[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2917-S2920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 A CHANCE FOR PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this is an historic day in the Republic of 
Ireland and Northern Ireland. I want Senators and the American people 
to be aware of the significance of what the people of that island have 
done today.
  For the past quarter of a century, Unionists who favor continued 
British control over Northern Ireland, and Catholics who favor 
unification of Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic, have been 
locked in a cruel war over the status of the North. Over 3,200 people 
have died, many of them innocent civilians caught in the crossfire 
between the IRA and Protestant paramilitary groups.
  Mr. President, as an American of Irish descent, the violence in 
Northern Ireland has had a profound affect on me. I have always 
unequivocally opposed the use of violence by both sides in Northern 
Ireland. Irish-Americans who care about the land of our ancestors 
condemn violence without reservation and support a peaceful settlement.
  My father felt he would never live to see real peace in Northern 
Ireland, and 
[[Page S2918]] he did not. But I believe that my father's son will see 
it, both as an American and as a U.S. Senator.
  In December 1993, our hopes were raised for an end to the bloodshed, 
when former Irish Prime Minister Reynolds, and British Prime Minister 
Major, declared that the future status of Northern Ireland should be 
decided by agreement of the people there. That declaration began a 
peace process that led to the IRA cease-fire last August. Two months 
later Protestant paramilitary groups stopped shooting, and the cease-
fire has held.
  Since then, the British Government has taken several steps to reduce 
tensions in the North, including ending daytime military patrols in 
Belfast. In the Irish Republic, a Peace and Reconciliation Forum has 
brought Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, into informal talks 
with representatives of the Government and other parties.
  Today in Belfast, in what I believe offers the best hope for peace in 
the 25-year history of the conflict, Irish Prime Minister Bruton and 
Prime Minister Major announced the publication of a long-awaited 
Framework Document which provides a basic for future negotiations on a 
peace settlement.
  Mr. President, late yesterday afternoon, I returned from Dublin, 
Belfast, and London, where I met with leaders and individuals 
representing all points of view on the future of Northern Ireland. I 
went there over the weekend because I knew the peace process was at a 
decisive point.
  I wanted to give encouragement. I also wanted to pay tribute to the 
people of both Northern Ireland and the Republic, Catholic and 
Protestant, who are courageously trying to find a way to a better 
future.
  The Framework Document, which sets out a joint vision for the future 
of both Irish and British Governments, is a tremendous step forward. It 
reaffirms the principles of self-determination, of the consent of the 
governed, of democratic and peaceful means, and of full respect and 
protection for the rights and identities of both traditions.
  From the conversations I had, both in the Republic of Ireland and 
Northern Ireland, with people of all political and religious 
traditions, I realized the importance of the document and of bringing 
people together who so fervently want to be brought together. Members 
of my staff, Tim Rieser and Kevin McDonald, who accompanied me, heard 
the same thing.
  Since the framework's aim is to encourage all parties to come to the 
negotiating table, nobody is going to be content with all of it. If it 
were written in such a way that any one group found it totally 
acceptable, it would guarantee that the rest would find it totally 
unacceptable. The Unionists with whom I met condemned the Framework 
Document long before its release. I suggested they recognize it for 
what it is--a basis for discussion, not a final blueprint. I urged them 
to come to the negotiating table with their own ideas, not to condemn 
the process before even giving it a chance.
  Mr. President, in Belfast I got a sense of the fear Unionists feel. 
For centuries they have thought of themselves as British, and today 
they fear that the British Government is abandoning them. Some longed 
for a past that never was, dreamed of a future that never would be, and 
they fear a present they do not understand.
  It made a profound impression on me. Change in Northern Ireland is 
inevitable, but the Framework Document should threaten no one. It would 
give a majority of the people of Northern Ireland the right to decide 
their future. It is equally important to recognize that any lasting 
piece, any healthy society, muse be rooted in equal justice. The 
fundamental civil rights of both Catholics and Protestants must be 
protected in Northern Ireland.
  Everywhere I went, I heard praise for the role President Clinton has 
played in supporting the peace process in Northern Ireland. I was told 
that not since the days of President John F. Kennedy has an American 
President been so interested in what is happening. It is clear that 
without his personal involvement we would not have seen this day.
  I want to praise our Ambassador, Jean Kennedy Smith, who has taken up 
the cause for peace and encouraged the parties to move forward. And I 
want to praise especially those parties, many of whom have been enemies 
for decades, perhaps for centuries, who are willing to come together.
  In Dublin and Belfast I told Unionists and Nationalists the same 
thing, that the U.S. Government will support this effort fully, and 
with even-handedness.
