[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 153 (Wednesday, November 5, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11760-S11762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           FIRST LADY'S VISIT TO IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last week the First Lady visited Dublin 
and Belfast. When the President and the First Lady visited those cities 
2 years ago, they received a warm welcome from the people of Ireland 
and Northern Ireland, and Mrs. Clinton was warmly received on her 
return visit last week.
  During her visit, she emphasized the President's commitment to peace 
in Northern Ireland. All friends of Ireland in the United States are 
grateful for the continuing interest and involvement of the President 
and the First Lady in this issue, which is of such great importance to 
so many Americans.
  In Dublin on October 30, Mrs. Clinton spoke warmly of her previous 
visit in 1995 and the continuing strong commitment of the United States 
to the peace process.
  At the University of Ulster in Belfast on October 31, Mrs. Clinton 
delivered a lecture named in honor and in memory of Joyce McCartan, a 
courageous woman of peace whom the First Lady had met during her visit 
2 years ago, and who had inspired many other women in Northern Ireland 
to take up the cause of reconciliation.
  I believe my colleagues will be interested in Mrs. Clinton's eloquent 
remarks about the positive role of women in Northern Ireland and around 
the world in the search for peace and hope and opportunity. I ask 
unanimous consent that the First Lady's remarks in Dublin and Belfast 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the remarks were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       Remarks of the First Lady


                     dublin castle; dublin, ireland

                            October 30, 1997

       Thank you very much, it is such a great pleasure for me to 
     be back and I must tell you that although my visit is far too 
     brief, my husband is very jealous. He is green with jealousy, 
     and as I left this morning, he said ``tell everyone''--as 
     though I would have a chance to tell the entire populace--how 
     much he wishes he could be here as well.
       It has been as, we have heard, nearly two years since we 
     were here, and I don't think we will ever have a better time 
     anywhere than we did here. The warmth of the greeting and the 
     outpouring at College Green are images that we think about 
     and talk about in our house all the time. It is wonderful to 
     be back here in this Castle, and I am especially pleased that 
     since our visit, Ireland hosted here, the European Union 
     leaders, to such success.
       Much has happened in the Northern Ireland peace process 
     since my husband was here. An IRA cease-fire broke down but 
     was restored, and in this precious peace almost all the key 
     parties of the conflict are sitting down to discuss 
     substantive issues. There is a new government in Ireland, led 
     by the Taoiseach, and this government has built on the 
     determination of its predecessor to keep the political 
     momentum moving toward a negotiated settlement.
       But I've been especially pleased to see, since my visit, 
     how Ireland has continued to prosper. It has been wonderful 
     to read, as I have, of the important progress that has been 
     made, not only in the peace process but in the move toward 
     prosperity, on this island. I was very moved to have a visit 
     just a few days ago in the White House from Mary Robinson, 
     and I know that the polls have closed and you are about to 
     elect her successor. She has moved from being your President 
     to being in the forefront of human rights, another example of 
     Irish leadership.
       Dublin as you know has an important critical role in 
     producing a settlement. As my husband said two years ago on 
     College Green, America will be with you as you walk the road 
     of peace. We know from our own experience that making peace 
     among people of different cultures is the work of a lifetime. 
     My husband and I, and all who stand with you, are under no 
     illusions that reaching an agreement will be easy. There are 
     centuries of feelings behind each side's arguments, and 
     events of the past 27 years have left wounds that are still 
     raw.
       I would like to highlight two themes on this short visit 
     here and then tomorrow in Belfast--compromise and 
     reconciliation. When the people want peace, it is the 
     obligation of political leaders to find the common ground 
     where it can thrive. It involves postponing or even giving up 
     cherished ideals in the belief that others will do the same 
     to end conflict and build a better future. All sides must 
     compromise and seek this common ground in the weeks and 
     months ahead.
       I want, on behalf of the President, to pay tribute to both 
     sides of the border and the community divide, who have worked 
     so hard in recent years to bring about reconciliation in the 
     wake of this bitter conflict, and I want to mention women in 
     particular. Women have paid a heavy price for the social 
     turmoil generated by the troubles, and it therefore comes as 
     no surprise that women are leading the efforts towards a 
     lasting peace. Tomorrow, in Belfast, I will honor one such 
     woman, Joyce McCartan, whom I was privileged to meet on my 
     visit. The National Women's Council of Ireland has launched a 
     project in collaboration with partners in Northern Ireland 
     called ``Making Women Seen and Heard.'' It features workshops 
     designed to empower women who are politically and socially 
     marginalized. These workshops held on both sides of the 
     border are a tangible example of what can be done to foster 
     communication and reconciliation.
       The United States will continue to do its part to support 
     the peace process. My husband remains personally committed to 
     this effort and to those who take risks to make peace happen. 
     We are also fortunate to have Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, 
     who has contributed so much to the relationship between our 
     countries, to Ireland, and to the peace process. Be assured 
     that the United States is your partner for the long haul.
       I want to thank you also for the warm hospitality extended 
     to my daughter during her private visit in June. She was able 
     to come with a friend and just a few other keepers, and enjoy 
     the people and the beauty of your country, and I am grateful 
     to you for that. I also must tell you that my husband has 
     been practicing his golf, looking at his calendar searching 
     for a date that will enable him to return here with a seven-
     iron in hand. I hope that that is not too far off in the 
     distance, and that he will have the opportunity that I have 
     now to greet you personally, to thank you for your friendship 
     and your support, and to wish you Godspeed in the many 
     important efforts that you are undertaking today.
       Thank you very much.
                                                                    ____


