[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E407-E408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            NORTHERN IRELAND

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CAROLYN McCARTHY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 18, 1998

  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent 
Resolution 152. This resolution, introduced by Representative Smith, 
expresses a sense of the Congress that all parties to the multiparty 
peace talks regarding Northern Ireland should condemn violence and 
fully integrate internationally recognized human rights standards and 
adequately address outstanding human rights violations as part of the 
peace process.
  I believe the principles embodied in this resolution--commitment to 
nonviolent solutions and basic respect of others--are the key to 
reaching a peaceful solution in Northern Ireland. It is only when all 
parties in the talks treat each other with dignity and respect that a 
substantive and last peace agreement will be possible. Both sides, 
nationalist and loyalist, must make basic human rights a priority and 
incorporate those principles into the final peace agreement. A society 
that does not embrace such principles can never achieve peace and would 
not be worth living in.
  This week I met with many of the participants in the Irish peace 
process, including the women delegates who are forging the framework 
for this new society in Northern Ireland. I learned that the concerns 
of these women

[[Page E408]]

were the same concerns that my constituents on Long Island have. These 
women want their children to grow up in a peaceful, non-violent 
society. A society where everyone is treated equally, with respect. A 
society where they have opportunities and do not have to live in 
constant fear of their lives. This is what every parent, no matter 
where they live, wants for their child.
  The Irish peace talks are at a critical stage. We are closer now to 
reaching a peace agreement than we have ever been before. House 
Concurrent Resolution 152 urges the parties in this process to stay the 
course of non-violence and places the issue of basic human rights where 
it belongs--at the heart of the agreement.

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