[Pages S2917-S2920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

A CHANCE FOR PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this is an historic day in the Republic of
Ireland and Northern Ireland. I want Senators and the American people
to be aware of the significance of what the people of that island have
done today.
For the past quarter of a century, Unionists who favor continued
British control over Northern Ireland, and Catholics who favor
unification of Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic, have been
locked in a cruel war over the status of the North. Over 3,200 people
have died, many of them innocent civilians caught in the crossfire
between the IRA and Protestant paramilitary groups.
Mr. President, as an American of Irish descent, the violence in
Northern Ireland has had a profound affect on me. I have always
unequivocally opposed the use of violence by both sides in Northern
Ireland. Irish-Americans who care about the land of our ancestors
condemn violence without reservation and support a peaceful settlement.
My father felt he would never live to see real peace in Northern
Ireland, and
[[Page S2918]] he did not. But I believe that my father's son will see
it, both as an American and as a U.S. Senator.
In December 1993, our hopes were raised for an end to the bloodshed,
when former Irish Prime Minister Reynolds, and British Prime Minister
Major, declared that the future status of Northern Ireland should be
decided by agreement of the people there. That declaration began a
peace process that led to the IRA cease-fire last August. Two months
later Protestant paramilitary groups stopped shooting, and the cease-
fire has held.
Since then, the British Government has taken several steps to reduce
tensions in the North, including ending daytime military patrols in
Belfast. In the Irish Republic, a Peace and Reconciliation Forum has
brought Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, into informal talks
with representatives of the Government and other parties.
Today in Belfast, in what I believe offers the best hope for peace in
the 25-year history of the conflict, Irish Prime Minister Bruton and
Prime Minister Major announced the publication of a long-awaited
Framework Document which provides a basic for future negotiations on a
peace settlement.
Mr. President, late yesterday afternoon, I returned from Dublin,
Belfast, and London, where I met with leaders and individuals
representing all points of view on the future of Northern Ireland. I
went there over the weekend because I knew the peace process was at a
decisive point.
I wanted to give encouragement. I also wanted to pay tribute to the
people of both Northern Ireland and the Republic, Catholic and
Protestant, who are courageously trying to find a way to a better
future.
The Framework Document, which sets out a joint vision for the future
of both Irish and British Governments, is a tremendous step forward. It
reaffirms the principles of self-determination, of the consent of the
governed, of democratic and peaceful means, and of full respect and
protection for the rights and identities of both traditions.
From the conversations I had, both in the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland, with people of all political and religious
traditions, I realized the importance of the document and of bringing
people together who so fervently want to be brought together. Members
of my staff, Tim Rieser and Kevin McDonald, who accompanied me, heard
the same thing.
Since the framework's aim is to encourage all parties to come to the
negotiating table, nobody is going to be content with all of it. If it
were written in such a way that any one group found it totally
acceptable, it would guarantee that the rest would find it totally
unacceptable. The Unionists with whom I met condemned the Framework
Document long before its release. I suggested they recognize it for
what it is--a basis for discussion, not a final blueprint. I urged them
to come to the negotiating table with their own ideas, not to condemn
the process before even giving it a chance.
Mr. President, in Belfast I got a sense of the fear Unionists feel.
For centuries they have thought of themselves as British, and today
they fear that the British Government is abandoning them. Some longed
for a past that never was, dreamed of a future that never would be, and
they fear a present they do not understand.
It made a profound impression on me. Change in Northern Ireland is
inevitable, but the Framework Document should threaten no one. It would
give a majority of the people of Northern Ireland the right to decide
their future. It is equally important to recognize that any lasting
piece, any healthy society, muse be rooted in equal justice. The
fundamental civil rights of both Catholics and Protestants must be
protected in Northern Ireland.
Everywhere I went, I heard praise for the role President Clinton has
played in supporting the peace process in Northern Ireland. I was told
that not since the days of President John F. Kennedy has an American
President been so interested in what is happening. It is clear that
without his personal involvement we would not have seen this day.
I want to praise our Ambassador, Jean Kennedy Smith, who has taken up
the cause for peace and encouraged the parties to move forward. And I
want to praise especially those parties, many of whom have been enemies
for decades, perhaps for centuries, who are willing to come together.
