[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 142 (Saturday, October 10, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2043-E2046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE GOOD FRIDAY TRADE AND INVESTMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 9, 1998

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that targets a trade and investment initiative toward Northern Ireland 
and the border counties of the Irish Republic. My view is that using 
existing trade and investment tools to stimulate economic hope and 
opportunity in the Irish region is the best chance we have for ensuring 
the Good Friday Peace Agreement is fully implemented.
  Over the past few months, my thoughts, hopes, and concerns have fixed 
upon the Irish region. From the peaks of the Good Friday Peace 
Agreement and election of the first local government in Northern 
Ireland in over twenty five years, to the valleys of Drumcree, the 
arson deaths of three young brothers in Ballymoney, and the horrors of 
the Omagh bomb, my hopes for that troubled land have twisted and turned 
with events seemingly beyond our ability to impact or entirely 
understand.
  Northern Ireland needs our nation's support and assistance at one of 
its most critical stages along the path to lasting peace and consensual 
self government. On the very edge of undertaking their governmental 
duties and offices as set forth in the Good Friday Peace Agreement, the 
political leaders face one final fence--the decommissioning issue--that 
stands between them and the promise of a democratic and prosperous 
government for both communities. Time is short and a clear sign of 
support from Congress could help lift the parties over the last hurdle.
  As you know, Irish free trade legislation has been slowed by 
resistance from the European Union, which considers a free trade 
agreement between the U.S. and Northern Ireland and the Border counties 
as a threat to their customs union. As member states of the EU, both 
Ireland and Britain have viewed free trade legislation with some 
trepidation.
  Faced with continued resistance to the Irish free trade legislation, 
I concluded that a fresh attempt to fashion legislation that could 
address European reticence while quickly delivering meaningful trade 
and investment assistance to Northern Ireland was in order.
  I have developed legislation that targets existing trade and 
investment tools such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to 
assist Northern Ireland's exporters to grow their economy and job base. 
The legislation also ensures that the Overseas Private Investment 
Corporation (OPIC) generates private sector focus and interest in 
Northern Ireland and the Border area and makes sure that women 
entrepreneurs have meaningful access to that funding. I have 
additionally utilized the International Fund for Ireland as a channel 
to increase funding for projects that will create rapid job growth in 
the private sector. Finally, I have targeted five projects for funding 
and support that will provide both immediate and mid-term job 
generating growth.
  While there are few days left before adjournment, I am determined to 
advance this new bill as far as the legislative schedule and the 
leadership will allow. I ask for your help, assistance, and 
cosponsorship. A clear, serious and solid signal of support to the 
parties in Northern Ireland is crucial for their continued forward 
progress. For your information, I have attached an executive summary of 
the bill and some recent news items which illustrate the need for a 
reinvigorated effort on our part.

