[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13398-S13399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 327--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

  Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Leahy) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 326

       Whereas on December 2, 1980, 4 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 4 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 Salvadoran civil war;
       Whereas these 4 churchwomen from the United States joined 
     the more than 70,000 civilians who were murdered during the 
     course of the Salvadoran civil war;
       Whereas on May 23 and May 24, 1984, 5 members of the 
     National Guard of El Salvador, including 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 Salvadoran courts of the executions of the churchwomen 
     and were sentenced to 30 years in prison, marking the first 
     case in the history of El Salvador where a member of the 
     Salvadoran Armed Forces was convicted of murder by a 
     Salvadoran 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 El Salvador's 12 years 
     of civil 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 civil war;
       Whereas in March 1993, the United Nations Commission on the 
     Truth for El Salvador found that the execution of the 4 
     churchwomen from the United States was planned and that 
     Subsergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Aleman carried out orders 
     from a superior to execute them, and 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 4 
     churchwomen from the United States;
       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 
     the churchwomen;
       Whereas the families of the 4 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 
     churchwomen's murders, and pursue requests to release to the 
     family members the few remaining undisclosed documents and 
     reports pertaining to this case;
       Whereas the families of the 4 churchwomen from the United 
     States appreciate the ability of those harmed by violence to 
     bring suit against Salvadoran 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 4 churchwomen from the United 
     States have, for the past 25 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 the 4 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

[[Page S13399]]

     international religious communities based in El Salvador 
     annually commemorate the lives and martyrdom of the 4 
     churchwomen from the United States;
       Whereas the historic January 1992 Peace Accords ended 12 
     years of civil war 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; and
       Whereas December 2, 2005, marks the 25th anniversary of the 
     deaths of these 4 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 the 4 churchwomen from the 
     United States;
       (3) continues to find inspiration in the lives and work of 
     these 4 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 25th anniversary 
     of the martyrdom of the 4 churchwomen from the United States;
       (5) recognizes that while progress has been made during the 
     post-war period, the work begun by the 4 churchwomen from the 
     United States remains unfinished and social and economic 
     hardships persist among many sectors of Salvadoran 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 Government departments 
     and agencies to continue to support and collaborate with the 
     Government of El Salvador and with private sector, 
     nongovernmental, 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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