In Dublin and Belfast I told Unionists and Nationalists the same
thing, that the U.S. Government will support this effort fully, and
with even-handedness.
But the real work of peace will be done by them. Both have legitimate
aspirations, and both traditions must find a way to accommodate one
another. We cannot, nor can any other country dictate what that outcome
will be. The parties must find it for themselves.
Mr. President, I am under no illusion that a peaceful future in
Northern Ireland is assured. Immense difficulties lie ahead. To put the
past behind, to build peace out of bloodshed, to find common ground
where there has been so much hatred and distrust. But from all that I
heard during my brief visit there, there is a new spirit emerging; a
wide recognition that violence has failed; a new determination to find
another way.
When mothers in Belfast sat with me and told me they did not want
their children to face the kind of horror and violence that they have,
it is not a feeling of Protestants or Catholics, it is a feeling of
mothers throughout Northern Ireland. It is a feeling that should be
listened to by the leaders, because the people do not want to go back
to the violent days of the past.
Those mothers spoke of their children, who are going to live most of
their lives in the next century. The leaders must decide what kind of a
life they will have. The children cannot, but it is they who will be
most affected. And if you have hatred and violence, prejudice and bias
directed toward a child, does it make any difference whether that child
is Protestant or Catholic? Those children have a right to expect their
leaders to show courage and a sense of responsibility for the future
and to give them a chance to live in peace.
Lasting peace means urgently dealing with the terrible problem of
unemployment in the north. People need to have confidence in their
government, but they also need jobs; they need economic security as
well as physical security.
In Belfast, I saw some of the accomplishments of the International
Fund for Ireland which the United States and European countries have
supported since 1983. I can attest to the important work the Fund is
doing to provide jobs in areas where unemployment among Catholics runs
as high as 60 percent. The Fund's efforts have also brought together
Catholics and Protestants in common endeavors where in the past there
was virtually no contact between them.
And in speaking to members of the Orange Order in Comber near
Belfast, I encouraged Unionists there to apply to the Fund and work
together to bring jobs and a sense of security and a sense of hope in
the future for their people.
President Clinton, in recognition of the Fund's accomplishments and
the critical stage the peace process has reached, has proposed
increases in our contributions in 1996 and 1997.
The Fund is a transitional program until real investment can take
root in the north. A trade and investment conference is planned for May
in Washington, and it is eagerly awaited by people in both Northern
Ireland and the Republic. President Clinton's selection of Senator
George Mitchell as his Special Adviser on Economic Initiatives in
Ireland is not only indicative of the President's commitment to support
peace there, it also ensures the success of the conference.
Again, in the Republic of Ireland, in Northern Ireland, and in the
United Kingdom, I heard person after person praise the choice of George
Mitchell, knowing the respect that is felt for him by both Republicans
and Democrats in our country and by the President of the United States.
I am reminded of what Senator Mitchell, quoting Franklin Roosevelt,
said to an audience in Dublin: In the dark days of our Great
Depression, President Roosevelt said ``the only thing we have to fear
is fear itself.'' He also said, ``the best social program is a job.''
That will be Senator Mitchell's work as the Presidents Special Adviser,
and the work of all the people there.
[[Page S2919]] Mr. President, the island of my ancestors is at an
historic turning point. Today's publication of the Framework Document
offers a real chance for an end to a conflict that has horrified so
many for decades.
I want to commend the Irish and British Governments and all the
parties who are seeking a better future for the people of Northern
Ireland.
