[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 93 (Thursday, June 11, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING THE CAREER OF JOAO BOSCO MOTA AMARAL

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 11, 2015

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues Mr. Nunes and 
Mr. Valadao to recognize the career of a distinguished Portuguese 
politician, and an old friend, Joao Bosco Mota Amaral. Mota Amaral, 
former President of the Autonomous Regional Government of the Azores, 
has devoted his life to serving the Azores and the Portuguese people. 
He deserves to be commended for his tireless work and service towards 
the advancement of Azorean and Portuguese interests.
  Mota Amaral was born on April 15, 1943 in Ponta Delgada on the island 
of Sao Miguel in the Azores. He was a very diligent and studious 
individual, and graduated from the University of Lisbon in 1965 with a 
law degree. He also completed, with distinction, the Complementary 
Course of Political and Economic Sciences at the University of Lisbon 
in 1966, defending his thesis on the topic ``Civil Liability of Public 
Administration.''
  Mota Amaral practiced law in Lisbon in the late 1960's, where he 
specialized in administrative and tax issues. He was then elected as 
Deputy to the National Assembly in 1969 and he championed issues 
important to the Azores. Following the Carnation Revolution of April 
25, 1974, in which the authoritarian Estado Novo regime was overthrown, 
Mota Amaral emerged as a new political leader. He helped establish the 
Popular Democratic Party (PPD) later named the Social Democratic Party 
(PSD) in the Azores.
  Shortly after the creation of the PPD, the question of autonomy for 
the Azores was outlined in the Party's principles. On November 8, 1974 
Mota Amaral presented the Politico-Administrative Statute of the 
Autonomous Region of the Azores, lobbying for the archipelago to become 
an autonomous region within the context of the Portuguese Republic and 
governed by a Regional Assembly with elected members. This dream would 
come to fruition on April 2, 1976 when the Constitution of the 
Portuguese Republic was approved and the Azores achieved political 
autonomy.
  Mota Amaral was elected to Parliament in 1976, but suspended the 
mandate in order to serve as the first President of the Government of 
the Azores. He subsequently won four more regional elections and served 
until 1995. Between 1995 and 2002, Mota Amaral served as the Vice-
President of the National Assembly. In 2002, he was elected President 
of the National Assembly, a position he held until 2005.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great respect that Mr. Nunes, Mr. Valadao and 
I ask our colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize 
and honor the accomplishments of a great servant to the Azores and 
Portugal. Joao Bosco Mota Amaral has truly left a mark on the Azorean 
and Portuguese communities here in the U.S. and around the world, and 
we owe him our thanks and praise for advancing Azorean and Portuguese 
interests.

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