[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14404-S14405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 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

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

                              S. Res. 381

       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);

[[Page S14405]]

       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.

                          ____________________