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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 125 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 125

 Honoring the contributions of Father Joseph Damien de Veuster for his 
              service to humanity, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 25 (legislative day, May 15), 1995

   Mr. Akaka (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
     Simon, Mr. Murkowski, and Mr. Leahy) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Honoring the contributions of Father Joseph Damien de Veuster for his 
              service to humanity, and for other purposes.
Whereas Father Joseph Damien de Veuster was born in Tremeloo, Belgium, on 
        January 3, 1840;
Whereas Father Damien entered the Sacred Hearts Order at Louvain, Belgium, as a 
        postulant in January 1859 and took his final vows in Paris on October 7, 
        1860;
Whereas, after arriving in Honolulu on March 19, 1864, to join the Sacred Hearts 
        Mission in Hawaii, Father Damien was ordained to the priesthood in the 
        Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on May 21, 1864;
Whereas Father Damien was sent to the Puna, Kohala, and Hamakua districts on the 
        island of Hawaii, where Father Damien served people in isolated 
        communities for 9 years;
Whereas the alarming spread of Hansen's disease, also known as leprosy, for 
        which there was no known cure, prompted the Hawaiian Legislature to pass 
        an Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy in 1865;
Whereas the Act required segregating those afflicted with leprosy to the 
        isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa, Molokai, where those afflicted by 
        leprosy were virtually imprisoned by steep cliffs and open seas;
Whereas those afflicted by leprosy were forced to separate from their families, 
        had meager medical care and supplies, and had poor living and social 
        conditions;
Whereas in July 1872, Father Damien wrote to the Father General that many of his 
        parishioners had been sent to the settlement on Molokai and lamented 
        that he should join them;
Whereas on May 12, 1873, Father Damien petitioned Bishop Maigret, having 
        received a request earlier for a resident priest at Kalaupapa, to allow 
        Father Damien to stay on Molokai and devote his life to leprosy 
        patients;
Whereas for 16 years, from 1873 to 1889, Father Damien labored to bring material 
        and spiritual comfort to the leprosy patients of Kalaupapa, building 
        chapels, water cisterns, and boys and girls homes;
Whereas on April 15, 1889, at the age of 49, Father Damien died of leprosy 
        contracted a few years earlier;
Whereas the Roman Catholic Church began the consideration of beatification of 
        Father Damien in February 1955, and Father Damien will be beatified on 
        June 4, 1995, by Pope John Paul II in Brussels, Belgium;
Whereas Father Damien was selected by the State of Hawaii in 1965 as one of the 
        distinguished citizens of the State whose statue would be installed in 
        Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol;
Whereas the life of Father Damien continues to be a profound example of selfless 
        devotion to others and remains an inspiration for all mankind;
Whereas common use of sulfone drugs in the 1940's removed the dreaded sentence 
        of disfigurement and death imposed by leprosy, and the 1969 repeal of 
        the isolation law allowed greater mobility for former Hansen's disease 
        patients;
Whereas in the mid-1970's, the community of former leprosy patients at Molokai 
        recommended the establishment of a United States National Park at 
        Kalaupapa, out of a strong sense of stewardship of the legacy left by 
        Father Damien and the rich history of Kalaupapa;
Whereas the Kalaupapa National Historical Park was established in 1980 with a 
        provision that former Hansen's disease patients may remain in the park 
        as long as they wish; and
Whereas the remaining patients at Kalaupapa, many of whom were exiled as 
        children or young adults and who have endured immeasurable hardships and 
        untold sorrows, are a special legacy for America, exemplifying the 
        dignity and strength of the human spirit: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate of the United States recognizes Father 
Damien for his service to humanity and takes this occasion to--
            (1) celebrate achievements of modern medicine in combating 
        the once-dreaded leprosy disease;
            (2) remember that victims of leprosy still suffer social 
        banishment in many parts of the world; and
            (3) honor the people of Kalaupapa as a living American 
        legacy of human spirit and dignity.
                                 <all>
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