[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING MICHELLE O'NEILL'S ELECTION AS FIRST MINISTER OF NORTHERN 
                                IRELAND

  (Mr. NEAL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Michelle O'Neill 
on her election to serve as First Minister of Northern Ireland, the 
first Irish nationalist leader in history to hold the seat, and also 
for the tone she set by pledging to be a leader for all the people of 
Northern Ireland.
  After 2 years of delays and two successive elections in which the 
people made their voices heard, parties will once again sit in 
government and resume the difficult work of legislating.
  The democratic institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement 
have been critical in sustaining peace and prosperity on the island of 
Ireland. As a guarantor of that agreement, the United States has the 
indispensable role of continuing to uphold these principles of self-
government, ensuring that progress made over the last years will 
continue into the future.
  I have no doubt that the people of Ireland should be proud of these 
institutions, and I look forward to the realization of renewed 
stability with the return of a power-sharing government.

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