IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 242

To urge the Nobel Commission to award the year 2000 Nobel Prize for

Peace to former United States Senator George J. Mitchell for his dedication to fostering peace in Northern Ireland.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2000

Mr. GEJDENSON (for himself, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms.

CARSON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FROST, Mr. GILMAN, Mr.

GUTIERREZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KING, Mr. LARSON, Mr. LATOURETTE,

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr.

MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

POMEROY, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. STUPAK, Mr.

TIERNEY, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. VENTO, Mr. WALSH, Mr. WAXMAN,

Mr. WEINER, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) submitted the following concurrent

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

To urge the Nobel Commission to award the year 2000

Nobel Prize for Peace to former United States Senator

George J. Mitchell for his dedication to fostering peace

in Northern Ireland.

Whereas Senator Mitchell has worked tirelessly over the past

four years to bring peace to a place which has known

strife and violence for far too long;
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Whereas Senator Mitchell’s father, who immigrated to the

United States from Ireland, and his mother, who immigrated from Lebanon, taught him ‘‘that every human

being has an obligation to help those who are in need.’’;

Whereas President Clinton appointed Senator Mitchell as a

special advisor and envoy for peace in 1995;

Whereas Senator Mitchell endured initial criticism that he

would be biased toward one side only to demonstrate to

all skeptics that he could serve as an honest broker for

all the people of Northern Ireland;

Whereas Senator Mitchell was nominated for a Nobel Prize

in 1998 for his heroic work in mediating the Good Friday

Accords which finally offered the people of Northern Ireland a framework for lasting peace;

Whereas in September of 1999, Senator Mitchell was asked

to return to revive peace talks which had appeared hopelessly stalled, conducted a review of the Good Friday Accords, and then crafted a compromise which cleared the

final hurdles to a historic devolution of authority from

London to a new Northern Ireland Assembly;

Whereas Monica McWilliams, founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition and a central participant in the

peace talks, asserted that Senator Mitchell’s invaluable

role was to ‘‘remind people that they are mirror images,

to show the cyclical effect we have on each other’’ and

said that Senator Mitchell ‘‘refused to contemplate failure and made us refuse to contemplate it, too.’’; and

Whereas after helping resolve the most recent crucial impasse, Senator Mitchell said ‘‘I believe that all of this desire for peace by the people of Northern Ireland is so

strong that it cannot be denied.’’ and that peace has ar-
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rived because of the ‘‘will of the people of Northern Ireland to turn away from the bitterness of the past and the

courage of the political leaders of Northern Ireland to act

upon that will’’: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress of the United States urges

3 the Nobel Commission to award the year 2000 Nobel Prize

4 for Peace to former United States Senator George J.

5 Mitchell for his dedication to fostering peace in Northern

6 Ireland.

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