  But the real work of peace will be done by them. Both have legitimate 
aspirations, and both traditions must find a way to accommodate one 
another. We cannot, nor can any other country dictate what that outcome 
will be. The parties must find it for themselves.
  Mr. President, I am under no illusion that a peaceful future in 
Northern Ireland is assured. Immense difficulties lie ahead. To put the 
past behind, to build peace out of bloodshed, to find common ground 
where there has been so much hatred and distrust. But from all that I 
heard during my brief visit there, there is a new spirit emerging; a 
wide recognition that violence has failed; a new determination to find 
another way.
  When mothers in Belfast sat with me and told me they did not want 
their children to face the kind of horror and violence that they have, 
it is not a feeling of Protestants or Catholics, it is a feeling of 
mothers throughout Northern Ireland. It is a feeling that should be 
listened to by the leaders, because the people do not want to go back 
to the violent days of the past.
  Those mothers spoke of their children, who are going to live most of 
their lives in the next century. The leaders must decide what kind of a 
life they will have. The children cannot, but it is they who will be 
most affected. And if you have hatred and violence, prejudice and bias 
directed toward a child, does it make any difference whether that child 
is Protestant or Catholic? Those children have a right to expect their 
leaders to show courage and a sense of responsibility for the future 
and to give them a chance to live in peace.
  Lasting peace means urgently dealing with the terrible problem of 
unemployment in the north. People need to have confidence in their 
government, but they also need jobs; they need economic security as 
well as physical security.
  In Belfast, I saw some of the accomplishments of the International 
Fund for Ireland which the United States and European countries have 
supported since 1983. I can attest to the important work the Fund is 
doing to provide jobs in areas where unemployment among Catholics runs 
as high as 60 percent. The Fund's efforts have also brought together 
Catholics and Protestants in common endeavors where in the past there 
was virtually no contact between them.
  And in speaking to members of the Orange Order in Comber near 
Belfast, I encouraged Unionists there to apply to the Fund and work 
together to bring jobs and a sense of security and a sense of hope in 
the future for their people.
  President Clinton, in recognition of the Fund's accomplishments and 
the critical stage the peace process has reached, has proposed 
increases in our contributions in 1996 and 1997.
  The Fund is a transitional program until real investment can take 
root in the north. A trade and investment conference is planned for May 
in Washington, and it is eagerly awaited by people in both Northern 
Ireland and the Republic. President Clinton's selection of Senator 
George Mitchell as his Special Adviser on Economic Initiatives in 
Ireland is not only indicative of the President's commitment to support 
peace there, it also ensures the success of the conference.
  Again, in the Republic of Ireland, in Northern Ireland, and in the 
United Kingdom, I heard person after person praise the choice of George 
Mitchell, knowing the respect that is felt for him by both Republicans 
and Democrats in our country and by the President of the United States.
  I am reminded of what Senator Mitchell, quoting Franklin Roosevelt, 
said to an audience in Dublin: In the dark days of our Great 
Depression, President Roosevelt said ``the only thing we have to fear 
is fear itself.'' He also said, ``the best social program is a job.'' 
That will be Senator Mitchell's work as the Presidents Special Adviser, 
and the work of all the people there.
   [[Page S2919]] Mr. President, the island of my ancestors is at an 
historic turning point. Today's publication of the Framework Document 
offers a real chance for an end to a conflict that has horrified so 
many for decades.
  I want to commend the Irish and British Governments and all the 
parties who are seeking a better future for the people of Northern 
Ireland.