      Remarks of the First Lady at Joyce McCartan Memorial Lecture


            university of ulster; belfast, northern ireland

                            October 31, 1997

       Thank you, Thank you very much, Chancellor. I am delighted 
     to be here at this university. I want to thank the university 
     for this invitation, Robert Hanna, Professor Sir Trevor 
     Smith, Pro Vice Chancellor, and Provost Ann Tate. And I'm 
     especially pleased that I could be joined today by the United 
     States Ambassador to the Court of St. James Philip Lader, 
     U.S. Counsel General Kathleen Stevens, and Senator George 
     Mitchell, who is here in the room with us.
       I want to welcome all of you because I feel so very welcome 
     here, but particularly, a special welcome to the family, 
     friends and associates of Joyce McCartan who have joined us 
     today.
       It is a great personal pleasure and honor for me to be back 
     in Northern Ireland and to reunited with some of the 
     courageous women and men I first met when I came here two 
     years ago with my husband. The sights and sounds and emotions 
     of that visit, the lighting of the Christmas Tree outside 
     City Hall, our walk from Guild Hall Square to Shipquay 
     Street, Protestants and Catholics working side by side at the 
     Mackey Metal

[[Page S11761]]

     Plant--all of that and so much more hold special places in my 
     husband's heart and in my own.
       And I will always treasure my visit to Ye Olde Lamplighter 
     on Lower Ormeau Road, for it was there that I shared a cup of 
     tea with Joyce McCartan and her colleagues. It is, therefore, 
     a signal honor to give this, first of a series of lectures 
     dedicated in her memory, and in recognition of the important 
     role women have played, are playing and will play in building 
     peace.
       I am very delighted that the university, with the support 
     of corporate sponsorship from Cable Tel, will honor Joyce 
     McCartan's work even further by establishing bursaries to 
     assist women who are studying conflict resolution and 
     community reconciliation.
       This is a hopeful moment, as it was two years ago. But it 
     is even more promising now. For the first time in more than 
     25 years, leaders of Northern Ireland's Catholic and 
     Protestants communities are meeting, and the world is 
     watching to see whether they will be able to end a generation 
     of senseless killing and forge a lasting peace.
       When the people want peace, it is the obligation of 
     political leaders to find the common ground where it can 
     thrive. That requires compromise and reconciliation. That 
     involves postponing or even giving up one's cherished ideals 
     in the belief that others will do the same to end the 
     conflict and build a better future.
       All sides must compromise and seek this common ground in 
     the weeks and months ahead. The United States will continue 
     to do its part to support the peace process, and my husband 
     remains personally committed to this effort and to those who 
     take risks for peace.
       Joyce McCartan was one of those risk-takers. I want to pay 
     tribute to her and to the men and women on both sides of the 
     border and the community divide who have worked so hard in 
     recent years to bring about reconciliation in the wake of 
     this bitter conflict. We would never have arrived at this 
     hopeful moment without the countless acts of courage and 
     faith of people like the women we honor today.
       I have many memories of my visit, and I even have a 
     souvenir. I have the teapot. (Laughter and applause.) As you 
     can see, it is a rather ordinary, stainless steel teapot, one 
     easily found in many Belfast kitchens. But as I told Joyce 
     during our conversation, this teapot was so much better at 
     keeping the tea hot than the ones I had back in the White 
     House. So she gave it to me as a present.
       I use this teapot every day in my private kitchen on the 
     second floor of the White House. And whenever I look at it, I 
     am reminded of Joyce's ability to warm hearts, to keep alive 
     hope for a better world and a better time, despite tragedy 
     after heart-breaking tragedy.
       As we sipped our tea together, the women told me how they 
