[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 185 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 185

   Supporting the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as the 
   framework for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Northern 
                                Ireland.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 28, 2001

Mr. Gallegly submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Supporting the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as the 
   framework for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Northern 
                                Ireland.

Whereas the April 10, 1998, Good Friday Agreement established a framework for 
        the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland;
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement provided for the devolution of government from 
        the United Kingdom to local institutions in Northern Ireland, 
        established a North/South Ministerial Council, a British-Irish Council, 
        and consisted of provisions regarding decommissioning, human rights, 
        policing, and prisoners;
Whereas in a referendum on May 22, 1998, the people of Northern Ireland and the 
        Republic of Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Good Friday 
        Agreement;
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement provided for the establishment of an 
        Independent Commission on Policing to reorganize current policing 
        practices and to encourage widespread community support for new policing 
        arrangements;
Whereas the Independent Commission on Policing issued a report, referred to as 
        the Patten report, which proposed approximately 175 recommendations to 
        ensure a new beginning to policing most of which were approved by the 
        Parliament of the United Kingdom;
Whereas some of the signatories to the Good Friday Agreement have complained 
        that the subsequent policing legislation adopted by the Parliament 
        failed to fully implement several of the Patten Commission 
        recommendations regarding accountability, authority of the police 
        commissioner, and the commitment to human rights;
Whereas, despite the concerns that the policing provisions are inadequate, plans 
        to implement the recommendations in the Patten report in order to 
        achieve an effective and representative policing service are underway 
        and have resulted in a reported 7,000 applications for positions on the 
        new, balanced police force of Northern Ireland;
Whereas one party to the Good Friday Agreement has declined to appoint its 
        commissioners to the policing board because of its concerns thereby 
        resulting in the inability of the Board to fully implement the necessary 
        reforms needed to provide an effective policing service in a truly 
        balanced manner;
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement established an Independent Commission on 
        Decommissioning to facilitate the process of decommissioning of 
        paramilitary arms;
Whereas spokespersons for the organizations involved in decommissioning, 
        including the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Freedom Fighters, 
        have indicated a willingness to make progress on decommissioning and the 
        Irish Republican Army has actually created sites where weapons used by 
        their members have been stored as a way to prevent the weapons from 
        being used and have subjected the storage sites to international 
        inspection, however, there has been little permanent decommissioning;
Whereas earlier polls indicated that the overwhelming majority of the people of 
        Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland supported decommissioning 
        and recent newspaper and media reports have called for further 
        implementation steps be taken to rid the weapons permanently from the 
        organizations involved;
Whereas the North/South Ministerial Council has been unable to meet or act in a 
        truly representative or effective manner due to the actions of one party 
        to the Good Friday Agreement which refuses to permit all named 
        representatives to participate;
Whereas the Government of the United Kingdom and the Royal Ulster Constabulary 
        in Northern Ireland, despite reports that the use of plastic bullets is 
        counterproductive and often used in a sectarian manner, and despite 
        calls from the European Union to ban the use of plastic bullets, still 
        insist on providing British Army units and the Royal Ulster Constabulary 
        with deadly plastic bullets;
Whereas, despite the glaring, but not insurmountable, flaws in the 
        implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, the citizens of Northern 
        Ireland recently went to the polls in national and local elections and 
        in a vote of confidence overwhelmingly voted for candidates representing 
        the parties which supported the Good Friday Agreement and the peace 
        process; and
Whereas the United States must remain politically involved in a bi-partisan 
        manner to ensure the long-term success of the peace agreement: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the continued importance of the Good Friday 
        Agreement and urges all parties to the Agreement to work more 
        diligently for the implementation of its provisions;
            (2) congratulates the people of Northern Ireland for once 
        again demonstrating their faith in and continued support for 
        the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement, and those 
        political parties and candidates who support the Agreement;
            (3) supports the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the 
        Irish Taoiseach, and all the leaders of the political parties 
        in Northern Ireland who created the opportunity for a 
        negotiated peace, but now urges them to put aside past 
        differences and disputes and to proceed in a meaningful way to 
        actually implement those agreements which they endorsed;
            (4) encourages all signatories to the Good Friday Agreement 
        to remain supportive of the peace process and not to take any 
        precipitous or unnecessary actions which could undermine the 
        process, including the weakening or demise of the independent 
        government structures or the Good Friday Agreement itself;
            (5) encourages the Government of the United Kingdom to 
        review the concerns expressed about the inadequacies of 
        implementation of the reforms in the report of the Independent 
        Commission on Policing, referred to as the Patten report, and 
        to submit for remedy those changes which will assist the 
        process;
            (6) encourages those parties to the Good Friday Agreement 
        which have not appointed members to the policing board to do so 
        in a timely fashion in order to ensure that the police service 
        will gain the support of all of Northern Ireland and which will 
        ensure that the police service will be multi-ethnic, fair, 
        accountable, free from political control, and committed to 
        human rights;
            (7) commends the reported thousands of citizens of Ireland 
        and Northern Ireland who, despite the public dispute over 
        policing, believe in the necessity of police reform and who 
        responded by submitting applications to join the new police 
        service;
            (8) stresses the importance of the beginning of real 
        decommissioning of weapons held by paramilitary organizations 
        on all sides even if it begins with a modest movement beyond 
        storage and without conditions to the success of the peace 
        process;
            (9) calls on all sides to support the functioning of the 
        North/South Ministerial Council and encourages those parties to 
        the Good Friday Agreement who refuse to recognize full 
        representation to drop their opposition in the name of 
        progress;
            (10) urges the Government of the United Kingdom to 
        reconsider its use of plastic bullets, to recall all existing 
        bullets, and to consider additional steps toward the 
        demilitarization of Northern Ireland; and
            (11) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and cooperation that 
        exist between the United States and the Governments of the 
        United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the continued 
        strong support of the United States for the Good Friday 
        Agreement, and the support of the United States for the 
        political parties who are seeking the resolution of a strong 
        and lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
                                 <all>