[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7512]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EASTER RISING

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week, the Senate unanimously adopted a 
resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a crucial milestone 
in the history of Ireland, the 1916 Easter Rising rebellion. As a son 
of Ireland through my father's ancestors, I am proud to reflect on this 
important moment in Ireland's long march to independence.
  The relationship between the United States and Ireland is long, it is 
strong, it is enduring, and it cannot be understated. As President 
Kennedy once said in a speech before Ireland's Parliament, ``No people 
ever believed more deeply in the cause of Irish freedom than the people 
of the United States.'' Both the United States and Ireland have 
histories rooted in a common set of ideals and goals, and we share 
similar principles and beliefs in freedom. A marker of the influence of 
the United States is the fact that our Nation is the only foreign 
country named in the 1916 Proclamation of the Republic, which 
proclaimed Ireland's independence.
  My relatives on my father's side believed strongly in the promises of 
opportunity in the United States when they emigrated here in the mid-
1800s. Marcelle and I have visited Ireland and met distant relatives 
who live there still. It is easy to see and feel the strong connections 
between our two countries.
  Last week's centennial anniversary of the Easter Rising, commemorated 
on both sides of the Atlantic, recalls a turning point in Ireland's 
history. The influences of freedom, dignity, and prosperity in America 
that motivated many of the leaders of that rebellion 100 years ago are 
worth fighting to preserve and nurture here in the United States today. 
Like so many lessons of the past, the Easter Rising is a moment to 
reflect on our own freedoms and our own march toward perfecting our own 
Union.

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