[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 173 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 173

    Expressing support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 as the 
            blueprint for lasting peace in Northern Ireland.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 16, 2005

Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Dodd, Mr. McCain, Mr. Biden, 
  Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Harkin) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

                             July 13, 2005

             Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 as the 
            blueprint for lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

Whereas in 1998, the Good Friday Agreement, signed on April 10, 1998, in 
        Belfast, was endorsed in a referendum by the overwhelming majority of 
        people in Northern Ireland;
Whereas the parties to the Good Friday Agreement made a clear commitment to 
        ``partnership, equality, and mutual respect'' as the basis for moving 
        forward in pursuit of lasting peace in Northern Ireland;
Whereas the parties to the Good Friday Agreement also affirmed their ``total and 
        absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means'' in 
        pursuit of lasting peace in Northern Ireland;
Whereas inclusive power-sharing based on these defining qualities is essential 
        to the viability and advancement of the democratic process in Northern 
        Ireland;
Whereas paramilitary and criminal activity in a democratic society undermines 
        the trust and confidence that are essential in a political system based 
        on inclusive power-sharing in Northern Ireland;
Whereas the United States Government continues to strongly support the peace 
        process in Northern Ireland; and
Whereas the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Ireland 
        continue to strongly support the Good Friday Agreement as the way 
        forward in the peace process, and have committed themselves to its 
        implementation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the Senate reiterates its support for the Good Friday 
        Agreement, signed on April 10, 1998, in Belfast, as the 
        blueprint for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland; and
            (2) it is the sense of the Senate that--
                    (A) the Irish Republican Army must immediately--
                            (i) complete the process of 
                        decommissioning;
                            (ii) cease to exist as a paramilitary 
                        organization; and
                            (iii) end its involvement in any way in 
                        paramilitary and criminal activity;
                    (B) the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern 
                Ireland must--
                            (i) share power with all parties according 
                        to the democratic mandate of the Good Friday 
                        Agreement; and
                            (ii) commit to work in good faith with all 
                        the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, 
                        which established an inclusive Executive and 
                        the North-South Ministerial Council, for the 
                        benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland;
                    (C) Sinn Fein must work in good faith with the 
                Police Service of Northern Ireland;
                    (D) the leadership of Sinn Fein must insist that 
                those responsible for the murder of Robert McCartney 
                and those who were witnesses to the murder--
                            (i) cooperate directly with the Police 
                        Service of Northern Ireland; and
                            (ii) be protected fully from any 
                        retaliation by the Irish Republican Army; and
                    (E) the Government of the United Kingdom must--
                            (i) permanently restore the democratic 
                        institutions of Northern Ireland;
                            (ii) complete the process of 
                        demilitarization in Northern Ireland; and
                            (iii) advance equality and human rights 
                        agendas in Northern Ireland.
                                 <all>