IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 466
Conveying the sympathy of the House of Representatives to the families 
of the young women murdered in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and 
encouraging increased United States involvement in bringing an end 
to these crimes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2003
Ms. SOLIS (for herself, Mr. REYES, Mr. RAMSTAD, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mrs. 
CAPITO, and Mr. RODRIGUEZ) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on International Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Conveying the sympathy of the House of Representatives 
to the families of the young women murdered in the 
State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and encouraging increased 
United States involvement in bringing an end to these 
crimes.
Whereas the Mexican border city of Ciudad Jua´rez has been 
plagued with the abduction, sexual assault, and brutal 
murders of more than 370 young women since 1993; 
Whereas these abductions and murders have begun to spread 
south to the city of Chihuahua; 
Whereas more than 90 of these murders show signs of being 
connected to one or more serial killers;
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Whereas some of the victims are as young as 13 years old, 
and many were abducted in broad daylight in well-popu-
lated areas; 
Whereas these murders have brought pain as the families and 
friends of the victims on both sides of the border struggle 
to cope with the loss of their loved ones; 
Whereas many of the victims have yet to be positively identi-
fied; 
Whereas to date the perpetrators of most of these heinous 
acts remain unknown; 
Whereas the Mexican Federal Government has taken steps to 
prevent these abductions and murders, including setting 
up a commission to coordinate Federal and State efforts 
in Mexico, establishing a 40-point plan, and appointing a 
special commissioner; 
Whereas in 2003 the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s El 
Paso Field Office and the El Paso Police Department 
began providing Mexican authorities with training in in-
vestigation techniques and methods; 
Whereas the Government of the State of Chihuahua has ju-
risdiction over these crimes; 
Whereas Mexico is a party to the following international trea-
ties that relate to abductions and murders: the Charter 
of the Organization of American States, the American 
Convention on Human Rights, the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Eco-
nomic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the 
Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against 
Women, the United Nations Declaration on Violence 
Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the
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(5) urges the President and Secretary of State 
to express support for the efforts of the victims’ 
families to seek justice for the victims, to express 
concern relating to the continued harassment of 
these families and the human rights defenders with 
which they work, and to express concern with re-
spect to impediments in the ability of the families to 
receive prompt and accurate information in their 
cases; 
(6) supports multilateral efforts to create a 
DNA database that would allow families to positively 
identify the remains of the victims and encourages 
the Secretary of State to facilitate United States 
participation in such a DNA database; 
(7) encourages the Secretary of State to include 
in the Department of State’s annual Country Report 
on Human Rights all instances of improper inves-
tigatory methods, threats against human rights ac-
tivists, and the use of torture with respect to cases 
involving the murder and abduction of young women 
in the State of Chihuahua; 
(8) recommends that the United States Ambas-
sador to Mexico visit Ciudad Jua´rez and the city of 
Chihuahua to meet with the families of the victims, 
women’s rights organizations, and Mexican Federal
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and State officials responsible for investigating these 
crimes and preventing future such crimes; 
(9) condemns the use of torture as a means of 
investigation into these crimes; 
(10) encourages the Secretary of State to urge 
the Government of Mexico to ensure fair and proper 
judicial proceedings for the individuals accused of 
these abductions and murders and to impose appro-
priate punishment for those individuals subsequently 
determined to be guilty of such crimes; 
(11) condemns all senseless acts of violence in 
all parts of the world and violence against women in 
particular; and 
(12) expresses the solidarity of the people of the 
United States with the people of Mexico in the face 
of these tragic and senseless acts.
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