[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 116 (Thursday, July 31, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10597-S10598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    GEORGE J. MITCHELL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM AND U.S.-IRISH RELATIONS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, yesterday's New York Times carried a very 
interesting article about a new scholarship program created three years 
ago to encourage young Americans to pursue graduate study in Ireland 
and learn more about that country and its long-standing ties of history 
and heritage to the United States.
  The program is called the George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program. The 
name honors our former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who is 
especially admired in Ireland and among Irish Americans and even in 
Great Britain for his leading role in recent years in advancing the 
peace process in Northern Ireland as Special Advisor to President 
Clinton on Ireland.
  The Scholarships were created by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, a non-
partisan, non-profit organization founded in 1998 by my former foreign 
policy adviser, Trina Vargo, who is well known to many of us in 
Congress for her outstanding work in Irish issues. As many of our 
colleagues in the Senate and the House know, the Alliance has worked 
closely with both Republicans and Democrats to strengthen the ties 
between the United States and Ireland.
  The twelve Mitchell Scholars selected each year are outstanding young 
American students who are gifted academically, and who show promise for 
future leadership in the public or private sectors in maintaining close 
ties between the United States and Ireland. I commend Ms. Vargo and the 
U.S.-Ireland Alliance for the prestige and popularity the scholarships 
have earned so quickly, and I ask unanimous consent that the New York 
Times article may be printed in the Record.

                [From the New York Times, July 30, 2003]

            Mitchell Scholars Delve Into Irish Culture, Too

                           (By Brian Lavery)