Mr. President, for the first time I have a sense of hope that peace
is at hand in Northern Ireland, which my late father so desperately
wanted. I have a belief that his son and his grandchildren will see it.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that statements of Prime
Ministers Bruton and Major and a summary of the Framework Document be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the statements were ordered to be printed
in the Record, as follows:

Summary--A New Framework for Agreement

These proposals:
Reaffirm the guiding principles of self-determination, the
consent of the governed, exclusively democratic and peaceful
means, and full respect and protection for the rights and
identities of both traditions;
Provide for an agreed new approach to traditional
consitutional doctrines on both sides:
The British Government will propose changes to its
constitutional legislation, so as to incorporate a commitment
to continuing willingness to accept the will of a majority of
the people living in Northern Ireland, and a commitment to
exercise their jurisdiction with rigorous impartiality on
behalf of all the people of Northern Ireland, in a way which
does not prejudice their freedom to determine Northern
Ireland's constitutional status, whether in remaining a part
of the United Kingdom or in forming part of a united Ireland;
The Irish Government will introduce and support proposals
for changes in the Irish Constitution, so that no territorial
claim of right to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland contrary
to the will of a majority of its people is asserted, and so
that the Irish Government recognise the legitimacy of
whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the
people of Northern Ireland with regard to its constitutional
status;
Commend direct dialogue with the relevant political parties
in Northern Ireland in developing new internal structures;
Propose a North/South body, comprising elected
representatives from, and accountable to, a Northern Ireland
Assembly and the Irish Parliament, to deal with matters
designated by the two Governments in the first instance in
agreement with the parties;
Describe ways in which such a body could work with
executive harmonising or consultative functions, by way of
authority delegated to its members by the Assembly;
Envisage that all decisions within the North/South body
would be by agreement between the two sides;
Set out criteria for the designation of functions, and
suggest a range of functions that might be designated from
the outset, for agreement with the parties;
Envisage the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Irish
Parliament being able, by agreement, to designate further
functions or to move functions already designated between the
three categories;
Envisage that the body will have an important role in
consultation with the two Governments in developing an agreed
approach for the whole island in respect of the challenges
and opportunities of the European Union;
Envisage a Parliamentary forum, with representatives from
new Northern Ireland institutions and the Irish Parliament to
consider matters of mutual interest;
Envisage a new and more broadly based Agreement between the
British and Irish Governments to develop and extend co-
operation;
Envisage a standing Intergovernmental Conference which
would consider matters of mutual interest, but not those
transferred to new political institutions in Northern
Ireland;
Envisage that representatives of agreed political
institutions in Northern Ireland may be formally associated
with the work of the Conference;
Provide for a complementary undertaking by both Governments
to ensure protection for specified civil, political, social
and cultural rights.
These proposals do not provide for joint authority by the
British and Irish Governments over Northern Ireland. They do
not predetermine any outcome to the Talks process. Agreement
by the parties, and then by the people, is the key.
____

Introductory Remarks by the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), Mr. John
Bruton, TD, at Belfast Launching of Joint Framework Document, February
22, 1995

Today's new framework for agreement is a landmark event in
the affairs on this island.
The two Governments are presenting to the political parties
in Northern Ireland, and to the Irish and British peoples, a
document which is the most detailed expression to date of our
views on the subject of Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister and I hope that the Framework Document
will receive calm and measured consideration over the days
and weeks ahead.
It is an important and serious text, offered as an aid to
discussion and negotiation. It presents our best judgment of
what might be an agreed outcome future talks involving the
two Governments and the political parties.
We commend it to the parties for their careful
consideration and we look forward to discussing it in detail
with them at the earliest opportunity.
May I at this point pay a special tribute to my colleague
the Tanaiste and his officials and to the Northern Ireland
Secretary of State Patrick Mayhew and his team. Their
determined efforts over many months have brought us to
today's new framework for agreement.
The proposals which it contains are, we believe, balanced
and fair and threaten nobody. No party need fear this
document.
To the nationalist and republican people, the document:
Reaffirms that the British Government have no selfish,
strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland and that
they will uphold the democratic with of a greater number of
the people of Northern Ireland on the issue of whether they
prefer to support the Union or a sovereign united Ireland;
Says that the British Government will enshrine in its
constitutional legislation the principles embodied in this
new framework for agreement by the amendment of the
Government of Ireland Act 1920 or by its replacement by
appropriate new legislation;
It will also be important to nationalists that both
Governments consider that new institutions should be created
to cater for present and future political, social and
economic inter-connections within the island of Ireland.
These institutions will enable representatives of the main
traditions, North and South, to enter agreed relationships.
This is the purpose of the North/South body proposed in this
document.
To the unionist and loyalist people, I would point out that
the document commits the Irish Government to ask the
electorate to change the Irish Constitution. The change
proposed will address Articles 2 and 3 in the following ways:
It would remove any jurisdictional or territorial claim of
legal right over the territory of Northern Ireland contrary
to the will of its people;
It would provide that the creation of a sovereign united
Ireland could therefore only occur in circumstances where a
majority of the people of Northern Ireland formally chose to
be part of a united Ireland.
