[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I see the Senator from Maryland on the 
floor, an important member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and 
I am under the impression that she would like to discuss an issue 
concerning the International Fund for Ireland, IFI, with Senator 
McConnell and myself.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I thank the Senator, who, like me, is a strong 
supporter of the International Fund for Ireland. As the Senator from 
Vermont knows, peace and reconciliation efforts in Northern Ireland, 
under the Good Friday Agreement, will be assisted by efforts to build 
community institutions that promote tolerance and cooperation at the 
local level. I very much appreciate IFI's investment in these types of 
programs in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland. I want 
to particularly commend IFI for the grant awarded to the Community 
Foundation for Northern Ireland, formerly the Northern Ireland 
Voluntary Trust. I would urge IFI, where appropriate, to increase its 
investment in these community-building efforts, as they are an 
important complement to IFI's economic development efforts.
  Mr. LEAHY. I thank the Senator from Maryland. I also believe that IFI 
should consider increasing its support for these types of programs.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I agree with what the Senators from Maryland and 
Vermont have said concerning IFI and the Community Foundation for 
Northern Ireland.

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