  Mr. President, for the first time I have a sense of hope that peace 
is at hand in Northern Ireland, which my late father so desperately 
wanted. I have a belief that his son and his grandchildren will see it.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that statements of Prime 
Ministers Bruton and Major and a summary of the Framework Document be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the statements were ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

                 Summary--A New Framework for Agreement

       These proposals:
       Reaffirm the guiding principles of self-determination, the 
     consent of the governed, exclusively democratic and peaceful 
     means, and full respect and protection for the rights and 
     identities of both traditions;
       Provide for an agreed new approach to traditional 
     consitutional doctrines on both sides:
       The British Government will propose changes to its 
     constitutional legislation, so as to incorporate a commitment 
     to continuing willingness to accept the will of a majority of 
     the people living in Northern Ireland, and a commitment to 
     exercise their jurisdiction with rigorous impartiality on 
     behalf of all the people of Northern Ireland, in a way which 
     does not prejudice their freedom to determine Northern 
     Ireland's constitutional status, whether in remaining a part 
     of the United Kingdom or in forming part of a united Ireland;
       The Irish Government will introduce and support proposals 
     for changes in the Irish Constitution, so that no territorial 
     claim of right to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland contrary 
     to the will of a majority of its people is asserted, and so 
     that the Irish Government recognise the legitimacy of 
     whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the 
     people of Northern Ireland with regard to its constitutional 
     status;
       Commend direct dialogue with the relevant political parties 
     in Northern Ireland in developing new internal structures;
       Propose a North/South body, comprising elected 
     representatives from, and accountable to, a Northern Ireland 
     Assembly and the Irish Parliament, to deal with matters 
     designated by the two Governments in the first instance in 
     agreement with the parties;
       Describe ways in which such a body could work with 
     executive harmonising or consultative functions, by way of 
     authority delegated to its members by the Assembly;
       Envisage that all decisions within the North/South body 
     would be by agreement between the two sides;
       Set out criteria for the designation of functions, and 
     suggest a range of functions that might be designated from 
     the outset, for agreement with the parties;
       Envisage the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Irish 
     Parliament being able, by agreement, to designate further 
     functions or to move functions already designated between the 
     three categories;
       Envisage that the body will have an important role in 
     consultation with the two Governments in developing an agreed 
     approach for the whole island in respect of the challenges 
     and opportunities of the European Union;
       Envisage a Parliamentary forum, with representatives from 
     new Northern Ireland institutions and the Irish Parliament to 
     consider matters of mutual interest;
       Envisage a new and more broadly based Agreement between the 
     British and Irish Governments to develop and extend co-
     operation;
       Envisage a standing Intergovernmental Conference which 
     would consider matters of mutual interest, but not those 
     transferred to new political institutions in Northern 
     Ireland;
       Envisage that representatives of agreed political 
     institutions in Northern Ireland may be formally associated 
     with the work of the Conference;
       Provide for a complementary undertaking by both Governments 
     to ensure protection for specified civil, political, social 
     and cultural rights.
       These proposals do not provide for joint authority by the 
     British and Irish Governments over Northern Ireland. They do 
     not predetermine any outcome to the Talks process. Agreement 
     by the parties, and then by the people, is the key.
                                                                    ____

Introductory Remarks by the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), Mr. John 
Bruton, TD, at Belfast Launching of Joint Framework Document, February 
                                22, 1995

       Today's new framework for agreement is a landmark event in 
     the affairs on this island.
       The two Governments are presenting to the political parties 
     in Northern Ireland, and to the Irish and British peoples, a 
     document which is the most detailed expression to date of our 
     views on the subject of Northern Ireland.
       The Prime Minister and I hope that the Framework Document 
     will receive calm and measured consideration over the days 
     and weeks ahead.
       It is an important and serious text, offered as an aid to 
     discussion and negotiation. It presents our best judgment of 
     what might be an agreed outcome future talks involving the 
     two Governments and the political parties.
       We commend it to the parties for their careful 
     consideration and we look forward to discussing it in detail 
     with them at the earliest opportunity.
       May I at this point pay a special tribute to my colleague 
     the Tanaiste and his officials and to the Northern Ireland 
     Secretary of State Patrick Mayhew and his team. Their 
     determined efforts over many months have brought us to 
     today's new framework for agreement.
       The proposals which it contains are, we believe, balanced 
     and fair and threaten nobody. No party need fear this 
     document.
       To the nationalist and republican people, the document:
       Reaffirms that the British Government have no selfish, 
     strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland and that 
     they will uphold the democratic with of a greater number of 
     the people of Northern Ireland on the issue of whether they 
     prefer to support the Union or a sovereign united Ireland;
       Says that the British Government will enshrine in its 
     constitutional legislation the principles embodied in this 
     new framework for agreement by the amendment of the 
     Government of Ireland Act 1920 or by its replacement by 
     appropriate new legislation;
       It will also be important to nationalists that both 
     Governments consider that new institutions should be created 
     to cater for present and future political, social and 
     economic inter-connections within the island of Ireland. 
     These institutions will enable representatives of the main 
     traditions, North and South, to enter agreed relationships. 
     This is the purpose of the North/South body proposed in this 
     document.
       To the unionist and loyalist people, I would point out that 
     the document commits the Irish Government to ask the 
     electorate to change the Irish Constitution. The change 
     proposed will address Articles 2 and 3 in the following ways:
       It would remove any jurisdictional or territorial claim of 
     legal right over the territory of Northern Ireland contrary 
     to the will of its people;
       It would provide that the creation of a sovereign united 
     Ireland could therefore only occur in circumstances where a 
     majority of the people of Northern Ireland formally chose to 
     be part of a united Ireland.