It is also important to unionists that the document also
contains a recognition by both Governments of the legitimacy
of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the
people of Northern Ireland with regard to its constitutional
status, whether they prefer to continue to support the Union
or a sovereign united Ireland.
The proposals will challenge the two traditions on this
island but it will do so in an even-handed way. Neither
tradition need fear its contents. As I have emphasized at
every appropriate opportunity, it is a framework for
discussion and not a blueprint to be imposed over the heads
of anyone. Its purpose is to facilitate, not pre-empt,
dialogue. At the end of the day, the people of both North and
South respectively will have the final say.
The document is our carefully considered response to many
suggestions, from the parties and others, that it would be
helpful to have the view of the two Governments as to what
might be an agreed outcome from future talks.
We are asking the parties to come and talk to us, openly
and candidly, about these proposals. We believe that, taken
in the round, they offer a basis for structured discussions
leading to a new agreement.
We believe that they do. It is our hope that the political
parties, having given them the attention they deserve, will
take a similar view.
There can be no doubt about the enormous desire on the part
of the ordinary public--here, in the rest of Ireland and in
Britian--for the earliest possible resumption of political
dialogue.
The ending of all campaigns of paramilitary violence last
autumn has created an unrivalled opportunity for such
dialogue to take place with a reasonable prospect of a
successful conclusion.
I join the Prime Minister in appealing to all the parties
concerned to grasp this opportunity.
The Framework Document is our judgement of how things can
best be taken forward. We have, in our view, the best
opportunity in a generation for a lasting political
settlement. We owe it to the peoples of both of these islands
to put that opportunity to the test.
____

Opening Statement by the Prime Minister, The Rt. Hon. John Major, MP,
at a Joint Press Conference With the Taoiseach, John Bruton, TD, To
Launch the Joint Framework Document, Belfast, Wednesday 22 February
1995

There is one reason, above all, why the Taoiseach and I
have come to Belfast today.
We wish to offer our proposals here in Northern Ireland--to
Northern Ireland's people and their representatives.
[[Page S2920]] We seek to help peace, but only the people
of Northern Ireland can deliver it.
So let me say to them:
These are our ideas, but the future is up to you;
You have an opportunity now which has not been there for
many years;
An opportunity to work together to build a better future
and a lasting peace.
Our proposals stem from the talks process launched four
years ago, in March 1991.
It was agreed then by the two Governments and the four
participating parties that the process would have three
strands. It would seek a new beginning for:
Relationships within Northern Ireland;
Relations between the North and South of the island of
Ireland;
And relations between the United Kingdom and the Republic.
We agreed that it was only by addressing all these
relationships together than agreement would be found across
the community in Northern Ireland.
At this press conference, the Taoiseach and I are
publishing the document ``A New Framework for Agreement''
which deals with the second and third of these strands. A
little later this morning I shall put forward a separate
document proposing new arrangements within Northern Ireland--
which is of course a matter for the British Government and
the Northern Ireland parties alone.
Our proposals are based on several principles: self-
determination, consent, democratic and peaceful methods, and
respect for the identities of both traditions.
Consent is and will remain paramount in our policy.
It is the democratic right and the safeguard of the people
of Northern Ireland.
No proposals for the future would be workable, let alone
successful, without the consent and active support of all
Northern Ireland's people. For they are the people who would
carry them out and whose lives would be affected.
That is why any eventual settlement must be agreed by the
parties; supported by the people of Northern Ireland in a
referendum; and approved by Parliament--a triple consent
procedure.
Our constitutional matters, each Government has offered
crucial new commitments in this Framework Document:
As part of a balanced agreement the British Government
would enshrine its willingness to accept the will of a
majority of the people of Northern Ireland in British
Constitutional legislation. We shall embody the commitments
we made in the Downing Street Declaration;
The Irish Government would introduce and support proposals
to change its Constitution, so that ``no territorial claim of
right to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland contrary to the
will of a majority of its people is asserted''. This is a
very important proposal that I welcome unreservedly;
These changes would offer Northern Ireland a constitutional
stability which it has not hitherto enjoyed. Its future
status, by agreement between the two Governments, would be
irrevocably vested in the wishes of a majority of its people
In line with the three-stranded approach, we propose new
institutions for North/South cooperation.