     had worked over the years, how both Catholic and Protestant, 
     they had realized so much more united than divided them. 
     While they may have attended different churches on Sunday, 
     seven days a week they all said a silent prayer for the safe 
     return of a child from school or a husband from an errand in 
     town. Seven days a week their families struggled with the 
     same deep-rooted causes of the violence--the terrors of 
     sectarianism, the burdens of poverty, the shackles of 
     limited education, the despair of unemployment.
       And while they may have held different views of the past, 
     they had learned that together they could build a better 
     present and hope for an even brighter future, by promoting 
     understanding, saving lives, preserving families, nurturing 
     hope, and defying history. Because, in the end, for them and 
     for so many other women across Northern Ireland, love of 
     family ran deeper than calls to hatred.
       I had never met Joyce before we gathered together, but I 
     had seen her compassion, courage and commitment in many other 
     eyes--her yearning for a more peaceful and democratic would 
     resonates through the ages and stretches across the globe. 
     Mothers, wives, daughters, ordinary citizens--their insistent 
     voices for peace raised sometimes in a roar, but more often 
     in a whispered prayer--have inspired women and entire 
     societies around the world to build more open, just, 
     democratic and peaceful communities. This chorus of 
     courageous voices can be heard today from Belfast to Bosnia, 
     wherever women are working to end the violence and begin the 
     healing.
       Although I have been privileged to travel widely and meet 
     many of the world's leaders, I often find that it is in small 
     groups, sitting around a kitchen table, sipping tea with 
     women like Joyce, sharing concerns and talking about our 
     families, where I've learned the most valuable lessons. And 
     one of those lessons is that an extraordinary power is 
     unleashed when women reach out to their neighbors and find 
     common ground--when they began to lift themselves up, and by 
     doing so, lift up their families, their neighbors, and their 
     communities.
       I know that Joyce liked to call herself a family feminist 
     because saving families was at the root of all her efforts. 
     This is a brilliant term, and one that I have quoted 
     throughout the globe, because it captures the very important 
     idea that when women are empowered to make the most of their 
     own potential, then their families will thrive, and when 
     families thrive, communities and nations thrive as well. 
     Women who are acting to protect and strengthen their families 
     are playing a central role in the building and sustaining of 
     peace and democracy around the world.
       Now, often when we talk about democracy, or when classes 
     and lectures are held about it, we talk about our highest 
     ideals--freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom 
     of speech and of the press, freedom to participate fully in 
     the civic and political life of one's country. But democracy 
     is also about ensuring equal access to quality education, 
     health care, jobs and credit. Democracy is about respecting 
     human dignity and allowing people the opportunity to take 
     responsibility for composing their own lives that will allow 
     them to live up to their God-given promise.
       What we've learned over the years is that these lofty 
     ideals can be made real only through the everyday efforts of 
     ordinary citizens. Yes, we need laws and a system of justice 
     to uphold them, but democracy is nurtured and sustained in 
     the hearts of people, in the principles they honor, in the 
     way they live their daily lives and how they treat their 
     fellow citizens, in the lessons they teach their children 
     before they tuck them into bed at night.
       One of the great observers of American democracy, Alexis de 
     Tocqueville, wrote about what it was that he though made 
     American democracy work. He talked about the way men and 
     women felt they could participate in making their own lives 
     better, how they formed associations, how they worked for 