       Dublin, July 29.--When Emily Mark arrived in Dublin to 
     study art history at Trinity College, she postponed worrying 
     about classes until she found a traditional musician to teach 
     her the Irish style of playing five-string claw-hammer banjo.
       This month, Ms. Mark completed a Mitchell Scholarship, a 
     program that often sounds more like a cultural immersion 
     course than the pursuit of a master's degree. Named in honor 
     of former Senator George J. Mitchell for his role in the 
     Northern Irish peace process, the scholarship's explicit 
     objective is to instill an appreciation for Ireland in a 
     generation of up-and-coming Americans.
       To that end, Irish-American applicants have no advantage in 
     the competition for the 12 places, said the program's 
     founder, Trina Vargo, and the Mitchells are financed by 
     groups that may stand to benefit from the warm feelings of 
     Americans. In 1998, the Irish government gave more than $4 
     million for an initial endowment, while sponsors include the 
     British government and some of the largest corporations in 
     Ireland. (Nine major Irish universities provide room and 
     board and waive tuition for Mitchell recipients.)
       Those donations provide for a $12,000 stipend and trans-
     Atlantic airfare.
       Mitchell recipients understand that the foundation behind 
     the program, the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, which is based in 
     Washington, wants them to become good-will ambassadors for 
     Ireland. Rather than balk at the responsibility, they say 
     that emotional and intellectual links are exactly what they 
     expect to gain from their year here.
       ``I didn't feel pressure that I ultimately need to do some 
     great work for Ireland,'' said Jeannie Huh, a West Point 
     graduate who studied public health at Trinity College. ``But 
     I definitely do feel that over the course of the year I have 
     built a spot in my heart for the country and the people. I 
     think that's just inevitable.''
       Most Mitchell scholars try to blend into Irish society by 
     complementing their studies with internships, part-time jobs 
     and community work. In the last few years, three Mitchell 
     recipients withdrew from the running for Rhodes Scholarships, 
     and that multidisciplinary approach is one reason.
       ``It was more than just an academic program; it has that 
     cultural element,'' said Georgia Miller Mjartan, who was a 
     Rhodes semifinalist from Arkansas when she won a Mitchell 
     Scholarship. She said that she realized at her Mitchell 
     interview that she would accept the scholarship if it was 
     offered.
       ``I knew that, as far as prestige, it would be good for me 
     to go through with the Rhodes process, even if I didn't take 
     it,'' she said. But Ms. Mjartan, who is 23 and lived in 
     Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, over the last year, withdrew 
     her application after learning that her place, if she won, 
     would not be awarded to an alternate candidate if she 
     declined the scholarship. ``That wouldn't be right, because I 
     would be taking it away from someone else,'' she said.
       The application process is intended to be friendly, with 
     one short essay and interviews that focus on identity and 
     personality instead of academic detail, Ms. Vargo said. Those 
     who are accepted are encouraged to wait until they hear from 
     other scholarship programs before deciding which to choose.
       ``You want them to have a reason to be here, and a really 
     good understanding of why they're here,'' Ms. Vargo said.
       Ms. Vargo, a former foreign policy adviser to Senator 
     Edward M. Kennedy, knows Irish business and political circles 
     well, and Mitchell scholars often use her network of 
     connections. Last year, she introduced Mark Tosso to the top 
     official in the prime minister's office, who found him a job 
     conducting a review of communications systems for employees 
     throughout the Irish government. ``They had this project 
     which was puttering along, and they needed someone to take 
     charge of it,'' Mr. Tosso said.
       In the same way, Ms. Mark, the banjo player, met a Dublin 
     lawyer who hired her to help set up a new fund-raising arm 
     for Amnesty International. ``Everyone just bowls themselves 
     over to help you,'' she said. ``As soon as you express an 
     interest in something, the opportunity is there.''
       The scholars also improvised when they found Irish culture 
     less familiar with the idea of internships or entrepreneurial 
     volunteer work. With her professor at Trinity College, Ms. 
     Huh approach a charity based in Dublin and ended up in 
     Bangladesh for five weeks, doing research on malnutrition. 
     Mariyam Cementwala, from Bakerfield, Calif., organized a 
     conference on human rights for 120 people at the National 
     University of Ireland at Galway.
       With an allowance from an Irish travel company, the latest 
     group of Mitchell scholars went on impromptu road trips 
     around the country, visiting one another at their 
     universities almost once a moth, and some traveled together 
     to Scotland. Also through Ms. Vargo, they went on a hiking 
     trip in the Wicklow Mountains guided by a Dublin businessman, 
     and they celebrated Thanksgiving together at a lawyer's 
     Dublin home.
       To use their own term, they bonded. They share an easy 
     rapport--Ms. Mark called the group ``the world's perfect 
     dinner party''--whether milling about at the program's 
     closing ceremonies with political leaders like Senator 
     Mitchell and Sinn Fein's president, Gerry Adams, or holding 
     up the bar at the Europa Hotel.
       The program's sponsors seem to feel that even that bar tab 
     is money well spent. Gerry McCrory, 40, heads a venture 
     capital fund in Dublin called Cross Atlantic Capital Partners 
     that gives about $30,000 a year to the Mitchell program. He 
     said he looked forward to when the Mitchell Scholars would 
     positively influence the relationship between the United 
     States and Ireland.
       ``It's going to be at least another 20 or 30 years until 
     they're in a position to make those decisions,'' he said, 
     ``but I think it's the right thing to do. It's a long-term 
     investment.''
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, July 30, 2003]

            Mitchell Scholars Delve Into Irish Culture, Too

                           (By Brian Lavery)

       Dublin, July 29.--When Emily Mark arrived in Dublin to 
     study art history at Trinity College, she postponed worrying 
     about classes until she found a traditional musician to teach 
     her the Irish style of playing five-string claw-hammer banjo.
       This month, Ms. Mark completed a Mitchell Scholarship, a 
     program that often sounds more like a cultural immersion 
     course than the pursuit of a master's degree. Named in honor 
     of former Senator George J. Mitchell for his role in the 
     Northern Irish peace process, the scholarship's explicit 
     objective is to instill an appreciation for Ireland in a 
     generation of up-and-coming Americans.
       To that end, Irish-American applicants have no advantage in 
     the competition for the 12 places, said the program's 
     founder, Trina Varago, and the Mitchells are financed by 
     groups that may stand to benefit from the warm feelings of 
     Americans. In 1998, the Irish government gave more than $4 
     million for an initial endowment, while sponsors include the 
     British government and some of the largest corporations in 
     Ireland. (Nine major Irish universities provide room and 
     board and waive tuition for Mitchell recipients.)
       Those donations provide for a $12,000 stipend and trans-
     Atlantic airfare.
       Mitchell recipients understand that the foundation behind 
     the program, the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, which is based in 
     Washington,

