[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16359-16360]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            NORTHERN IRELAND

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to discuss the most recent situation 
in Northern Ireland. All too often, I usually speak on the floor of the 
Senate about this issue after a bombing or bloody conflict between 
Republicans and Unionists. This time, however, I wish to address a 
situation that really has the potential to scar Northern Ireland more 
than any single bullet.
  We have seen in our own country schoolchildren returning to classes 
this week. In Northern Ireland, schoolchildren are returning also. But, 
unfortunately, the week has been horrific for students at the Holy 
Cross Girls Primary School in Belfast. The students and their parents 
have faced a gauntlet of protesters on their way to school, many of 
whom pelted the girls with stones and spit at them.
  Earlier today, a bomb went off addressed toward the schoolchildren. 
When I turn on the television and see pictures of these little girls, 6 
and 7, 8 years old, crying in terror, being shielded by their mothers--
what is their crime and sin? They are going to school. If there is ever 
anything that can help that troubled part of the world, it would be to 
improve the education of the young people and then allow them to go on 
to get jobs.
  According to the press reports, the girls who attend this Catholic 
school have walked peacefully to and from their classes through a 
predominantly Protestant neighborhood for 30 years. Tragically, these 
children have been targeted to escalate already high tensions between 
Unionists and Republicans.
  After more than three decades of violence in Northern Ireland 
committed by parties on both sides of the issue--and both sides are 
certainly responsible for violence--we sometimes become a bit callous 
about events in this conflict. But this latest situation of targeting 
children is truly reprehensible because it threatens to scar these 
children permanently.
  The tragic situation at Holy Cross School has the potential to 
undermine any peace agreement that may be reached in the future. 
Negotiations will continue this month on resuming the Northern Ireland 
assembly and further implementation of the Good Friday peace agreement. 
These efforts will be for naught if the children of Belfast, whether 
they are Catholic or Protestant, grow up in an environment where they 
think hatred and division are a way of life.
  Let me take a moment to say, as I have in the past, that I have 
called upon Republicans and Unionists to abide by the Good Friday 
agreement. For those of us who have been involved in Northern Ireland 
over the years, we know that the hatred runs deep and the solutions are 
going to be complex. That is why I proudly support the U.S. commitment 
to the International Fund for Ireland. The Fund has promoted economic 
development in Northern Ireland across factional lines. I have 
supported it because the projects sponsored by IFI have been projects 
where Protestants and Catholics work side by side.
  The situation at Holy Cross School is dangerous because it threatens 
to remove the most important characteristic that the Irish are blessed 
with, and that is hope.
  I condemn efforts by people who are trying to take that hope away 
from these children and instill them with fear and hatred. That will 
simply perpetuate this conflict for years to come.

[[Page 16360]]

  I recall going to Northern Ireland on President Clinton's last visit 
there. I had a police officer assigned to me in Belfast. He said to me: 
``Your President is a great man.'' I asked him why he said that. He 
said that before President Clinton came to Northern Ireland, the 
officer could not speak to somebody of the other faith. He told me 
which faith he belonged to but that is irrelevant since this was a 
statement that could have been made by either a Protestant or a 
Catholic.
  He said: ``Prior to that visit, I could not speak to someone of the 
other faith, but now I can work with them, I can be friends with 
them.'' He added: ``The greatness of what your President has done and 
what the involvement of your country has been is that I no longer have 
to teach my children to hate.''
  Think of that. He was saying that prior to these efforts at a peace 
agreement, prior to the involvement of the United States and people 
such as Senator Mitchell and others, he felt that it was his duty to 
teach his children to hate. Unfortunately, this could have been heard 
on either side, but now he said he no longer had to do that.
  I want to think that is the feeling of most people in Northern 
Ireland, Protestant or Catholic. But I despair when I see the pictures 
of these little children going to school. These girls are 6, 7, and 8 
years old. Look at the terror in their faces. They are wondering what 
is going on.
  Frankly, it brings back chilling memories of when I was in my teens 
and seeing the pictures in parts of our country where terrified 
African-American schoolchildren were being escorted to school by 
marshals. Here are Irish children being escorted to school by the 
security forces.
  There will not be peace in Northern Ireland, there will not be a 
promise for Northern Ireland until this sort of thing stops.
  I commend the authorities who are protecting these children and 
pursing the persons who threw the bomb. We can use law enforcement to 
stop the violence in the short term. In the long term people must look 
into their own souls and practice the religious principles that they 
espouse. They must practice these principles not only for themselves 
but for those who may not carry the same religion.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bayh). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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