     some common good. And he referred to the habits of the heart 
     that are necessary for any democracy to flourish. It is these 
     habits of the heart that must be nurtured, and that 
     countless, unheralded women around the world are quietly 
     doing so every day.
       I have tried in my travels to shine a spotlight on their 
     achievements because I stand in awe of women like Joyce 
     McCartan--women who through their own personal tragedies find 
     the strength to go on, but more than that, to reach out and 
     try to prevent the conditions from occurring that causes them 
     such heartbreak. Women, like so many of you here who have 
     endured the loss of loved ones--fathers, brothers, husbands, 
     sons and others--to the Troubles, but have refused to give in 
     to bitterness or to dwell in the past.
       You have been working through community organizations, such 
     as the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition to break the cycle 
     of hatred and save other people's fathers, brothers, husbands 
     and sons. Your efforts to share grief across sectarian lines 
     have blossomed into dynamic alliances to end poverty and the 
     causes of violence. And you have helped to lay a solid 
     foundation for permanent peace.
       I want you to know that you should never feel alone in your 
     efforts. You are part of a powerful movement of family 
     feminists, working to strengthen democracy across the globe. 
     Your partners are everywhere. They're the women in South 
     Africa who lost loved ones and were victimized by apartheid. 
     But they have been willing to participate in the work of the 
     Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and to find in their 
     hearts the capacity for forgiveness of those who did violence 
     to them--because what does freedom mean if people remain 
     imprisoned by their own bitterness?
       They are women who are starting small community banks in 
     poor rural villages or inner city neighborhoods from Chile to 
     Chicago--because what does freedom mean if people don't have 
     the opportunity and the income to help them gain independence 
     and self-sufficiency?
       They are women in countries like Pakistan who have agitated 
     against domestic violence--because what does freedom mean if 
     a woman is afraid to sleep in her own home or protect her 
     children because of a violent husband?
       They are women in Zimbabwe and Bolivia who are running 
     rural health clinics and are working in the inner cities to 
     immunize children an provide services--because what does 
     freedom mean if families are denied access to basic health 
     care, and women are denied the right to plan their own 
     families?
       They are the women in Romania and Estonia who are leading 
     voter education projects--because what does freedom mean if 
     people do not know how to exercise their right to choose 
     their own leaders?
       They are women from the Philippines to Paraguay who are 
     campaigning for the rights of girls to receive the same 
     education as their brothers--because what does freedom mean 
     if women do not gain the skills and knowledge to make the 
     most of their God-given gifts?
       Women are not only critical to advancing peace and freedom, 
     they are redefining the very notion of what we mean by a 
     democratic society. Democracy cannot flourish if women are 
     not full partners in the social, economic, political and 
     civic lives of their communities and nations. Societies will 
     only address the issues closest to the hearts of women when 
     women themselves claim their rights as citizens.
       That message has come to life in my own country. Suddenly, 
     the debates about politics and our future are not only about 
     defense or diplomacy. They are also about how to balance work 
     and family, about improving public schools, about keeping 
     health insurance after leaving a job or sending a child off 
     to college for an education.
       These issues have become central to our political life 
     because thousands of American women have become organized and 
     demanded changes, and insisted that our democracy respond to 
     their concerns. They've helped all

