes 
        committed by all sides during the course of the war;
Whereas on March 15, 1993, the Truth Commission confirmed the findings of the 
        Speaker's Special Task Force;
Whereas on September 28, 1991, a Salvadoran jury found guilty of these murders 
        two Salvadoran military officers, including Salvadoran Army Colonel 
        Guillermo Alfredo Benavides Moreno, the first time in Salvadoran history 
        where high-ranking military officers were convicted in a Salvadoran 
        court of law of human rights crimes;
Whereas the University of Central America Jose Simeon Canas in San Salvador 
        remains dedicated to advancing and expanding educational opportunity, 
        providing the highest quality of academic excellence in its studies and 
        courses, and the commitment to human rights and social justice;
Whereas the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, which 
        represent many of the highest quality academic communities in the 
        nation, have maintained a sense of solidarity with the UCA and the 
        people of El Salvador and have annually observed the November 16th 
        anniversary of those murders;
Whereas in the United States, El Salvador, and around the world university 
        programs, academic and scholarly institutes, libraries, research 
        centers, pastoral programs, spiritual centers, and programs dedicated to 
        educational achievement, social justice, human rights, and alleviating 
        poverty have been dedicated in the names of the murdered Jesuits;
Whereas the international and Salvadoran outcry in response to the deaths of the 
        six Jesuits and two women and the subsequent investigations into this 
        crime served as a catalyst for negotiations that led to the signing of 
        the 1992 Peace Accords, which have allowed the Government and the people 
        of El Salvador to achieve significant progress in creating and 
        strengthening democratic political, economic, and social institutions; 
        and
Whereas November 16, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the deaths of these 
        eight spiritual, courageous, and generous priests, educators, and 
        laywomen: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) remembers and commemorates the lives and work of Father Ignacio 
        Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Segundo Montes, Amando Lopez, Juan Ramon 
        Moreno, Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, Julia Elba Ramos, and Celina Mariset 
        Ramos;
            (2) extends sympathy to the families, friends, colleagues, and 
        religious communities of the six Jesuit priests and two laywomen;
            (3) recognizes the continuing academic, spiritual, and social 
        contributions of the University of Central America Jose Simeon Canas 
        (UCA) in San Salvador, El Salvador;
            (4) further recognizes the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in 
        the United States for their solidarity with the UCA and annual 
        remembrance of those killed twenty years ago;
            (5) remembers the seminal reports by Chairman John Joseph Moakley 
        and the Speaker's Special Task Force on El Salvador in investigating the 
        murders of the six priests and two laywomen;
            (6) acknowledges the role played by the Speaker's Special Task 
        Force, Congressman John Joseph Moakley, the Jesuit leadership of the 
        UCA, and the Salvadoran judicial investigation and convictions in 
        advancing negotiations to end the war in El Salvador;
            (7) highlights the solidarity demonstrated by the people of the 
        United States, academic institutions, and religious congregations 
        through their participation in local, national, and international events 
        commemorating the 20th anniversary of the murders of the six Jesuit 
        priests and two laywomen;
            (8) recognizes that the murdered individuals dedicated their lives 
        to addressing and alleviating El Salvador's social and economic 
        inequities, and that while significant progress has been made during the 
        post-war period, social and economic hardships persist among many 
        sectors of Salvadoran society; and
            (9) supports public, private, nongovernmental, and religious 
        organizations in efforts to fulfill the legacy of the murdered Jesuits 
        to reduce poverty and hunger and promote educational opportunity, human 
        rights, the rule of law, and social equity for the people of El 
        Salvador.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.