Bill Summary
This resolution honors the actions of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, who served as the Consul General of Portugal in Bordeaux, France during the Holocaust. Despite orders from his government to restrict visas for displaced persons, Sousa Mendes issued tens of thousands of visas, including many to fleeing Jews, without charge. He believed that God's law of loving one's neighbor was more important than following the government's orders. For his actions, he was later punished and ostracized by his government. In 1966, he was recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations, and in 1986, he was posthumously rehabilitated and granted the status of Ambassador by the Parliament of Portugal. In 2020, on the 80th anniversary of his heroism, the United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad initiated commemorations in his honor. This resolution also directs copies of the resolution to be transmitted to the President and President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation may affect the families and descendants of the individuals who were saved by Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, as it honors and salutes his humanitarian work in saving their loved ones.
2. The legislation may also affect the diplomatic community, as it recognizes the courage and selflessness of Sousa Mendes and his colleagues in issuing visas against the orders of their government.
3. This legislation may also affect discussions and debates surrounding refugee policies and the importance of upholding humanitarian values in times of crisis.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 457 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 457
Honoring the humanitarian work of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do
Amaral e Abranches to save the lives of French Jews and other persons
during the Holocaust.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 30, 2023
Mr. Costa (for himself, Mr. Valadao, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. McGovern, Mr.
Magaziner, Mr. Peters, Mr. Auchincloss, and Mr. Keating) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Honoring the humanitarian work of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do
Amaral e Abranches to save the lives of French Jews and other persons
during the Holocaust.
Whereas Nazi Germany invaded France on May 10, 1940, and after brief but intense
hostilities, secured the surrender of France on June 22, 1940;
Whereas, as a consequence of the Nazi conquest, the lives of French Jews and
Jewish and non-Jewish persons of other nationalities seeking refuge in
France were put in grave and imminent danger;
Whereas many thousands of those persons fled to Bordeaux, France, and elsewhere
in southwest France, seeking to traverse Spain and escape to Portugal;
Whereas, in 1939, the Government of Portugal under Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
issued Circular 14, which sharply restricted the availability of visas
to displaced persons;
Whereas the Consul General of Portugal in Bordeaux was Dr. Aristides de Sousa
Mendes do Amaral e Abranches;
Whereas, in June 1940, confronting a humanitarian crisis and in defiance of
Circular 14, Sousa Mendes, assisted principally by his diplomatic
colleagues Jose de Seabra, Manuel de Vieira Braga, and Emile Gissot,
issued without charge tens of thousands of visas, including thousands to
fleeing Jews;
Whereas Sousa Mendes reportedly stated, ``I declare that I shall give, free of
charge, a visa to whosoever shall request it. My desire is to be with
God against Man rather than with Man and against God.'';
Whereas those visas, as well as Sousa Mendes' personal intervention at the
border between France and Spain, enabled the refugees to reach safety in
Portugal;
Whereas, in July 1940, the Government of Portugal under Oliveira Salazar
responded by recalling Sousa Mendes, dismissing Sousa Mendes later from
active diplomatic service, and subjecting him to economic retribution
and subsequent ostracism;
Whereas, in 1941, Sousa Mendes explained, ``In truth, I disobeyed, but my
disobedience does not dishonor me. I chose to defy an order that to me
represented the persecution of true castaways who sought with all their
strength to be saved from Hitler's wrath. Above the order, for me, was
God's law, and that's the one I have always sought to adhere to without
hesitation. The true lesson of Christianity is to love one's
neighbor.'';
Whereas, in 1954, Sousa Mendes died penniless in Lisbon, Portugal, under the
cloud of the discipline imposed for his defiance;
Whereas, in 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Sousa Mendes as a Righteous Among the
Nations for his selfless efforts to save Jewish lives at personal risk
to himself, making Sousa Mendes the first of a number of diplomatic
rescuers to be so honored;
Whereas, in 1988, the United States Senate passed Senate Resolution 270, 100th
Congress, agreed to June 23, 1988, to commemorate Sousa Mendes'
humanitarian efforts;
Whereas, in 1986, President of Portugal Mario Soares posthumously rehabilitated
Sousa Mendes, decorating Sousa Mendes as an Officer of the Order of
Liberty;
Whereas, in 1988, the Parliament of Portugal posthumously granted Sousa Mendes
the status of Ambassador;
Whereas, in 1995, President of Portugal Mario Soares posthumously bestowed on
Sousa Mendes the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ;
Whereas, in 2017, President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa posthumously
bestowed on Sousa Mendes Portugal's highest honor, the Grand Cross of
the Order of Liberty;
Whereas, in 2020, the Parliament of Portugal unanimously voted to memorialize
Sousa Mendes in the National Pantheon in Lisbon; and
Whereas, in 2020, on the 80th anniversary of his heroism, the United States
Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad initiated
commemorations in honor of Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux, France, and
Portugal: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors and salutes the humanitarian and principled work
of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, Consul
of Portugal in Bordeaux, France, for acting with great courage
and at personal risk to issue transit visas to French Jews and
other persons, sparing them from Nazi occupation and the
Holocaust, thus saving many thousands of innocent lives; and
(2) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to
transmit copies of this resolution to--
(A) the President; and
(B) the President of the Assembly of the Republic
of Portugal.
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