Date: 1981-04-08
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. the acting head of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. Bishop Arturo Rivera y Damas. has called for a political solution to the civil war in that small strifetorn country. Although the Bishop called for a halt to U.S. military aid to the junta. he was equally strong in his denunciation of those countries in the "Soviet bloc" that are supplying arms to the lefttist guerrillas. The Bishops remarks came in the wake of earlier comments from President Duarte that what El Salvador needed more than military assistance was economic aid to allow that country to move forward with its land refoim program. I have become increasingly persuaded that a political solution to El Salvadors problem is the only workable solution. Bishop iRivera y Damas has a reputation for caution and realism. The Bishop was quoted in the April 7. 1981 Washington Post as declaring: This country is torn by "a profound. social. military and political crisis" marked by "untold human suffering and countless murders" ... "the help that El Salvador needs must be directed to meeting the social" needs of the country through a "nonmilitary solution." The junta itself has conceded that social and economic reform. and the resources required to accomplish it. are the key elements to El Salvadors future. There are some who question the motives of the Catholic Church in El Salvador and elsewhere in Latin America. The Secretary of State. last month. even implied that the three Catholic nuns and one Catholic layworker slain in El Salvador could have been involved in gunrunning to the leftist guerrillas. He subsequently denied that these were his personal views. Yet. the U.S. Catholic Conference and other religious groups have openly opposed U.S. military assistance to El Salvador. As a result of this public stand. it was with considerable interesct that I read a column in the April 6. 1981 Washington Star written by John Langan. Father Langan. a Jesuit who is on the staff of the Woodstock Theological Center and a teacher of philosophy at Georgetown University. discussed the role of the church in countries like El Salvador. Father Langan asked the question: Does religious commitment to human rights and aid for the poor damage fundamental American interests? He further explained that religious opposition to American military aid to El Salvador: Is not based on a desire to see a totalitarian regime imposed on that country. The U.S. Catholic Conference and Bishop Rivera y Dames of San Salvador are strongly opposed to intervention by the Soviet Union and its surrogates. What church leaders have consistently stressed is the double need to stop the bloodshed and keep the focus on the internal character of the civil war. both in its sources and in the range of possible solutions. This is a very straightforward explanation of the reasons for supporting a political rather than a military solution in El Salvador. It is an explanation with which few can argue. But what I found most convincing about Father Langans discussion of the role of the church was the following: Patient efforts to ensure the poor of the world an opportunity to work out their prob. lems in a way that respects their need for human dignity and freedom contribute to justice and stability in the world. They create the condition in which the halftruths of Marxism and the dictatorial policies to which it gives rise can be exposed as incompatible with the needs and aspirations of developing peoples. Mr. President. Father Langans views are fundamental to our experience as a democracy. Our history as a nation has been characterized by our ability to work out our human and social problems in a way that respects the individuals need for human dignity and freedom. This has been an underlying basis for our strength. We are a nation which prides itself on upholding JudeoChristian values. And for our foreign policy to be effective it must reflect the values of the American people. I ask unanimous consent that articles from the Washington Post and Washington Star be printed in the RECORD.