[[Page S11762]]

     Americans understand that strengthening families and 
     cherishing children are not just women's issues, but issues 
     of vital importance to everyone concerned about our common 
     future.
       Now, there were some observers who were perplexed that 
     during the last presidential campaign, these kitchen table 
     issues had become so important. They, in fact, derided the 
     phenomenon as the feminization of politics. I prefer to think 
     of it as the humanization of politics--because how we raise 
     our children, care for our sick, train our workers will 
     determine the strength and prosperity of all our people in 
     the days to come. And how we learn to live together across 
     religious, ethnic and racial lines will determine the peace 
     and security of our children's lives.
       That's why I believe encouraging more women's voices to be 
     heard is important for the overall effort that many of you 
     are making to assure that your children, your grandchildren, 
     these young people in this audience will be able to live out 
     their lives in a peaceful, secure Northern Ireland. It is 
     important that these women's issues that affect our deepest 
     concerns as human beings are part of the political debate.
       Most women, like Joyce McCartan, don't become involved in 
     politics because they have any grand philosophy about how 
     they intend to strengthen democracy. Instead, they see how 
     politics--especially politics practiced by those who are 
     engendering conflict between people--are hurting their 
     families. They get fed up with the posturing; they get fed up 
     with the speech making. When jobs are scarce and hope is in 
     very short supply, they take matters into their own hands. 
     They decide, as Joyce memorably said, ``You can't fry flags 
     in a pan.'' And they get to work on setting things right.
       I am told that years ago, Joyce borrowed a couple of cows 
     from a farmer and led a group of women to City Hall to 
     protest the removal of free school milk for children. Another 
     time, she attended a city council meeting and refused to 
     leave until they discussed an increase in the bus fare. And 
     while she had to be carried out of that meeting, she 
     eventually forced the council to hear her grievance and 
     convinced them to introduce a lower fare for children. It is 
     the stuff of life. It is those issues we talk about around 
     our kitchen tables that help to develop those habits of the 
     heart that sustain democracy.
       I thought often about the Troubles here as I have thought 
     about Joyce McCartan and the women I met as I have fixed 
     myself a pot of tea. I don't know whether a Catholic or a 
     Protestant made this teapot. I don't know whether a Catholic 
     or a Protestant sold this teapot. I only know that this 
     teapot serves me very well. And this teapot stands for all 
     those conversations around those thousands of kitchen tables 
     where mothers and fathers look at one another with despair 
     because they cannot imagine that the future will be any 
     better for their children. But this teapot also is on the 
     kitchen table where mothers and fathers look at one another 
     and say, we have to do better. We cannot permit this to go 
     on. We have to take a stand for our children.
       There is no room for illusion in the difficulty that 
     confronts the peace process. The President and all of us who 
     support you in this effort know how difficult it will be to 
     overcome the past when the wounds still seem so raw. But the 
     children deserve all the work, all the prayers, all the 
     strength, courage and commitment that can be brought to bear.
       There will be more bumps on the road. There will be those 
     who would rather smash the teapot than to fill it with piping 
     hot tea to sit down to have a conversation. And the women and 
     the men who believe, as Joyce McCartan believed with all her 
     heart, that there is a better way, who saw as she sat around 
     so many kitchen tables talking across the division that 
     everyone was concerned about the same issues deep down, that 
     we all worried about our lives, our relationships, our jobs, 
     our education, our children, our health--she understood that 
     if we could just get enough people around some great kitchen 
     table, where they'd have to sit down and look at one another 
     honestly, share their fears, their hopes, their dreams, that 
     we could make progress.
       Well, now, finally, we have men and women around a table. I 
     hope they have lots of tea. I hope that they are not only 
     talking about all of the difficult political issues, but in 
     quiet asides, sharing some of what is in their heart with one 
     another. And as they do so, I hope the faces of so many women 
     and men who have given all they could give over the years to 
     bring this moment to pass, will be seen in the mind's eye.
       Joyce McCartan deserves as her real legacy that the peace 
     process move forward. She and all the brave women who, for 
     more than 20 years, marched, begged, prayed, cried, shouted 
     that they wanted peace deserve to be heard.
       It is no longer in Joyce's hands. The burden has been 
     passed to others. And I hope and I pray that those to whom it 
     has been entrusted will pick up that burden and carry it 
     forward. Joyce's work is done. But to honor her memory, we 
     should all press forward with her work--to build peace here 
     and around the world.
       Thank you very much.

                          ____________________