H. Res. 547
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
September 26, 2000.
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 stated that it provided
‘‘the opportunity for a new beginning to policing in
Northern Ireland with a police service capable of attract-
ing and sustaining support from the community as a
whole’’;
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement provided for the estab-
lishment of an Independent Commission on Policing to
make ‘‘recommendations for future policing arrangements
in Northern Ireland including means of encouraging
widespread community support for these arrangements’’;
Whereas the Independent Commission on Policing, led by Sir
Christopher Patten, concluded its work on September 9,
1999, and proposed 175 recommendations in its final re-
port to ensure a new beginning to policing, consistent
with the requirements in the Good Friday Agreement;
Whereas the Patten report explicitly ‘‘warned in the strongest
terms against cherry-picking from this report or trying to
implement some major elements of it in isolation from
others’’;
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Whereas section 405 of the Admiral James W. Nance and
Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fis-
cal Years 2000 and 2001 (as contained in H.R. 3427, as
enacted by section 1000(a)(7) of Public Law 106–113,
and as contained in appendix G to such Public Law) re-
quires President Clinton to certify, among other things,
that the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ire-
land are committed to assisting in the full implementa-
tion of the recommendations contained in the Patten
Commission report issued on September 9, 1999 before
the Federal Bureau of Investigation or any other Federal
law enforcement agency can provide training for the
Royal Ulster Constabulary;
Whereas a May 5, 2000, joint letter by the British Prime
Minister and the Irish Prime Minister stated that ‘‘legis-
lation to implement the Patten report will, subject to
Parliament, be enacted by November 2000’’;
Whereas on May 16, 2000, the British Government published
the proposed Police (Northern Ireland) bill, which pur-
ports to implement in law the Patten report;
Whereas many of the signatories to the Good Friday Agree-
ment have stated that the proposed Police (Northern Ire-
land) bill does not live up to the letter or spirit of the
Patten report and dilutes or fails to implement many of
the Patten Commission’s key recommendations regarding
accountability, such as, by limiting the Policing Board
and Police Ombudsman’s powers of inquiry, by failing to
appoint a commissioner to oversee implementation of the
Patten Commission’s 175 recommendations and instead
limiting the commissioner to overseeing those changes in
policing which are decided upon by the British Govern-
ment, and by rejecting the Patten Commission’s rec-
•HRES 547 EH
ommendation that all police officers in Northern Ireland
take an oath expressing an explicit commitment to up-
hold human rights;
Whereas Northern Ireland’s main nationalist parties have in-
dicated that they will not participate or encourage par-
ticipation in the new policing structures unless the Pat-
ten report is fully implemented; and
Whereas on June 15, 2000, British Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson said, ‘‘I remain abso-
lutely determined to implement the Patten recommenda-
tions and to achieve the effective and representative polic-
ing service, accepted in every part of Northern Ireland,
that his report aimed to secure’’: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) commends the parties for progress to date in
implementing all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement
and urges them to move expeditiously to complete the
implementation;
(2) believes that the full and speedy implementation
of the recommendations of the Independent Commission
on Policing for Northern Ireland holds the promise of
ensuring that the police service in Northern Ireland will
gain the support of both nationalists and unionists and
that ‘‘policing structures and arrangements are such
that the police service is fair and impartial, free from
partisan political control, accountable * * * to the com-
munity it serves, representative of the society that it po-
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lices * * * [and] complies with human rights norms’’, as
mandated by the Good Friday Agreement; and
(3) calls upon the British Government to fully and
faithfully implement the recommendations contained in
the September 9, 1999, Patten Commission report on
policing.
Attest:
Clerk.