Title: Reaffirming support for the Good Friday Agreement and other agreements to ensure a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution urges the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) to support continued peace on the island of Ireland and the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement in the event that the UK leaves the EU. The resolution also expresses opposition to the reintroduction of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. (The island of Ireland is divided between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. There is currently an open border between them, but there is discussion that the UK's exit from the EU may require the reintroduction of a hard border.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 585 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 585

Reaffirming support for the Good Friday Agreement and other agreements 
             to ensure a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 2019

    Mr. Suozzi (for himself and Mr. King of New York) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
  Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Reaffirming support for the Good Friday Agreement and other agreements 
             to ensure a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

Whereas, on April 10, 1998, the Government of Ireland and the Government of the 
        United Kingdom signed the Good Friday Agreement;
Whereas the main goal of the Good Friday Agreement was to bring an end to the 
        violence on the island of Ireland and to ensure self-determination, 
        peace, and reconciliation for the people of the island of Ireland;
Whereas the successful negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement stands as a 
        historic and groundbreaking success that has proven critical to the 
        decades of relative peace that have followed;
Whereas an exit from the European Union by the United Kingdom that does not 
        appropriately protect the Good Friday Agreement threatens to undermine 
        progress that has been made in moving beyond the legacy of the past in 
        Northern Ireland;
Whereas the power-sharing agreement negotiated between the Government of 
        Ireland, the Government of the United Kingdom, and parties in Northern 
        Ireland in 1998 was a critical step toward negotiating lasting solutions 
        to the issues described in the Good Friday Agreement and in other 
        agreements that followed;
Whereas the collapse of the power-sharing institutions in 2017 has created 
        additional difficulties and is serving as a roadblock to continued 
        progress;
Whereas despite the historic progress of the Good Friday Agreement and 
        subsequent agreements, important issues remain unresolved in Northern 
        Ireland, including securing justice for victims of state-sponsored 
        violence and other violence and providing for the rights of all sections 
        of the community;
Whereas the reintroduction of barriers, checkpoints, or personnel, also known as 
        a ``hard border'', between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland 
        would further threaten economic cooperation between the Republic of 
        Ireland and the United Kingdom as well as the successes of the Good 
        Friday Agreement;
Whereas the United States Congress served a prominent assisting role in the 
        negotiation of Good Friday Agreement and has taken a leading role in 
        striving for peace on the island of Ireland more broadly; and
Whereas Congress greatly values the close relationships the United States shares 
        with both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and stands 
        steadfastly committed to supporting the peaceful resolution of any and 
        all political challenges in Northern Ireland: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the United Kingdom and the European Union to 
        ensure that any exit from the European Union by the United 
        Kingdom supports continued peace on the island of Ireland and 
        the principles, objectives, and commitments of the Good Friday 
        Agreement;
            (2) urges a successful outcome to the dialogue between all 
        parties in Northern Ireland to ensure that all of the 
        institutions of the Good Friday Agreement operate again and 
        that ongoing political challenges and debates can be overcome;
            (3) expresses support for the full implementation of the 
        Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements;
            (4) expresses opposition to the reintroduction of a hard 
        border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland;
            (5) supports the right of all the people on the island of 
        Ireland to self-determine their future as provided for in the 
        Good Friday Agreement; and
            (6) will insist that any new or amended trade agreements 
        and other bilateral agreements between the Government of the 
        United States and the Government of the United Kingdom include 
        conditions requiring obligations under the Good Friday 
        Agreement to be met.
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