                  Good Friday Trade and Investment Act

       (1) Statement of policy/findings:
       a. Economic growth and stabilization of Northern Ireland 
     (NI) and Irish Republic Border Counties (IR) are key to full 
     implementation of the Good Friday Peace Agreement.
       b. The Omagh bombing is a clear example of a small town 
     that desperately needs immediate relief and assistance for 
     reconstruction. The pace and scale of aid and investment in 
     Omagh and other towns recently bombed--Banbridge, Markethill, 
     and Newtownhamilton--could determine whether the Agreement 
     holds.
       c. The International Community, including the European 
     Union and the World Trade Organization (WTO), has a strong 
     record of responding to historic political and economic 
     circumstances. It has fought for and approved WTO waivers, 
     such as transitional measures to take account of German 
     Unification and the Treaty of Lome, that allow necessary 
     international flexibility and cooperation to enhance trade 
     and investment and stabilize economically deprived and 
     politically revitalized regions.
       d. The U.S. can continue its crucial role in the peace 
     process by creating and promoting economic growth through 
     trade and investment in the region's severely economically 
     deprived areas. In addition to promoting trade and investment 
     in NI and IR, the U.S. should consider grant assistance to 
     aid communities suffering terrorist attacks.
       e. Fair employment practices in Northern Ireland are an 
     essential element for an expanding full employment economy. 
     Congress notes with approval the constant efforts undertaken 
     by the Northern Ireland Fair Employment Commission and 
     Employment Tribunal to achieve this end. Congress is also 
     aware that the Good Friday Peace Agreement established an 
     Anti-discrimination Committee to augment the work done by the 
     Committee and Tribunal. Congress believes their continuing 
     efforts constitute persuasive evidence that economic justice 
     principles contained herein are being effectively 
     safeguarded, secured and promoted for all communities. 
     (Assistance in legislation is contingent on MacBride 
     principles as agreed to in H.R. 1757 conference report).
       f. The strengthening of a police force acceptable to both 
     communities in Northern Ireland is essential for the 
     formation and success of a peaceful and prosperous civil 
     society. The Congress notes the Independent Commission on 
     Policing is to report on the policing problems in Northern 
     Ireland. The President, taking into consideration the 
     recommendations of the Commission, shall report to Congress 
     on a bi-annual basis how the United States can assist in the 
     establishment of an acceptable policing force in Northern 
     Ireland with the highest level of professionalism.
       (2) OPIC directive: OPIC shall establish $300 million in 
     equity funds for infrastructure and business development in 
     NI and IR. Funds should emphasize investment in severely 
     economically deprived counties in NI and IR as well as 
     emphasize the role of women.
       a. Women into Business Fund: No less than 20% of the equity 
     fund should be dedicated to encourage investment by women 
     entrepreneurs and should be targeted to ventures headed or 
     owned by women.

[[Page E2044]]

       b. New Technology Fund: No less than $10 million shall be 
     dedicated to investment in projects emanating from new 
     technologies.
       (3) Increased funding for the international fund for 
     Ireland (IFI) by $30 million this year and that U.S. 
     contribution to IFI shall not fall below $40 million/year 
     through 2003. The President shall ensure that enhanced 
     contribution is used for projects in severely economically 
     deprived areas.
       a. 50% of annual U.S. contribution should go to projects 
     that are most likely to produce jobs and economic expansion. 
     The projects funded shall be selected by the Directors of the 
     IFI in consultation with members of the Economic Development 
     Committee of Northern Ireland Assembly, and members of the 
     Cross Border Economic Committee from the Republic of Ireland. 
     The President also shall report to Congress a list of 
     suggested projects. For FY '99 the following projects shall 
     be given first consideration.
       i. $8 million in financing for Omagh Memorial and other 
     Science Parks. The UK plans to set aside $16 million to 
     support the creation of Science Parks in Northern Ireland to 
     bring to the marketplace the fruits of the scientific 
     research undertaken in Northern Ireland's two universities. 
     The IFI should consider leveraging this investment by 
     allocating funds to establish 5 science parks in Belfast, 
     Coleraine, Magee College, Armagh, and Omagh--each of which 
     are located near existing research centers and campuses. It 
     is the hope that these parks could attract additional private 
     sector businesses and generate between 20 and 30 viable 
     businesses over a 5-year period.
       ii. $5 million in co-financing to the $8 million Innovation 
     Fund established by the UK to provide support for technology-
     transfer start-ups with commercial potential.
       iii. $250,000 over 2 years toward the strengthening of 
     existing ties between Handmade in America and the Northern 
     Ireland craft sectors. Enhancing the existing partnership 
     would go a long way toward boosting the contribution of craft 
     industry to employment and economic growth and deepen 
     cultural, heritage, artistic, and commercial relations 
     between the U.S. and Northern Ireland.
       iv. $250,000 for executive development. One of the key 
     weaknesses in the Northern Ireland economy is the relatively 
     low level of skills and competency at the middle management 
     level in both the public and private sector. Closing the 
     skills gap must include continuous executive development. An 
     executive development program for up to 50 executives drawn 
     from local government and private sector can be developed to 
     meet these training needs. A 20-week program of workshops, 
     peer learning, peer assessment and internships could be 
     implemented between a university such as the Ulster Business 
     School and a U.S. Business school. Local government and 
     business could be encouraged to co-finance the project with 
     the IFI.
       v. $13 million for Springvale Project to tackle twin 
     problems of urban economic regeneration and the growth of 
     further and higher education. Springvale would be a 
     university campus in a very deprived area of West Belfast, 
     the scene of much of the terrorist violence and community 
     strife over the past 30 years. Springvale project would be 
     supported by the Central Government, the University of Ulster 
     and Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education. IFI 
     support would represent a significant vote of confidence for 
     this important initiative.
       (4) Department of Commerce initiatives for NI and IR shall 
     emphasize the awareness of U.S. business opportunities and 
     the creation of joint ventures in the region. DOC shall 
     consolidate its current activities and focus on promoting 
     awareness of regional business opportunities, encouraging 
     joint ventures, and emphasizing the development of women-
     owned businesses.
       (5) Generalized system of preferences amended to allow NI & 
     IR Border Counties to qualify as a ``beneficiary developing 
     country'' through 2008 or 10 years after receipt of WTO 
     waiver. (Requirements of eligibility--transhipment 
     protections--based on 1985 U.S.-Gaza free trade agreement 
     that includes Qualified Industrial Zones, territories of 
     Egypt and Jordan.)
       Implementation of provision contingent on USTR receiving 
     waiver from WTO. USTR must work with EU, UK, and IR to seek 
     waiver from WTO and it must be sought within one year of 
     enactment of this legislation. USTR must report on an annual 
     basis to Congress on the progress of their waiver attempt and 
     the status of US-IR-NI trade relations. USTR report must also 
     include recommendations on how to effectively expand US-NI-IR 
     trade.
       (6) Definitions of eligible counties and fair employment 
     principles (MacBride principles of H.R. 1757 conference 
     report).


