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 dedica-
tion 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 Flor-
ida, 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 Rela-
tions
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;
•HCON 242 IH
Whereas Senator Mitchell’s father, who immigrated to the
United States from Ireland, and his mother, who immi-
grated 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 Ire-
land a framework for lasting peace;
Whereas in September of 1999, Senator Mitchell was asked
to return to revive peace talks which had appeared hope-
lessly stalled, conducted a review of the Good Friday Ac-
cords, 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 Ire-
land 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 fail-
ure and made us refuse to contemplate it, too.’’; and
Whereas after helping resolve the most recent crucial im-
passe, Senator Mitchell said ‘‘I believe that all of this de-
sire for peace by the people of Northern Ireland is so
strong that it cannot be denied.’’ and that peace has ar-
•HCON 242 IH
rived because of the ‘‘will of the people of Northern Ire-
land 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
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress of the United States urges
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.
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