       It is also important to unionists that the document also 
     contains a recognition by both Governments of the legitimacy 
     of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the 
     people of Northern Ireland with regard to its constitutional 
     status, whether they prefer to continue to support the Union 
     or a sovereign united Ireland.
       The proposals will challenge the two traditions on this 
     island but it will do so in an even-handed way. Neither 
     tradition need fear its contents. As I have emphasized at 
     every appropriate opportunity, it is a framework for 
     discussion and not a blueprint to be imposed over the heads 
     of anyone. Its purpose is to facilitate, not pre-empt, 
     dialogue. At the end of the day, the people of both North and 
     South respectively will have the final say.
       The document is our carefully considered response to many 
     suggestions, from the parties and others, that it would be 
     helpful to have the view of the two Governments as to what 
     might be an agreed outcome from future talks.
       We are asking the parties to come and talk to us, openly 
     and candidly, about these proposals. We believe that, taken 
     in the round, they offer a basis for structured discussions 
     leading to a new agreement.
       We believe that they do. It is our hope that the political 
     parties, having given them the attention they deserve, will 
     take a similar view.
       There can be no doubt about the enormous desire on the part 
     of the ordinary public--here, in the rest of Ireland and in 
     Britian--for the earliest possible resumption of political 
     dialogue.
       The ending of all campaigns of paramilitary violence last 
     autumn has created an unrivalled opportunity for such 
     dialogue to take place with a reasonable prospect of a 
     successful conclusion.
       I join the Prime Minister in appealing to all the parties 
     concerned to grasp this opportunity.
       The Framework Document is our judgement of how things can 
     best be taken forward. We have, in our view, the best 
     opportunity in a generation for a lasting political 
     settlement. We owe it to the peoples of both of these islands 
     to put that opportunity to the test.
                                                                    ____

 Opening Statement by the Prime Minister, The Rt. Hon. John Major, MP, 
  at a Joint Press Conference With the Taoiseach, John Bruton, TD, To 
  Launch the Joint Framework Document, Belfast, Wednesday 22 February 
                                  1995

       There is one reason, above all, why the Taoiseach and I 
     have come to Belfast today.
       We wish to offer our proposals here in Northern Ireland--to 
     Northern Ireland's people and their representatives.
        [[Page S2920]] We seek to help peace, but only the people 
     of Northern Ireland can deliver it.
       So let me say to them:
       These are our ideas, but the future is up to you;
       You have an opportunity now which has not been there for 
     many years;
       An opportunity to work together to build a better future 
     and a lasting peace.
       Our proposals stem from the talks process launched four 
     years ago, in March 1991.
       It was agreed then by the two Governments and the four 
     participating parties that the process would have three 
     strands. It would seek a new beginning for:
       Relationships within Northern Ireland;
       Relations between the North and South of the island of 
     Ireland;
       And relations between the United Kingdom and the Republic.
       We agreed that it was only by addressing all these 
     relationships together than agreement would be found across 
     the community in Northern Ireland.
       At this press conference, the Taoiseach and I are 
     publishing the document ``A New Framework for Agreement'' 
     which deals with the second and third of these strands. A 
     little later this morning I shall put forward a separate 
     document proposing new arrangements within Northern Ireland--
     which is of course a matter for the British Government and 
     the Northern Ireland parties alone.
       Our proposals are based on several principles: self-
     determination, consent, democratic and peaceful methods, and 
     respect for the identities of both traditions.
       Consent is and will remain paramount in our policy.
       It is the democratic right and the safeguard of the people 
     of Northern Ireland.
       No proposals for the future would be workable, let alone 
     successful, without the consent and active support of all 
     Northern Ireland's people. For they are the people who would 
     carry them out and whose lives would be affected.
       That is why any eventual settlement must be agreed by the 
     parties; supported by the people of Northern Ireland in a 
     referendum; and approved by Parliament--a triple consent 
     procedure.
       Our constitutional matters, each Government has offered 
     crucial new commitments in this Framework Document:
       As part of a balanced agreement the British Government 
     would enshrine its willingness to accept the will of a 
     majority of the people of Northern Ireland in British 
     Constitutional legislation. We shall embody the commitments 
     we made in the Downing Street Declaration;
       The Irish Government would introduce and support proposals 
     to change its Constitution, so that ``no territorial claim of 
     right to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland contrary to the 
     will of a majority of its people is asserted''. This is a 
     very important proposal that I welcome unreservedly;
       These changes would offer Northern Ireland a constitutional 
     stability which it has not hitherto enjoyed. Its future 
     status, by agreement between the two Governments, would be 
     irrevocably vested in the wishes of a majority of its people
       In line with the three-stranded approach, we propose new 
     institutions for North/South cooperation.