     
                                  ____
                     [From USA Today, May 5, 1998]

           Jobs, Investment Key to Peace in Northern Ireland

                          (By David J. Lynch)

       Derry, Northern Ireland--One in every seven jobs in this 
     city is with a U.S. company, the legacy of a friendly 
     financial invasion the past decade. Now, further such 
     investment is critical. If the economy doesn't produce more 
     jobs, last month's historic peace deal could be stillborn.
       ``There's a direct correlation between unemployment and 
     violence,'' says former U.S. senator George Mitchell, who 
     chaired the Northern Ireland peace talks.
       Despite 30 years of sectarian conflict, Northern Ireland's 
     economy in the 1990s has grown jobs faster than any other 
     part of the United Kingdom. But early hopes for a peace boom 
     likely are unfounded. Instead, job growth threatens to 
     stall--just when it is most needed to bolster political 
     stability. An overvalued currency is pinching exporters. 
     Budget cuts promise pink slips in government offices, where a 
     stunning one-third of all workers are employed. And the 
     European Union is expected to trim subsidies to farmers, 
     still reeling from the mad cow disease export ban.


                        Boosting trade with USA

       So, Northern Ireland officials are accelerating efforts to 
     promote trade and investment with the USA.
       U.S. companies already are prominent fixtures here. DuPont 
     has produced synthetic materials at a giant plant outside 
     this city since 1960. Seventy miles southeast in Belfast, 
     Ford Motor employees 650 workers making water pumps and other 
     car parts.
       The past four years, U.S. employers accounted for more than 
     53% of foreign investment in Northern Ireland. The USA is a 
     key part of the province's economic strategy--and nowhere 
     more so than in Derry.
       In July, local officials expect to welcome a 60-member 
     Silicon Valley delegation, including executives from Hewlett-
     Packard and Informix, headed by San Jose, Calif., Mayor Susan 
     Hammer. And this fall, about a half-dozen would-be 
     entrepreneurs from Derry and San Jose will switch cities for 
     six months to two years, says Barney Toal, a development 
     officer with Derry Investment Initiative, a public-private 
     partnership.
       The U.S. participants will get access to the local 
     university's supply of well-educated though inexperienced, 
     computer whizzes. Those headed to the USA are hoping Silicon 
     Valley's Midas touch rubs off. ``There is a risk they'll 
     develop the business and stay over there,'' Toal says. ``At 
     the same time, we're hoping some Americans stay here.''
       If they do, they will be living in a city founded in 546, 
     which more than a millennium later gave birth to the Catholic 
     civil rights movement. Early protest marches in the late 
     1960s drew the world's attention to British rule. When 
     British paratroopers shot 13 demonstrators to death in 
     January 1972, the bloody course of the next two-and-a-half 
     decades was fixed.
       A major issue in those early marches was economic 
     discrimination against the city's Catholic majority. But the 
     spreading violence brought the economy to a standstill for 
     everyone. At one point in the summer of 1973, only 20 of the 
     city's 150 shops were undamaged by terrorist bombs. Maeve 
     Gallagher, a teen-ager at the height of the conflict known 
     simply as ``The Troubles,'' worked in her father's plastics 
     store. ``It was blown up several time. We were actually down 
     there helping clean up the broken glass,'' she says.
       Today, Gallagher, 33, an accountant, and her engineer 
     husband work here for Seagate Technology, the U.S. disk-drive 
     maker. The Gallaghers are among the beneficiaries of a flood 
     of foreign cash.


