[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 30 (Thursday, March 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                PEACE WITH JUSTICE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

                                 ______


                       HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 1994

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be here, on St. Patrick's 
Day, with my colleagues, both Democratic and Republican, who've labored 
to support the search for peace and justice in Northern Ireland.
  The world's attention has been riveted by IRA mortar attacks at 
Heathrow Airport. I have joined others in this body in consistently 
condemning the death and destruction brought by violence from the IRA, 
from loyalist paramilitaries that have claimed even more victims than 
the IRA in recent years, and from British security forces. I would call 
again today for all parties to this conflict to immediately and 
permanently renounce the use of violence.
  At the same time, I would urge the British and Irish Governments to 
seek every opportunity to clarify their Joint Declaration and their 
intent, and to bring Sinn Fein into the political process, under 
conditions of peace. The British Government took the risky step of 
talking with Sinn Fein when a peace process was not on the table. They 
should find the courage to directly answer Sinn Fein's queries about 
the proposal that has now been offered.
  While we continue the search for peace, we must never lose view of 
the struggle for equal justice and fair employment in the North.
  The Catholic community has known horrendous discrimination for 
decades. Catholic unemployment remains at 18 percent, twice that in the 
Protestant community. Investment with fairness must be at the center of 
our Nation's policy for bringing peace with justice to Northern 
Ireland. We should insist that U.S. firms and those who receive U.S. 
Government contracts make every affirmative effort to break down 
discrimination in recruitment, training and promotion. And we must 
encourage the British and Irish Governments to target investment in the 
north to areas that have suffered generations of high unemployment.
  I will soon introduce legislation encouraging the Clinton 
administration to appoint an Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland, to 
coordinate and expand relations that can generate jobs and erode the 
centuries old discrimination in employment that underlies the conflict. 
I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.
  The need for peace in Northern Ireland is urgent. The agenda for 
justice is no less pressing. I am proud to stand today with my 
colleagues in the Congress, and with the people in Northern Ireland, in 
their courageous struggle for justice and peace.

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