[[Page S10598]]

     wants them to become good-will ambassadors for Ireland. 
     Rather than balk at the responsibility, they say that 
     emotional and intellectual links are exactly what they expect 
     to gain from their year here.
       ``I didn't feel pressure that I ultimately need to do some 
     great work for Ireland,'' said Jeannie Huh, a West Point 
     graduate who studied public health at Trinity College. ``But 
     I definitely do feel that over the course of the year I have 
     built a spot in my heart for the country and the people. I 
     think that's just inevitable.''
       Most Mitchell scholars try to blend into Irish society by 
     complementing their studies with internships, part-time jobs 
     and community work. In the last few years, three Mitchell 
     recipients withdrew from the running for Rhodes Scholarships, 
     and that multidisciplinary approach is one reason.
       ``It was more than just an academic program; it has that 
     cultural element,'' said Georgia Miller Mjartan, who was a 
     Rhodes semifinalist from Arkansas when she won a Mitchell 
     Scholarship. She said that she realized at her Mitchell 
     interview that she would accept the scholarship if it was 
     offered.
       ``I knew that, as far as prestige, it would be good for me 
     to go through with the Rhodes process, even if I didn't take 
     it,'' she said. But Ms. Mjartan, who is 23 and lived in 
     Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, over the last year, withdrew 
     her application after learning that her place, if she won, 
     would not be awarded to an alternate candidate if she 
     declined the scholarship. ``That wouldn't be right, because I 
     would be taking it away from someone else,'' she said.
       The application process is intended to be friendly, with 
     one short essay and interviews that focus on identity and 
     personality instead of academic detail, Ms. Vargo said. Those 
     who are accepted are encouraged to wait until they hear from 
     other scholarship programs before deciding which to choose.
       ``You want them to have a reason to be here, and a really 
     good understanding of why they're here,'' Ms. Vargo said.
       Ms. Vargo, a former foreign policy adviser to Senator 
     Edward M. Kennedy, knows Irish business and political circles 
     well, and Mitchell scholars often use her network of 
     connections. Last year, she introduced Mark Tosso to the top 
     official in the prime minister's office, who found him a job 
     conducting a review of communications systems for employees 
     throughout the Irish government. ``They had this project 
     which was puttering along, and they needed someone to take 
     charge of it,'' Mr. Tosso said.
       In the same way, Ms. Mark, the banjo player, met a Dublin 
     lawyer who hired her to help set up a new fund-raising arm 
     for Amnesty International. ``Everyone just bowls themselves 
     over to help you,'' she said. ``As soon as you express an 
     interest in something, the opportunity is there.''
       The scholars also improvised when they found Irish culture 
     less familiar with the idea of internships or entrepreneurial 
     volunteer work. With her professor at Trinity College, Ms. 
     Huh approached a charity based in Dublin and ended up in 
     Bangladesh for five weeks, doing research on malnutrition. 
     Mariyam Cementwala, from Bakersfield, Calif., organized a 
     conference on human rights for 120 people at the National 
     University of Ireland at Galway.
       With an allowance from an Irish travel company, the latest 
     group of Mitchell scholars went on impromptu road trips 
     around the country, visiting one another at their 
     universities almost once a month, and some traveled together 
     to Scotland. Also through Ms. Vargo, they went on a hiking 
     trip in the Wicklow Mountains guided by a Dublin businessman, 
     and they celebrated Thanksgiving together at a lawyer's 
     Dublin home.
       To use their own term, they bonded. They share an easy 
     rapport (Ms. Mark called the group ``the world's perfect 
     dinner party'') whether milling about at the program's 
     closing ceremonies with political leaders like Senator 
     Mitchell and Sinn Fein's president, Gerry Adams, or holding 
     up the bar at the Europa Hotel.
       The program's sponsors seem to feel that even that bar tab 
     is money well spent. Gerry McCrory, 40, heads a venture 
     capital fund in Dublin called Cross Atlantic Capital Partners 
     that gives about $30,000 a year to the Mitchell program. He 
     said he looked forward to when the Mitchell Scholars would 
     positively influence the relationship between the United 
     States and Ireland.
       ``It's going to be at least another 20 or 30 years until 
     they're in a position to make those decisions,'' he said, 
     ``but I think it's the right thing to do. It's a long-term 
     investment.

                          ____________________