[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12447-12448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO PEACE: INDEPENDENT INSPECTION OF IRA WEAPONS

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to report on major progress in the 
implementation of the Northern Ireland peace accords. I know many 
Americans have been very closely following the events in Northern 
Ireland over the past number of years, under the leadership of 
President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and the former majority leader, 
George Mitchell, who provided a herculean effort to bring together the 
disparate sides in Northern Ireland.
  New ground was broken over the weekend which significantly enhances, 
I think, the prospects for permanent peace after more than a quarter of 
a century of sectarian conflict. I mentioned George Mitchell. I 
mentioned the President and the Vice President. Certainly people like 
Jean Kennedy Smith, the American Ambassador to Ireland, our colleagues 
here, Senator Kennedy and Senator Pat Moynihan, and Peter King in the 
House--there is a long list of people who have been trying very hard to 
get the two communities of Northern Ireland to come together and 
resolve their differences, establish a political framework for dealing 
with future conflict, and to abandon the bullet and the bomb, which has 
claimed too many lives over too long a period of time. The news this 
weekend is that we are far closer to achieving that goal.
  Martti Ahtisaari, the former President of Finland, and Cyril 
Ramaphosa, the former leader of the African National Congress, reported 
to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain yesterday that the Irish 
Republican Army allowed them to examine the organization's hidden 
arsenals during the weekend of June 24. The independent inspectors 
concluded that the IRA's weapons caches could not be used without 
detection.
  This is a major achievement. This is one that has broken open the 
issue of disarmament that has been one of the stumbling blocks to 
achieving the final goals of the Good Friday accords.
  This first inspection by international experts is credible evidence 
that the IRA is prepared to follow through with respect to its 
commitment of May 6 to open its secret arsenal of weapons to 
international inspection. This confidence-building measure, in my view, 
could convince the people of Northern Ireland that the IRA is sincere 
with respect to its pledge to put its weapons ``completely and 
verifiably'' beyond

[[Page 12448]]

use in the context of implementation of the Good Friday accords, those 
very accords which George Mitchell of Maine, the former majority 
leader, was so instrumental in bringing about. It would seem to me that 
the decision by David Trimble to press members of the Ulster Unionist 
Party to rejoin the Northern Ireland Assembly has been vindicated by 
recent events. I commend David Trimble, as well.
  Despite numerous setbacks that have occurred from time to time with 
respect to the full implementation of the 1998 accords, Prime Minister 
Tony Blair, and the Prime Minister of Ireland, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, 
and President Bill Clinton have never lost faith in the process.
  By the way, people like Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern deserve 
great credit, as do David Trimble, Gerry Adams, John Hume, and Martin 
McGuinness, who have done a magnificent job in bringing this about. 
There are so many people who have been part of the effort to achieve 
what I think we are on the brink of achieving here. The events over the 
weekend demonstrate that their faith is not misplaced. They deserve 
great credit for not losing faith.
  I, too, have remained optimistic that peace is possible. That is 
because I believe the people of Northern Ireland are anxious to put 
this long and very painful conflict behind them. Indeed, before the 
February setback over decommissioning, which caused key provisions of 
the peace accords to be suspended, the Northern Ireland Assembly and 
the executive had been functioning. The reactivation of the assembly 
late last month has once again restored self-government in Belfast. The 
international inspections of weapons caches together with the renewal 
of discussions between the IRA and the International Commission on 
Decommissioning are giant steps toward the full decommissioning of 
weapons throughout Northern Ireland.
  The IRA has historically held itself out as the guardian of the 
Catholic minority--a minority that has experienced decades of 
inequality and injustice at the hands of a Unionist or Protestant 
majority. Paradoxically, the IRA has sought to promote justice and 
equality for the Catholic community through violence and other 
terrorist acts against the police and the Protestant majority.
  The Good Friday accords acknowledge past inequalities and injustices 
and, at the same time, establish a framework for resolving these 
inequities through the political process. There are now strong 
indications that the IRA is prepared to work within that framework to 
achieve its objectives.
  The IRA's willingness to permit international inspections of its 
weapons is further proof that it is within the realm of possibility to 
remove the bomb and the bullet from Irish politics once and for all. It 
is my fervent hope that these independent inspections will reduce the 
feelings of mistrust that have historically plagued relations between 
the Nationalist and Unionist communities and their political leaders 
and allow further progress to be made toward implementing other 
important provisions of the accords, especially those related to police 
reform.
  Each side has taken positive steps to meet the letter and spirit of 
the Good Friday Accords. Having said that, there is much that remains 
to be done to achieve other equally important objectives of the 
accords, particularly the guarantee of justice and equality for all of 
the people of Northern Ireland --Protestants and Catholics. Toward that 
end, I would urge the British government to move forward expeditiously 
to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on 
Policing for Northern Ireland, the so called Patten Commission. 
Creating a police force that is professional, impartial, and 
representative of the community it serves, as called for by the Patten 
Commission, is the only way to guarantee justice and equal treatment 
for all.
  Since the parties first embarked on the road to resolving Northern 
Ireland's ``Troubles'' in 1994, there have been steps forward and there 
have been steps back--sometimes it has seemed more of the latter than 
the former. The latest actions by the IRA set the stage for a new 
chapter in the history of Northern Ireland--a chapter of peace and 
reconciliation between the communities of Northern Ireland, as embodied 
in the letter and spirit of the 1998 Good Friday Accords. I strongly 
urge Northern Ireland's political leaders to take to heart the 
significant progress toward peace that has been achieved in recent 
weeks--to draw from that progress renewed energy. And, to find the 
capacity to set aside mistrust, allow deep-seated wounds to heal, and 
proceed together to make justice and equality a reality for all the 
people of Northern Ireland.
  Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield, without losing his right to the 
floor?
  Mr. DODD. I am happy to yield.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have listened to the Senator's statement. 
I want to make sure the Record reflects the one person's name that 
wasn't mentioned who has played such a critical role in this process 
for years, and that is Senator Christopher Dodd from Connecticut.
  There is no one who has been more involved with this, with the 
knowledge he has of foreign affairs generally, but of the particular 
country of Ireland. I know of his love for the people of Ireland and 
how much he personally has been involved in this, how much time he has 
devoted to it. He has named everybody who has had something to do with 
it, but the one name he left off was his own.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank my colleague. I appreciate his kind 
comments. I will add additional names, too: people such as Tip O'Neill 
and Tom Foley. There is a long history that goes back several decades 
of people who have fought for a political solution to the problems here 
and within Ireland. I am grateful to my colleague from Nevada for 
making the point.

                          ____________________