                       From shipyards to Seagate

       For much of its 77-year existence, the province was a heavy 
     manufacturing arm of the British economy. But recent years 
     have seen changes that would be familiar to residents of the 
     ``Rust Belt'' states of the midwestern USA. Belfast's Harland 
     & Wolff shipyard once was famed as the builder of the SS 
     Titanic. Today, the yard's idle elbow-shaped cranes bear mute 
     witness to the region's de-industrialization.
       An early coup in the ongoing economic overhaul was 
     Seagate's 1994 opening of a disk-drive component plant. The 
     company, which had been wooed by Ireland and Scotland as 
     well, settled on the North largely because of the ready 
     supply of educated workers, says Ken Allen, 38, a Seagate 
     vice president. Salaries for similar workers in Ireland 
     have been bid up because of Dublin's success in attracting 
     high-tech companies.
       Meanwhile, concerns over possible workforce instability 
     amid Northern Ireland's periodic turmoil were easily 
     assuaged. ``The hard fact is that when somebody gets a job, 
     they're going to damn well hang onto it,'' says Town Clerk 
     John Keanie. ''They're not going to put it at risk.''
       Last year, Northern Ireland's output grew 3.1% while 
     unemployment fell to 7.9%, well below 1990's 12%. If peace 
     takes hold, the province could see a tourist bonanza. Up to 
     20,000 new jobs would result if tourism rose to the 7% of 
     gross domestic product that it constitutes in Ireland, 
     Coopers & Lybrand says. Meanwhile, the North's jobless rate 
     is still higher than in the rest of the United Kingdom, and 
     its growth rate pales compared with that of its southern 
     neighbor, the best-in-Europe ``Celtic Tiger'' economy.


                         trailing its neighbors

       The North suffers because of the high value of the British 
     pound, which has cut exporters' profits and thus depressed 
     hiring. And too many workers--193,000 of a total workforce of 
     about 600,000--draw government paychecks. The economy must 
     grow by about 2% just to absorb likely public sector cuts, 
     says Coopers & Lybrand.
       Prolonged joblessness is an especially malignant problem. 
     Almost half of the 60,000 unemployed have been without work 
     for more than one year. Until early last year, Eddie McIntyre 
     was among them. Then, thanks to a last-minute cancellation, 
     he got into a coveted computer training program. Early last 
     year, when a job operating production machines opened up at 
     Seagate's local

[[Page E2045]]

