108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1208
AN ACT
To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004
and 2005 for United States contributions to the
International Fund for Ireland, and for other
purposes.
108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1208
AN ACT
To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004 and 2005
for United States contributions to the International
Fund for Ireland, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Ireland
Peace and Reconciliation Support Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States has been effectively en-
gaged in the Northern Ireland peace process through
both participating in negotiations and contributing
to the economic development of the region.
(2) Both the Government of Ireland and the
Irish people and the Government of the United
Kingdom and the British people are long-standing
friends of the United States and the American peo-
ple.
(3) In 1986, the United States, in support of
the Agreement Between the Government of Ireland
and the Government of the United Kingdom
(‘‘Anglo-Irish Agreement’’) dated November 15,
1985, initiated annual contributions to the Inter-
national Fund for Ireland (‘‘International Fund’’) to
help bolster economic development and support pro-
grams that would foster peace and reconciliation in
Northern Ireland and the affected border areas of
the Republic of Ireland.
(4) The United States has been a generous and
faithful donor to the International Fund, contrib-
uting more than $386,000,000 to help improve rela-
tions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern
Ireland through the creation of thousands of jobs
and cross community business development.
(5) More than 80 percent of the International
Fund’s investments have been in disadvantaged
areas offering work experience and important job
training programs for disadvantaged and unem-
ployed youth through the economic, social, and phys-
ical regeneration of deprived areas.
(6) The International Fund has also developed
a series of community-building programs promoting
greater dialogue and understanding between Catho-
lics and Protestants and leadership programs de-
signed to develop a new generation of leaders in
Northern Ireland to bring about a more peaceful
and prosperous future in the region.
(7) Through the Anglo-Irish Agreement Sup-
port Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–415), the United
States also seeks to ensure that its contributions
promote ‘‘reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the
establishment of a society in Northern Ireland in
which all may live in peace, free from discrimination,
terrorism, and intolerance, and with the opportunity
for both communities to participate fully in the
structures and processes of government.’’.
(8) The Good Friday Agreement reached by the
Government of Ireland, the Government of the
United Kingdom, and political party leaders on April
10, 1998, created the Northern Ireland Executive
Assembly and Executive Committee and provided for
a ‘‘democratically elected Assembly in Northern Ire-
land which is inclusive in its membership, capable of
exercising executive and legislative authority, and
subject to safeguards to protect the rights and inter-
ests of all sides of the community.’’.
(9) The Good Friday Agreement also called for
police reform and establishment of a ‘‘new begin-
ning’’ in policing in Northern Ireland with an effec-
tive, accountable, and fair police service capable of
attracting and sustaining support from the commu-
nity as a whole, capable of maintaining law and
order, and based on principles of protection of
human rights.
(10) In 1999, the Independent Commission on
Policing in Northern Ireland, mandated by the Good
Friday Agreement, made 175 recommendations for
policing reform in Northern Ireland, some of which
have been implemented.
(11) In 2002, the Department of State, as re-
quired by section 701(d) of the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law
107–228), issued a ‘‘Report on Policing Reform and
Human Rights in Northern Ireland’’ and concluded
that among key areas of concern that had not been
fully implemented was the establishment of a criti-
cally-needed new police training facility and an in-
crease in funding for training programs.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that—
(1) United States assistance for the Inter-
national Fund has contributed greatly to the eco-
nomic development of Northern Ireland and that
both objectives of the Anglo-Irish Agreement Sup-
port Act of 1986, economic development and rec-
onciliation, remain critical to achieving a just and
lasting peace in the region, especially in the eco-
nomically-depressed areas;
(2) although there has been positive economic
development in both the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland, International Fund contributions
to support much-needed projects in economically-de-
pressed areas of Northern Ireland remain very im-
portant, and an expansion of efforts in reconciliation
projects as a way to promote peace and economic
stability is also encouraged; and
(3) since policing reform is a significant part of
winning public confidence and acceptance in the new
form of government in Northern Ireland, the Inter-
national Fund is encouraged to support programs
that enhance relations between communities, and be-
tween the police and the communities they serve,
promote human rights training for police, and en-
hance peaceful mediation in neighborhoods of contin-
ued conflict.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT
SUPPORT ACT OF 1986.
(a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 2(b) of the
Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 is amended
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Furthermore, the
International Fund is encouraged to support programs
that enhance relations between communities, and between
the police and the communities they serve, promote human
rights training for police, enhance peaceful mediation in
neighborhoods of continued conflict, promote training pro-
grams to enhance the new district partnership police
boards recommended by the Patten Commission, and as-
sist in the transition of former British military installa-
tions and prisons into sites for peaceful, community-sup-