Honoring the life of Sister Dorothy Stang.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 89, and I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) and offer very warm thanks to the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) and to the ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), for their leadership and support on this resolution which honors the life and the work of Sister Dorothy Stang.

I would also like to acknowledge Sister Dorothy's family, her sister, Marguerite, and her family from Fairfax, Virginia, and her brother, David Stang from Denver, Colorado.

Sister Dorothy was an American Catholic nun with the Order of Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was originally from Ohio, but had moved to Brazil nearly 40 years ago with four other sisters of Notre Dame in response to a request from then-Pope John XXIII who asked religious communities around the world to serve in Latin America.

She worked in earnest to profess the order's mission, to educate and stand with the poor. Sister Dorothy also worked with the Pastoral Land Commission, an organization of the Catholic Church that fights for the rights of rural workers and peasants. Sister Dorothy's selfless way of life brought comfort and hope to an area of the world wrought with corruption and despair. She was committed to social justice, and worked tirelessly to help poor farmers with sustainable development techniques, minister and teach the men of the village to be faith leaders, and help in the building of houses and school rooms.

Sister Dorothy taught the women of Brazil to sew and to sell clothing to finance the building of a dam to provide electricity to their community. She pioneered 21 community centers. These centers taught agriculture, health care, education, and spirituality.

Although she was a profound leader and was loved by many, her fate did not parallel her life's work. Sister Dorothy was brutally murdered on February 12 of this year after receiving several death threats from loggers and landowners. Knowing of this grave danger, Sister Dorothy wrote, ``I do not want to flee, nor do I want to abandon the battle of these farmers who live without any protection in the forest. They have the sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they can live and work with dignity while respecting the environment.''

She then went on to say, ``I am grateful to Notre Dame for not asking me to leave. This shows we are aware of the needs of the poor. The Sisters have said they are worried about any safety. It is not my safety, but that of the people which matters.''

At the time of her death, Sister Dorothy had just traveled to drop off cloth and food to families whose homes had been burned by ranchers and loggers. She was approached by two gunmen, and knowing her fate, reached into her cloth bag, took out her Bible and began reading the Beatitudes, ``Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.''

Sister Dorothy Stang is a true martyr. She lived and died teaching and fighting for peace and justice among a people who were poor and disenfranchised. She lifted up the oppressed and taught people about their rights as human beings. She was named ``Woman of the Year'' by the state of Para for her work in the Amazon, and in 2004 she received the Humanitarian of the Year award from the Brazilian Bar Association for her work in the region.

Sister Dorothy's dream was to have an area of land set aside by the federal government of Brazil as a federal reserve where the poor families and landless peasants would be safe, where they could farm their land, build their own income-producing businesses, and above all, where they could live in peace and dignity without threats to their lives.

Sister Dorothy reminds us all to be courageous and to work for what we believe in. We must all be champions of our principles and causes, and that our religion is not merely a set of beliefs, but a series of actions. She gave her life to protect the downtrodden and forgotten. While her brutal murder shows the great challenges we face in the pursuit of social justice, her life shows the awesome power one human being has to change the world.

I hope that this simple act of commemoration will not be the end of Sister Stang's story, but the very beginning. That Congress will use this opportunity to demonstrate its concern for inequality and poverty all over the world by making available the resources needed to combat these social ills.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, President Kennedy once said in a speech at Amherst College, honoring Robert Frost, that ``A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.''

Today we honor a fearless, selfless defender of peace, a champion in sustainable development, a person affectionately known as ``Irma Doroty,'' and ``Angel of the Amazon,'' a brave martyr, Sister Dorothy Stang.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. I want to congratulate the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) for his leadership in commemorating the life and work of Sister Dorothy Stang.

Mr. Speaker, Sister Dorothy Stang stood firmly on the side of the weak and disposed in the Brazilian rainforest for over 40 years. Her willingness to defend the indigenous people ultimately led to her untimely and tragic death.

Dorothy Stang entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur community in 1948, and professed final vows in 1956. In 1966, she began her very important ministry in Brazil.

Sister Dorothy immediately encountered injustices which made her a lifelong crusader for the rights of indigenous minorities and a voice for the

voiceless before the powerful Pastoral Land Commission.

In her work, Sister Stang took on powerful land interests, and steadfastly defended small groups of families and their traditional ways of life. Sister Stang taught the local communities ways of sustainable development and peaceful community living.

Because she was a thorn in the side of those powerful interests, Sister Dorothy received numerous death threats, but she always shrugged them off. She did so not carelessly or lightheartedly, but with a deep sense of the importance of her work and the peaceful approach to conflicts she had always promoted.

With the brutal murder of Sister Stang in February, the indigenous communities of the rainforest have lost one of their most powerful voices. Indeed, Brazil has lost one of the most respected human rights leaders.

We call on the Brazilian Government to bring to justice not only the people who pulled the trigger, but also those who devised the evil plot to kill her for sheer financial greed.

Sister Dorothy Stang leaves a huge legacy which puts the burden on the Brazilian and U.S. Governments to protect those communities for whom Sister Stang gave her life.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), the author of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 89) honoring the life of Sister Dorothy Stang.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the concurrent resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) and his cosponsors for bringing this important resolution to the floor. I also wish to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) and our ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), for expediting the consideration of this resolution in our Committee on International Relations.

Sister Dorothy worked in Brazil to directly help the people who are most in need, rural workers and peasants. She showed great personal courage by continuing on in her work with the Pastoral Land Commission despite death threats.

Brazil and the world were shocked when Sister Dorothy was murdered on February 12, 2005. She was 73 years of age. It is fitting and proper that the United States Congress should recognize the extraordinary example that Sister Dorothy set for her countrymen here in the United States and in her adoptive country of Brazil.

Today, we stand together to remember Sister Dorothy's extraordinary life. Perhaps an even more eloquent and lasting testament to Sister Dorothy's memory is the fact that Americans of faith are working every day for their fellow man in the remotest corners of the world. Many are to be found across our own hemisphere. Throughout their good works, they also honor Sister Dorothy's sacrifice.

Mr. Speaker, I am certain my colleagues will join me in strong support of this concurrent resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am an original co-sponsor of H. Con. Res. 89, legislation to honor a truly distinguished native of the city of Dayton, which I represent in Congress, Sister Dorothy Stang.

Sister Stang was brutally murdered in Brazil on February 12. She was a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, and had moved to the Amazon region of Brazil 22 years ago to help impoverished families in the Amazon learn how to engage in sustainable farming, and help them in their struggle for land rights. It was while she was working for the poor that she was murdered. It was as Sister Stang was traveling to a meeting of impoverished farmers that two gunmen approached her. Sister Stang read from the Bible to the gunmen, who nevertheless shot her several times.

Sister Stang's commitment to the poor, her quest for fair treatment of those who felt they did not have a voice, and her belief in the power of faith serve as an example from which we all can draw valuable lessons. It is fitting that the House of Representatives will vote today to draw the attention of the Congress and our Nation to the life of this selfless and inspirational woman.