     factory, he was chosen. ``It's changed everything for me,'' 
     says McIntyre, 45, who was born and raised in the Catholic 
     ghetto here known as the Bogside.
       Derry's efforts to cultivate U.S. economic links began 
     about a decade ago. On frequent trips to the USA, Derry's 
     John Hume, an architect of the peace agreement as leader of 
     the Social Democratic Labor Party, tapped an extensive 
     network of Irish-American political contacts, including Sen. 
     Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Hume pitched Northern Ireland to 
     companies looking for a European foothold. ``There had been a 
     substantial amount of support for violence coming from 
     America,'' Hume says. ``I told them the real help they could 
     give us was economic.''
       In those days, when car bombs and bullets appeared to fill 
     Northern Ireland's streets, the province was a tough sell.
       Declan O'Hare, who ran the investment promotion office in 
     New York in the late 1980s, says, ``You'd have doors slammed 
     in your face. You'd say you were from Northern Ireland and 
     people didn't want to see you.''
       Now, with U.S. investment last year of $620 million, vs. 
     about $50 million 10 years ago, the Derrymen get a different 
     reception. In March, Hume spoke to more than 500 U.S. 
     executives on a tour of Boston, New York and Washington--
     several times the number he attracted during previous visits.
       And for those who still think Northern Ireland is 
     synonymous with random violence? Says Allen: ``I feel a lot 
     safer in Derry than in Minneapolis or Chicago or many other 
     American cities.''


     
                                  ____
                 [From the Irish Times, Sept. 9, 1998]

               Poverty in Republic Is Second in UN Report

                            (By Paul Cullen)

       The Republic has the highest concentration of poverty among 
     Western countries outside the U.S., according to a United 
     Nations report published today.
       In spite of growing wealth and improving social services, 
     the Human Development Report 1998 reveals wide disparities in 
     the distribution of wealth within the State.
       Irish women are worse off economically than in any other 
     industrialised country. They are also less likely to hold 
     positions of influence in business or politics. Functional 
     illiteracy here is higher than in the 16 other industrialised 
     states covered by the survey, and Irish long-term 
     unemployment ranks second-highest.
       The report, from the UN Development Programme, echoes the 
     annual report of the Combat Poverty Agency published earlier 
     this week. This said that up to onethird of the population is 
     at risk of poverty, while 9 to 15 percent live in persistent 
     poverty.
       Most of the data in the UN report comes from 1995, before 
     the Celtic Tiger phenomenon took effect. Some indicators, 
     such as unemployment, have improved since then, while others 
     have remained static.
       The Human Poverty Index (HPI) ranks Ireland 16th out of the 
     17 countries, with 15.2 percent of the population in poverty. 
     Only the U.S., with 16.5 percent in poverty, is worse. The UK 
     comes 15th and top of the list is Sweden, with a rating of 
     6.8 percent.
       The HPI was included in the report for the first time this 
     year to expose internal disparities in wealth within the 
     richer countries.
       In the main measure of quality of life contained in the 
     report, the Human Development Index, the State comes 17th out 
     of 175 countries. This is the same as last year, and marks 
     the end of a period of steady improvement in the rankings.
       Since it was first compiled in 1990, HDI has become a 
     widely accepted measure of quality of life. It is based not 
     only on income levels but also on life expectancy and 
     education levels.
       For the fifth year in a row, Canada tops this index. 
     Canadians rank first in overall health, general level of 
     education and the degree to which an average person enjoys a 
     decent standard of living. France and Norway follow in second 
     and third places.
       African countries occupy the bottom 15 places in the index. 
     Sierra Leone comes last, but other politically unstable 
     countries such as Rwanda are not listed this year because of 
     the difficulties in gathering information.
       The report says consumption, if properly regulated and 
     directed, offers a route out of poverty for the world's poor. 
     ``For the more than one billion people living at or near the 
     margin, increased consumption is essential. For those at the 
     top, it has become a way of life,'' says the UNDP 
     administrator, Mr. Gus Speth.
       Mr. Speth says massive increases in consumption often place 
     at risk those who benefit least in the first place. Thus, 
     global warming caused by increases in carbon dioxide 
     emissions primarily threaten the poor of low-lying developing 
     countries such as Egypt and Bangladesh.
       While consumption increases have proved ``the life-blood of 
     human advances'', spending is misdirected. Europe spends 8 
     billion a year on ice-cream, when 6 billion would provide 
     water and sanitation for all. Almost 12 billion is spent 
     annually on pet food in Europe and the U.S., when 9 billion 
     would provide basic health and nutrition for the poor.
       According to the report, the wealth of the world's 225 
     richest people is equal to the annual income of half the 
     world's population. The richest three people are wealthier 
     than the poorest 48 countries.


