[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25260-25263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING SALVADORAN JESUITS ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR 
                                 DEATHS

  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 761) remembering and commemorating the lives and 
work of Jesuit Fathers Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Segundo 
Montes, Amando Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno, Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, and 
housekeeper Julia Elba Ramos and her daughter Celina Mariset Ramos on 
the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their deaths at the University 
of Central America Jose Simeon Canas located in San Salvador, El 
Salvador on November 16, 1989, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 761

       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 Father 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;

[[Page 25261]]

       (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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Watson) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution 
and yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  On November 16, 1989, in the midst of El Salvador's 12-year-long 
civil war, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her teenage 
daughter were murdered in San Salvador by members of the Salvadoran 
Army. On the 20th anniversary of this heinous crime, the resolution we 
consider today calls upon us to remember and honor their lives and 
their work.
  The six priests were well known internationally for their work in 
support of human rights, social justice, peace and caring for refugees 
and the internally displaced. They worked tirelessly to end the 
conflict that had torn apart their country for over a decade. As 
scholars, researchers and advocates, they identified and addressed the 
many economic and social problems that affected the majority poor of El 
Salvador.
  Upon learning of their murders, Speaker of the House Tom Foley 
appointed a special task force on El Salvador consisting of 19 Members 
of the House and chaired by Congressman Joe Moakley of Boston, 
Massachusetts. The special task force was charged with monitoring the 
Salvadoran Government's investigation into the eight murders.
  Six of our colleagues who served on the Speaker's special task force 
still serve today in the 111th Congress. They are Congressmen Steny 
Hoyer, Jim McDermott, George Miller, Jack Murtha, David Obey and John 
Spratt. We honor them for their service then and today and for their 
dedication to the cause of peace, justice and human rights.
  The Moakley Commission, as the Speaker's special task force came to 
be known, issued a series of reports that identified members of the 
Salvadoran military's high command as those responsible for murdering 
and obstructing the subsequent investigation into the crime. The 
international outcry in response to the murders and the subsequent 
investigations served as a catalyst for negotiations that resulted in 
the signing of peace accords in January 1992, bringing El Salvador's 
long nightmare to an end.
  So even in death, these brave men and women contributed to achieving 
the very peace to which they had dedicated their lives. Since that 
terrible November day in 1989, these eight individuals have been 
remembered in El Salvador and around the world. Annual observances have 
been held by the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United 
States which have taken up many projects in support of human rights and 
social justice in honor of the fallen Jesuits.
  By passing this resolution today, the House adds its voice to that 
remembrance and extends our sympathy to the family members, friends, 
colleagues and religious communities who knew them, worked with them, 
loved them and miss them. We also remember our former colleague, 
Congressman Joe Moakley, and the seminal reports issued by the 
Speaker's special task force that played such an important role in 
bringing to trial those responsible for the murders and advancing 
negotiations to end the war.
  I want to thank my good friend and gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
McGovern) for introducing this important resolution, and I urge all of 
my colleagues to join me in supporting this.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I also want to thank Mr. McGovern for bringing this resolution 
forward. I rise today to join my colleagues in commemorating the 
anniversary of the murders of six Jesuit fathers, their housekeeper, 
and her daughter on November 16, 1989, in El Salvador. On the occasion 
of the 20th anniversary of their deaths, the resolution before us 
remembers and commemorates the lives and work of these individuals. It 
extends our sympathy to the families, friends, colleagues and religious 
communities of those whose lives were lost that day.
  It recognizes the continuing academic and social contributions of the 
University of Central America, UCA, in San Salvador, El Salvador and 
the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States for their 
solidarity and annual remembrance of those killed 20 years ago.
  The resolution also recognizes that progress is being made in El 
Salvador, but reminds us that social and economic hardships still 
persist among many sectors of Salvadoran society. Therefore, it 
supports the efforts of public, private, nongovernmental and religious 
organizations 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.
  It has been a long road over the past 20 years. By working together 
with responsible partners and friends, the United States can help El 
Salvador to overcome the obstacles that remain. And as long as the 
democratic principles and respect for fundamental freedoms and the rule 
of law remain the compass for our support, I'm confident that we can be 
successful.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes to Mr. James McGovern 
from the Third District of Massachusetts.
  Mr. McGOVERN. I want to thank the gentlewoman from California, and I 
want to thank my colleague, Mr. Boozman. I want to thank the chairman 
of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman, for all of his help 
and support in bringing this resolution to the floor in a timely 
manner. I especially want to thank the chairman's staff person, Peter 
Quilter, whose expertise on Latin America is so greatly appreciated by 
so many Members on and off the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, as many of my colleagues know, I spent 13 years working 
for our former colleague from Boston, Massachusetts, Congressman Joe 
Moakley. I handled foreign policy issues for Joe, and in the early 
1980s Joe asked me to go to El Salvador to

[[Page 25262]]

see if the stories he had been hearing from Salvadoran refugees about 
the situation on the ground were true.

