[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E147-E148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SISTER RITA STEINHAGEN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 11, 1998

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring the plight of Sister 
Rita Steinhagen to the attention of my Colleagues. Sister Rita, who has 
been serving the poor and the impoverished in Minnesota for decades, 
was among 22 people found guilty January 21, 1998 in a Federal court in 
Georgia of trespassing at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas (SOA) 
at Fort Benning, Georgia. The court sentenced her to six months in 
prison, and fined her $3,000. (A substantial amount for someone living 
effectively with a vow of poverty for 47 years.)
  The horrific history of the SOA today is in focus. The SOA was 
established in 1946 to train military officers from Latin American 
countries. To date, nearly 60,000 military personnel from various Latin 
American countries have attended the SOA. Unfortunately, upon returning 
to their home countries, many graduates have instigated challenges to 
self-determination and participated in the overthrow of democratically 
elected governments and have been implicated in the broad abuses of 
human rights. It is apparent that the SOA did not teach its students 
proper and ethical conduct, rather perverse lessons were learned, and 
historically have been used to abuse the people of Central and South 
America.
  Recently declassified documents have revealed the profoundly anti-
democratic methods used to train Latin American militaries at the SOA. 
The Pentagon has released seven training manuals demonstrating that as 
recently as 1992, the SOA was distributing materials which instructed 
the student trainees in execution, extortion, and torture.
  Sister Rita Steinhagen recalled the murders and rape by soldiers 
initiated and led by the graduates of the SOA that have never been 
punished. It is indeed ironic that people such as Sister Rita can be 
sent to prison for having the audacity to repeatedly and peacefully 
protest the SOA while the SOA's graduates outrageous conduct remains 
unpunished.
  Sister Rita Steinhagen is a non-threatening woman. A dedicated Sister 
who is respected and admired by her colleagues and friends. Upon 
returning from her startling court sentence in Georgia, she was greeted 
by friends and supporters at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport 
clapping and singing, ``When the Saints Go Marching In.''
  Sister Rita's life has been illuminated by a commitment to social 
justice. Her experiences express no threat to society or harm to any 
person. Rita Steinhagen grew up in Walker, Minnesota, where like many 
heartland Minnesotans, she enjoyed outdoor recreation and is a 
passionate fishing activist to this day. At the age of 23, she became a 
Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She quickly acquired recognition as 
a Sister of St. Joseph, because of her outstanding service in health 
and social work.
  Over these 47 years, Sister Rita has worked as a medical 
technologist. Her career is highlighted by founding the Bridge, a 
shelter for runaway youth, and The Free Store. More recently, she has 
been working with torture victims at the Center for Victims of Torture 
in Minneapolis, and of course her social conscience and active protests 
of such institutions as the SOA.
  All of her devoted life, she has stood as an advocate for peace and 
human rights. She has frequently toured several Latin American 
countries and has personally experienced the graphic vista of horror. 
It was during these journeys that first led her to her involvement and 
protests with the School of the Americas.
  Over 600 arrests occurred on Sunday, November 16, 1997. Over 2000 
people gathered at the main gate of Fort Benning, Georgia for a prayer 
vigil and memorial service marking the eighth anniversary of the 
massacre of six Jesuit priests and two women in El Salvador in 1989 by 
graduates of the U.S. Army School of Americas. Over 60 people from 
Minnesota were among those arrested. These arrests at the SOA are the 
largest number of nonviolent civil disobedience arrests at one time in 
the U.S. in over a decade.
  Mr. Speaker, this peaceful Minnesota woman who has devoted her life 
to alleviating social injustice, stated to the federal court judge on 
the day of her sentence:
  ``Your Honor, I'm 70 years old today, and I've never been in prison, 
and I'm scared. I tell you, when decent people get put in jail for 
peaceful demonstration, I'm more scared of what's going on in our 
country than I am of going to prison.''
  Mr. Speaker, Sister Rita's words clearly demonstrate the irony of 
this case. We as members of Congress, have a responsibility to uphold 
the law and ideals of social justice. We must honor and respect the men 
and woman who have sacrificed their lives for the well being of others 
and those willing to raise their voices to the contradiction within our 
system. Justice will not be served by the imprisonment of Sister Rita 
Steinhagen. The core values of our society have been ill served by the 
tragic consequence of the SOA operation.
  Enclosed for member's review is a recent Minnesota newspaper article 
concerning Sister Rita and the incident.