     
                                  ____
               [From the Financial Times, Sept. 22, 1998]

   Rural Areas Complain of Pitiful Neglect--Towns Such as Ballina in 
          County Mayo Typify the Region's Poor Relation Status

                           (By Kieran Cooke)

       The town of Ballina lies on the western edge of Ireland, 
     surrounded by the bleak but hauntingly beautiful landscape of 
     County Mayo. The Moy, one of Europe's finest salmon rivers, 
     flows by churches and old warehouse buildings. The Atlantic 
     wind whips down streets lined with fishing tackle shops and 
     pubs.
       Mention of the Celtic tiger brings a wry smile to the face 
     of Terry McCole, a Ballina college principal and former head 
     of the local urban district council. ``People round here say 
     Ireland's economic tiger must have run out of steam on its 
     journey to the west from Dublin. The politicians and planners 
     have largely ignored this part of the country. Dublin and the 
     east have been grabbing the bulk of investment and benefits 
     of economic growth--we're left to fight over the crumbs.''
       Mr. McCole's views are echoed all along Ireland's Atlantic 
     seaboard--from County Donegal in the northwest to County 
     Clare in the southwest. Ireland, say the government's 
     critics, is fast becoming a two-nation state. On the eastern 
     side of the country are the increasingly wealthy areas around 
     Dublin and Cork, sucking up inward investments and EU 
     funding. On the other are the disadvantaged border, midland 
     and western counties, bereft of investment and facing serious 
     population declines.
       Ballina, County Mayo's biggest town with a population of 
     8,000, has an unemployment rate of 25 per cent--over twice 
     the national average. In the early 1970s Asahi, the Japanese 
     group, opened a synthetic fibres plant near the town with the 
     promise of 1,100 jobs. At its peak, employment reached 500--
     the plant was forced to close down last year due to worldwide 
     overcapacity for its product.
       ``The government does not have any proper regional 
     policy,'' says Mr. McCole. ``The whole system is designed for 
     the cities. The one place in the west that is really thriving 
     is Galway, which has attracted millions in investment and is 
     now the fastest growing city in Europe. But we have had to 
     fight very hard to achieve some progress.''
       Ballina's efforts have met with some success. A 110m hotel 
     and apartment complex is being built in central Ballina. The 
     tourism industry is flourishing. More than 150,000 attended a 
     recent festival there--attractions included an animal 
     olympics, with heavy betting on the duck and pig races.
       A number of small industries, including a seed potato 
     enterprise, have been established. A computer company is 
     creating 100 jobs. Coca Cola recently announced a multi-
     million pound investment in a research facility in the town 
     which will employ 150 people. And there are plans to set up a 
     small university institution, specializing in theological 
     studies.
       ``There's no doubt there is a confidence that was absent 
     five years ago,'' says Terry Reilly, editor of the local 
     Western People newspaper. ``But in comparison with what's 
     going on in the east of the country, development in this area 
     is still slow. The great worry is when the economic downturn 
     comes--as it inevitably will--what will happen here? The west 
     has always been the last area to receive the benefits of 
     economic growth and the first to be hit by a decline.''
       Many schools, hospitals and police stations in the area 
     have been forced to close. The road and rail network is in 
     dire need of updating. Graduates are forced to migrate to the 
     east in search of jobs--the result is a declining skills pool 
     in the west and problems of overcrowding and rapidly 
     increasing house prices in the east, primarily in Dublin. 
     More than a third of Ireland's population now lives in the 
     Dublin area.
       Next year Brussels is due to review Ireland's Objective One 
     status, under which the country has received millions of 
     pounds of EU development funding. Mr. Reilly and many others 
     say the government won those funds due to the underdeveloped 
     state of the west of the country--but then proceeded to spend 
     the bulk of the Brussels money in the east.
       Due to the rapid growth of its economy, Ireland is almost 
     certain to lose its Objective One status. However, many in 
     the west are determined to fight for its retention in their 
     region.
       ``So far we've had lots of government reports and 
     initiatives but no real action,'' says Mr. McCole. ``What's 
     encouraging is that local people are now getting on with 
     developing the area, with or without government help. Perhaps 
     we'll breed our own Celtic tiger.''


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