                              {time}  1215

  As I prepared for the trip, whenever I asked who should I see and 
talk to in order to understand what is going on in El Salvador, the 
response was always the same: you have to go to the University of 
Central America, otherwise known as the UCA. And that's how I first met 
the director of the UCA, Father Ignacio Ellacuria, and the vice rector, 
Father Ignacio Martin Baro.
  When I asked Father Martin Baro what was the single most important 
thing I needed to know about the human rights situation in El Salvador, 
he said to me, remember, we are human beings, too. That meeting and 
those words forever changed my life.
  During later months and later visits, I got the chance to meet with 
Father Segundo Montes, an expert on the refugee crisis in El Salvador, 
as hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled the violence of the civil 
war and made their way to the United States. As Congressman Moakley 
developed legislation to provide temporary protection to Salvadoran 
refugees in the United States, Father Montes testified before Congress 
and provided invaluable materials and help in documenting and 
understanding the refugee crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago in the dead of night, the Salvadoran Army 
entered the grounds of the University of Central America. They pulled 
six Jesuit priests from their beds, including Fathers Ellacuria, Martin 
Baro, and Segundo Montes, marched them out to a lawn behind their 
residence, they put high-powered rifles to their heads, and they shot 
them dead in cold blood.
  A few minutes later, these same soldiers discovered the Jesuits' 
housekeeper and her daughter hiding in the house, and they murdered 
them as well.
  In response, then-Speaker Tom Foley appointed a congressional 
commission, chaired by Joe Moakley, to investigate this terrible crime. 
Joe asked me to be his chief investigator. And during the course of 
that work, we helped identify the killers and those responsible for 
ordering and covering up this terrible tragedy.
  The commission's report became critical evidence in the prosecution 
and conviction of some of the priest killers and I believe in creating 
support for the U.N.-brokered negotiations that ended El Salvador's 12-
year civil war.
  So it's with deep humility and appreciation that I applaud the House 
for taking up this resolution today which honors the memories and lives 
and works of these six priests and two women and the work of 
Congressman Moakley and the Speaker's Special Task Force on El 
Salvador.
  The Jesuit priests dedicated their lives to peace, to bringing the 
warring parties inside El Salvador together to end violence and the 
war.
  A generation has now grown up in El Salvador without having known 
them or benefited from their wisdom or humor, but every year on 
November 16, their lives and work are remembered in El Salvador and 
around the world. And each year, another generation of young people re-
dedicate themselves to working for peace and justice because of the 
example and inspiration of these six Jesuit priests.
  Mr. Speaker, I have walked on the site behind the Jesuits' residence, 
the very ground where, 20 years ago, the bodies of my friends were 
discovered. This hallowed ground is now a beautiful rose garden, and 
each day people from all over El Salvador and around the world come to 
the garden to nourish hope and renew their commitment to peace. It is 
used by faculty and students for meditation and repose.
  There is now a chapel where the six priests are buried. The UCA has 
also installed a small and emotionally compelling museum dedicated to 
the lives and deaths of these six priests, their housekeeper and her 
daughter.
  Mr. Speaker, the lives and deaths of these priests had a profound 
effect on my own life. I knew them in life. I was proud to call them 
friends. I helped investigate and uncover who ordered and carried out 
their murders. And I have remained involved and committed to peace, 
democracy, and development in El Salvador.
  I will never forget my friends or the role of Joe Moakley or the role 
the U.S. Congress played in helping El Salvador end its long civil war 
because of the impact inside and outside of El Salvador that the 
murders of these incredible men had on changing the course of El 
Salvador's history.
  Nothing will bring my friends back to life, but this resolution 
honoring and remembering their lives and work on this, the occasion of 
the 20th anniversary of their deaths, is a worthy tribute, and I ask my 
colleagues to support the resolution.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Cao) a member of the Homeland Security and 
Transportation committees and a former Jesuit seminarian.
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 761 
to commemorate the lives and work of those that were executed by 
members of the Salvadoran Army on the 20th anniversary of their deaths 
next month.
  On November 16, 1989, members of the Salvadoran Army entered the 
Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas in San Salvador and 
massacred six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter. This 
senseless mass murder was incited when the six priests took a stand for 
social justice and against the oppressive elements in the Salvadoran 
society, notably the tyrannical military.
  Among the victims were Father Ignacio Ellacuria, a rector of the 
university and an outspoken critic of the Army; Father Ignacio Martin 
Baro, a prolific writer and an intellectual on the effects of war on 
the human psyche; Father Segundo Montes, founder of the Human Rights 
Institute at UCA and a congressional adviser on Salvadoran refugees; 
Father Amano Lopez, a respected member of the Society of Jesus, gifted 
counselor, and a pastoral worker; Father Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, 
director of the Fe y Alegria education program in poor communities; 
Father Juan Ramon Moreno, a theological scholar and publicist; and Elba 
Ramos, the Jesuits' housekeeper, who was killed alongside her teenage 
daughter, Celina, when she wrapped her body around Celina trying to 
protect her from the shooting.
  Having spent 6 years in the Jesuit order studying to become a Jesuit 
priest, I have a deep appreciation for the sacrifice these people made 
in pursuit of religious freedom and human rights. These eight martyrs 
actually inspired me to join the Society of Jesus in 1990 and to carry 
on their struggle for religious freedom and human rights 19 years 
later.
  Today, the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States 
have annually observed the November 16 anniversary of the murdered 
Jesuits and the two murdered women. This resolution commends those 
institutions for their solidarity with the UCA and extends sympathies 
to the families, friends, colleagues, and religious communities of the 
deceased.
  Finally, the measure calls upon the President, the Secretary of 
State, and other United States Federal agencies to support efforts by 
the Salvadoran Government and other public, private, and religious 
organizations to reduce poverty and hunger and to promote educational 
opportunity, human rights, and the rule of law and social equity for 
the people of El Salvador.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to honor the lives of 
these human rights martyrs and support H. Res. 761. And in the words of 
the Jesuit Fathers, ``ad majoram dei gloriam.''
  Ms. WATSON. I continue to reserve my time, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, having no further speakers on the subject, 
again I want to thank Mr. McGovern for bringing this forward.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) that the House suspend the

[[Page 25263]]

rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 761, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________