[[Page E148]]

   Sister Rita Gets 6-Month Sentence--Do-gooder Nun Awaits Jail for 
                        Protest at Fort Benning

                               Doug Grow

       Sometime in the next few weeks, we are supposed to believe 
     the country will become a safer place because a 70-year-old 
     woman, Sister Rita Steinhagen, will be whisked off our 
     streets and hauled to a federal penitentiary to serve a six-
     month sentence.
       Sister Rita, who has been serving the poor and downtrodden 
     in Minneapolis for only a few decades, was among 22 people 
     found guilty Wednesday in a federal court in Georgia of 
     trespassing at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas at Fort 
     Benning in Georgia. She not only was hit with the hard time, 
     but with a $3,000 fine as well--a hefty sum when you've been 
     living with a vow of poverty for 47 years.
       Sister Rita was surprised by the sentence.
       ``What did you expect?'' I asked.
       ``I didn't expect six months,'' she said.
       ``When you do the crime, you're going to get the time,'' I 
     said.
       But Sister Rita says that's not true. She talked of how 
     people, allegedly taught at the School of the Americas, have 
     murdered and raped in Latin American countries and never 
     served any time at all. Sister Rita and others of her ilk 
     keep thinking that if U.S. citizens ever understand that 
     their tax money is being spent to train despots, rapists and 
     murderers, they will be outraged and demand policy changes.
       To date, it's not working out that way. So far, what's 
     happening is that people such as Sister Rita are being sent 
     to prison for having the audacity to peacefully protest and 
     the rest of us are yawning. Anyway, the reason Sister Rita 
     and the others got hit with the prison sentences for their 
     misdemeanor offenses in November is that they were repeat 
     offenders at Fort Benning.
       So, who is Rita the Repeater?
       For starters, she really doesn't look like a threat. She 
     has white hair, a quick smile and a delightful sense of 
     humor. For example, when she got off the plane at 
     Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Thursday night 
     after being sentenced in Georgia, she was greeted by friends 
     and supporters clapping and singing, ``When the Saints Go 
     Marching In.''
       Sister Rita's response to the greeting?
       ``I said: `This is peculiar. I got six months in jail, and 
     everybody's clapping.' ''
       There's little in her biography to suggest that she's a 
     threat. She grew up in Walker, Minn., learning to fish. (Her 
     single most prized possession is her fishing rod, which she 
     uses whenever she can.) She didn't even plan to become a nun. 
     At 23, she went to visit a friend who was becoming a nun and 
     discovered she felt comfortable.
       ``Do you think I belong here?'' she asked one of the 
     sisters.
       ``I certainly do,'' was the response.
       And so it was done. Rita Steinhagen was on her way to 
     becoming a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Sister Ann 
     Walton, who is among the order's leadership team, said Sister 
     Rita has represented the soul of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
       ``She is one of our finest,'' Sister Ann said. ``She's in 
     the pattern of the women [sisters] in the French Revolution 
     who were imprisoned for their beliefs. She's in a very long 
     line of people who have given of themselves.''
       Over the years, Sister Rita has worked as a medical 
     technologist. In her career, she has founded a place called 
     The Bridge, a shelter for runaway youth, and The Free Store. 
     (The Free Store, founded by Sister Rita in 1968, still 
     exists, though it no longer is affiliated with the Sisters of 
     St. Joseph.) Of late, she has been working with torture 
     victims at the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis.
       Through the years, she has been arrested at several Twin 
     Cities protests but never served jail time. She also has made 
     frequent work-related trips to Latin American countries and 
     has been horrified at what she has seen and heard. It was the 
     Latin American journeys that led her to the protest at the 
     School of the Americas.
       This Minnesota woman who has devoted her life to quietly 
     doing good, didn't accept her sentence in silence.
       ``I told the judge: `Your honor, I'm 70 years old today, 
     and I've never been in prison, and I'm scared. I tell you, 
     when decent people get put in jail for six months for 
     peaceful demonstration, I'm more scared of what's going on in 
     our country than I am of going to prison.' ''
       The response of Judge Robert Elliot?
       ``He didn't say anything,'' she said. ``He couldn't care 
     less.''
       Now, she's back in Minnesota waiting for the letter that 
     will inform her where she's supposed to go to serve her 
     sentence.
       ``There's no room,'' she said of the delayed sentence. 
     ``Isn't that something. You have to wait in line to go to 
     prison.''
       This weekend, she planned to do her waiting by going ice-
     fishing in northern Minnesota. Rita the Repeater is going 
     fishing because she needs the solitude--but beyond that, 
     she'll be in prison when the spring opener rolls around.

     

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