IV 
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) sub-
mitted 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 sur-
render 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; 
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•HRES 457 IH 
Whereas, in 1939, the Government of Portugal under Anto-
nio 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 with-
out charge tens of thousands of visas, including thou-
sands to fleeing Jews; 
Whereas Sousa Mendes reportedly stated, ‘‘I declare that I 
shall give, free of charge, a visa to whosoever shall re-
quest 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 inter-
vention 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 dis-
obeyed, but my disobedience does not dishonor me. I 
chose to defy an order that to me represented the perse-
cution 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.’’; 
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•HRES 457 IH 
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 res-
cuers 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 ef-
forts; 
Whereas, in 1986, President of Portugal Mario Soares post-
humously 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 post-
humously 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 Por-
tugal’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 Pan-
theon 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 
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•HRES 457 IH 
honor of Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux, France, and Por-
tugal: 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 Bor-
deaux, France, for acting with great courage and at 
personal risk to issue transit visas to French Jews 
and other persons, sparing them from Nazi occupa-
tion and the Holocaust, thus saving many thousands 
of innocent lives; and 
(2) directs the Clerk of the House of Represent-
atives to transmit copies of this resolution to— 
(A) the President; and 
(B) the President of the Assembly of the 
Republic of Portugal. 
Æ 
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