III 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 54 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 14, 2005 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Biden, and Mr. Lautenberg) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations February 16, 2005 Committee discharged; considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Paying tribute to John Hume.

Whereas John Hume is one of the greatest advocates of peace and non-violence of our time; Whereas throughout the long and difficult years of civil strife and turmoil, John Hume has dedicated his life to achieving a peaceful, just, and lasting settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland; Whereas throughout the turbulent years in Northern Ireland, John Hume never lost faith in the belief that violence and terrorism are wrong, that a negotiated settlement is the only realistic hope for peace, and that ancient antagonisms cannot be settled by bombs and bullets; Whereas John Hume deserves enormous credit for the peace process in Northern Ireland, which led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement; Whereas John Hume’s enduring vision of reconciliation, based on equal respect and recognition for both the Protestant and Catholic traditions in Northern Ireland, has served as an inspiration to those seeking peaceful resolution of conflicts in many other parts of the world; Whereas John Hume has worked consistently for the rights of the members of his community, beginning with the launching of a credit union to provide assistance to the minority community to purchase housing; Whereas John Hume’s commitment was to effective programs and peaceful works, at a time when others in his community increasingly urged or acquiesced to bombs and bullets; Whereas John Hume’s ideas and eloquence lit a candle in the darkness of the violence in Northern Ireland, kindled an increasing sense of hope in the minority community, and created new possibilities for understanding between the opposing sides of the conflict; Whereas John Hume's community activity and involvement led directly to his long and distinguished political career; Whereas John Hume brought together a broad coalition of leaders who advocated non-violence and together they founded the Social Democratic and Labour Party in 1970, which has been at the forefront of years of significant efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland; Whereas John Hume was the first to emphasize the necessity of establishing an on-going Anglo-Irish framework as the cornerstone for institutionalizing the process of reconciliation to heal the divisions within Northern Ireland, between North and South in Ireland, and between Great Britain and Ireland; Whereas in 1983, largely as a result of the efforts of John Hume, the principal political parties in Ireland and the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland established the far-reaching New Ireland Forum; Whereas the New Ireland Forum developed alternatives for progress and prepared the report that laid the groundwork for an unprecedented new dialogue on Northern Ireland between Britain and Ireland, culminating in November 1985 with the signing of the historic Anglo-Irish Agreement by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald of Ireland; Whereas John Hume conducted talks with Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, before the Irish Republican Army agreed to a cease-fire, showing great courage by taking significant personal and political risks to achieve a lasting peace; Whereas those talks, together with the December 1993 Joint Declaration by the British and Irish Governments, led to the August 1994 cease-fire by the Irish Republican Army and the October 1994 cease-fire by the Loyalist paramilitaries and ultimately to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998; Whereas John Hume served as the Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland until 1979, and its leader from 1979 to 2001; Whereas John Hume’s political career has also included serving as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the European Parliament, and the British House of Commons; Whereas in his many visits to the United States, John Hume has been a consistent ambassador for peace, urging the cause of reconciliation and educating Congress and the country about the issues in Northern Ireland; Whereas John Hume is well respected in the United States and has had an important influence on United States policy and on the American dimension of the Northern Ireland question; Whereas John Hume is a courageous leader of exceptional achievement and was honored for his leadership in the cause of peace in Northern Ireland with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, along with the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, David Trimble; Whereas respect for John Hume was the single most important influence in the development of the Friends of Ireland in the United States Congress and in convincing leaders of the Irish-American community throughout the United States to oppose political, financial, or other support for the violence in Northern Ireland; and Whereas John Hume is retiring this year after a long and brilliant career dedicated to the people of Northern Ireland and to the cause of peace: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1) pays tribute to John Hume for his lifetime commitment to promoting reconciliation and achieving a lasting peace in Northern Ireland; and (2) calls on all the parties in Northern Ireland to redouble their effort to restore the trust that is necessary to fully implement the Good Friday Agreement and to achieve stable democratic institutions, peace, and justice in Northern Ireland.