       The North/South body which we outline would comprise 
     elected representatives chosen from a new Northern Ireland 
     Assembly and from the Irish Parliament. It would draw its 
     authority from these two bodies. It would operate by 
     agreement, and only by agreement.
       On the UK side, the North/South body would initially be set 
     up by legislation at Westminster, as part of a balanced 
     agreement. It would come into operation following the 
     establishment of the new Assembly. Thereafter, it would be 
     for the Assembly and the Irish Parliament both to operate the 
     body and to decide whether its functions should be extended.
       Like all of our proposals, the new North/South institutions 
     will be a matter for negotiation. But the way should now be 
     open for beneficial cooperation between North and South 
     without the constitutional tensions which have been such 
     impediments in the past. We have made suggestions about areas 
     which might be covered in this cooperation, to the advantage 
     of both sides. Like all aspects of the document, they will be 
     for discussion and agreement between all concerned.
       The European Union already operates cross-border programmes 
     between Northern Ireland and the Republic, as it does 
     elsewhere. We propose that North and South could usefully 
     work together in specific areas, to take advantage of what 
     the EU has to offer. But the making of United Kingdom policy 
     and the responsibility for representing Northern Ireland in 
     the European Union will remain solely in the hands of the UK 
     Government.
       In the third of our Strands, we outline a new broader-based 
     agreement to take the place of the 1985 Anglo-Irish 
     Agreement.
       The 1985 Agreement was criticised because the Northern 
     Ireland parties had not contributed to it. Our new proposals 
     are offered for discussion in the talks process. We want to 
     hear the views of the parties; and we envisage that their 
     representatives would be formally associated with the future 
     work of the Intergovernmental Conference.
       The Intergovernmental Conference would allow concerns to be 
     expressed about any problems or breaches of the Agreement. 
     But there would be no mechanism for the two Governments 
     jointly to supervise or override either the Northern Ireland 
     Assembly or the North/South body. It would be for each 
     Government to deal on its own with any problems within its 
     own jurisdiction. This would not be a question for joint 
     decision, still less joint action. It is important to be 
     clear about this, as there have been concerns on this score.
       Our two Governments have worked with patient determination 
     to agree on this Framework, and I am grateful to the 
     Taoiseach, his predecessor, and the Tanaiste for their 
     efforts and their spirit of accommodation.
       Our proposals seek to stimulate constructive and open 
     discussion and give a fresh impetus to the political 
     negotiations. The outcome of those negotiations will depend, 
     not on us, but on the consent of the parties, people, and 
     Parliament.
       It is not for us to impose. But what we propose is an end 
     to the uncertainty, instability and internal divisions which 
     have bedeviled Northern Ireland.
       For over four years as Prime Minister, I have listened 
     intently to the people of Northern Ireland. I have visited 
     them, consulted them, travelled more widely than any 
     predecessor throughout the Province, and held meetings with 
     political leaders, church leaders, council leaders, community 
     leaders, and people from all walks of life.
       It is my duty as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to 
     maintain the Union for as long as that is the will of the 
     people. It is a duty in which I strongly believe, and one 
     which these proposals protect. Just as people cannot be held 
     within the Union against their will, so equally they will 
     never be asked to leave it in defiance of the will of the 
     majority.
       Consent and free negotiation are fundamental to me, and 
     they are the foundation stones of this Joint Document.
       In the four years of the Talks process, we have travelled a 
     long way, but not yet far enough.
       I know that many people will be worried, perhaps even 
     pessimistic, about the future.
       But, as we look at the hurdles ahead, let us also consider 
     where we have come from.
       The dialogue of the deaf has ended.
       For four years, we have been engaged in talks.
       The three-stranded approach is becoming a reality.
       The Joint Declaration has been accepted.
       The British Government is engaged in talks with 
     paramilitaries on both sides.
       We have had nearly six months of peace.
       Prosperity and a normal life are returning to Northern 
     Ireland.
       The principle of consent, once accepted only by Unionists 
     and the British Government, is today accepted almost 
     everywhere.
       These are some of the gains for everyone in Northern 
     Ireland.
       More gains can lie ahead if we have the courage to conduct 
     ourselves with patience, with foresight and with 
     consideration.

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I wonder whether I could ask unanimous 
consent to speak for 7 minutes as if in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Wellstone pertaining to the introduction of S. 
458 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                          ____________________