IV
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 185
Supporting the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as the
framework for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 28, 2001
Mr. GALLEGLY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Supporting the implementation of the Good Friday Agree-
ment as the framework for the peaceful settlement of
the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Whereas the April 10, 1998, Good Friday Agreement estab-
lished a framework for the peaceful settlement of the con-
flict in Northern Ireland;
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement provided for the devolu-
tion of government from the United Kingdom to local in-
stitutions in Northern Ireland, established a North/South
Ministerial Council, a British-Irish Council, and consisted
of provisions regarding decommissioning, human rights,
policing, and prisoners;
Whereas in a referendum on May 22, 1998, the people of
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland voted over-
whelmingly in favor of the Good Friday Agreement;
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Whereas the Good Friday Agreement provided for the estab-
lishment of an Independent Commission on Policing to
reorganize current policing practices and to encourage
widespread community support for new policing arrange-
ments;
Whereas the Independent Commission on Policing issued a
report, referred to as the Patten report, which proposed
approximately 175 recommendations to ensure a new be-
ginning to policing most of which were approved by the
Parliament of the United Kingdom;
Whereas some of the signatories to the Good Friday Agree-
ment have complained that the subsequent policing legis-
lation adopted by the Parliament failed to fully imple-
ment several of the Patten Commission recommendations
regarding accountability, authority of the police commis-
sioner, and the commitment to human rights;
Whereas, despite the concerns that the policing provisions are
inadequate, plans to implement the recommendations in
the Patten report in order to achieve an effective and
representative policing service are underway and have re-
sulted in a reported 7,000 applications for positions on
the new, balanced police force of Northern Ireland;
Whereas one party to the Good Friday Agreement has de-
clined to appoint its commissioners to the policing board
because of its concerns thereby resulting in the inability
of the Board to fully implement the necessary reforms
needed to provide an effective policing service in a truly
balanced manner;
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement established an Inde-
pendent Commission on Decommissioning to facilitate the
process of decommissioning of paramilitary arms;
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Whereas spokespersons for the organizations involved in de-
commissioning, including the Ulster Volunteer Force and
the Ulster Freedom Fighters, have indicated a willing-
ness to make progress on decommissioning and the Irish
Republican Army has actually created sites where weap-
ons used by their members have been stored as a way to
prevent the weapons from being used and have subjected
the storage sites to international inspection, however,
there has been little permanent decommissioning;
Whereas earlier polls indicated that the overwhelming major-
ity of the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic
of Ireland supported decommissioning and recent news-
paper and media reports have called for further imple-
mentation steps be taken to rid the weapons permanently
from the organizations involved;
Whereas the North/South Ministerial Council has been unable
to meet or act in a truly representative or effective man-
ner due to the actions of one party to the Good Friday
Agreement which refuses to permit all named representa-
tives to participate;
Whereas the Government of the United Kingdom and the
Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland, despite
reports that the use of plastic bullets is counterproductive
and often used in a sectarian manner, and despite calls
from the European Union to ban the use of plastic bul-
lets, still insist on providing British Army units and the
Royal Ulster Constabulary with deadly plastic bullets;
Whereas, despite the glaring, but not insurmountable, flaws
in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, the
citizens of Northern Ireland recently went to the polls in
national and local elections and in a vote of confidence
overwhelmingly voted for candidates representing the par-
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ties which supported the Good Friday Agreement and the
peace process; and
Whereas the United States must remain politically involved
in a bi-partisan manner to ensure the long-term success
of the peace agreement: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes the continued importance of the
Good Friday Agreement and urges all parties to the
Agreement to work more diligently for the imple-
mentation of its provisions;
(2) congratulates the people of Northern Ire-
land for once again demonstrating their faith in and
continued support for the peace process, the Good
Friday Agreement, and those political parties and
candidates who support the Agreement;
(3) supports the Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom, the Irish Taoiseach, and all the leaders of
the political parties in Northern Ireland who created
the opportunity for a negotiated peace, but now
urges them to put aside past differences and dis-
putes and to proceed in a meaningful way to actually
implement those agreements which they endorsed;
(4) encourages all signatories to the Good Fri-
day Agreement to remain supportive of the peace
process and not to take any precipitous or unneces-
sary actions which could undermine the process, in-
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cluding the weakening or demise of the independent
government structures or the Good Friday Agree-
ment itself;
(5) encourages the Government of the United
Kingdom to review the concerns expressed about the
inadequacies of implementation of the reforms in the
report of the Independent Commission on Policing,
referred to as the Patten report, and to submit for
remedy those changes which will assist the process;
(6) encourages those parties to the Good Friday
Agreement which have not appointed members to
the policing board to do so in a timely fashion in
order to ensure that the police service will gain the
support of all of Northern Ireland and which will en-
sure that the police service will be multi-ethnic, fair,
accountable, free from political control, and com-
mitted to human rights;
(7) commends the reported thousands of citi-
zens of Ireland and Northern Ireland who, despite
the public dispute over policing, believe in the neces-
sity of police reform and who responded by submit-
ting applications to join the new police service;
(8) stresses the importance of the beginning of
real decommissioning of weapons held by para-
military organizations on all sides even if it begins
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with a modest movement beyond storage and with-
out conditions to the success of the peace process;
(9) calls on all sides to support the functioning
of the North/South Ministerial Council and encour-
ages those parties to the Good Friday Agreement
who refuse to recognize full representation to drop
their opposition in the name of progress;
(10) urges the Government of the United King-
dom to reconsider its use of plastic bullets, to recall
all existing bullets, and to consider additional steps
toward the demilitarization of Northern Ireland; and
(11) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and co-
operation that exist between the United States and
the Governments of the United Kingdom and the
Republic of Ireland, the continued strong support of
the United States for the Good Friday Agreement,
and the support of the United States for the political
parties who are seeking the resolution of a strong
and lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
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