The North/South body which we outline would comprise
elected representatives chosen from a new Northern Ireland
Assembly and from the Irish Parliament. It would draw its
authority from these two bodies. It would operate by
agreement, and only by agreement.
On the UK side, the North/South body would initially be set
up by legislation at Westminster, as part of a balanced
agreement. It would come into operation following the
establishment of the new Assembly. Thereafter, it would be
for the Assembly and the Irish Parliament both to operate the
body and to decide whether its functions should be extended.
Like all of our proposals, the new North/South institutions
will be a matter for negotiation. But the way should now be
open for beneficial cooperation between North and South
without the constitutional tensions which have been such
impediments in the past. We have made suggestions about areas
which might be covered in this cooperation, to the advantage
of both sides. Like all aspects of the document, they will be
for discussion and agreement between all concerned.
The European Union already operates cross-border programmes
between Northern Ireland and the Republic, as it does
elsewhere. We propose that North and South could usefully
work together in specific areas, to take advantage of what
the EU has to offer. But the making of United Kingdom policy
and the responsibility for representing Northern Ireland in
the European Union will remain solely in the hands of the UK
Government.
In the third of our Strands, we outline a new broader-based
agreement to take the place of the 1985 Anglo-Irish
Agreement.
The 1985 Agreement was criticised because the Northern
Ireland parties had not contributed to it. Our new proposals
are offered for discussion in the talks process. We want to
hear the views of the parties; and we envisage that their
representatives would be formally associated with the future
work of the Intergovernmental Conference.
The Intergovernmental Conference would allow concerns to be
expressed about any problems or breaches of the Agreement.
But there would be no mechanism for the two Governments
jointly to supervise or override either the Northern Ireland
Assembly or the North/South body. It would be for each
Government to deal on its own with any problems within its
own jurisdiction. This would not be a question for joint
decision, still less joint action. It is important to be
clear about this, as there have been concerns on this score.
Our two Governments have worked with patient determination
to agree on this Framework, and I am grateful to the
Taoiseach, his predecessor, and the Tanaiste for their
efforts and their spirit of accommodation.
Our proposals seek to stimulate constructive and open
discussion and give a fresh impetus to the political
negotiations. The outcome of those negotiations will depend,
not on us, but on the consent of the parties, people, and
Parliament.
It is not for us to impose. But what we propose is an end
to the uncertainty, instability and internal divisions which
have bedeviled Northern Ireland.
For over four years as Prime Minister, I have listened
intently to the people of Northern Ireland. I have visited
them, consulted them, travelled more widely than any
predecessor throughout the Province, and held meetings with
political leaders, church leaders, council leaders, community
leaders, and people from all walks of life.
It is my duty as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to
maintain the Union for as long as that is the will of the
people. It is a duty in which I strongly believe, and one
which these proposals protect. Just as people cannot be held
within the Union against their will, so equally they will
never be asked to leave it in defiance of the will of the
majority.
Consent and free negotiation are fundamental to me, and
they are the foundation stones of this Joint Document.
In the four years of the Talks process, we have travelled a
long way, but not yet far enough.
I know that many people will be worried, perhaps even
pessimistic, about the future.
But, as we look at the hurdles ahead, let us also consider
where we have come from.
The dialogue of the deaf has ended.
For four years, we have been engaged in talks.
The three-stranded approach is becoming a reality.
The Joint Declaration has been accepted.
The British Government is engaged in talks with
paramilitaries on both sides.
We have had nearly six months of peace.
Prosperity and a normal life are returning to Northern
Ireland.
The principle of consent, once accepted only by Unionists
and the British Government, is today accepted almost
everywhere.
These are some of the gains for everyone in Northern
Ireland.
More gains can lie ahead if we have the courage to conduct
ourselves with patience, with foresight and with
consideration.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I wonder whether I could ask unanimous
consent to speak for 7 minutes as if in morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.
(The remarks of Mr. Wellstone pertaining to the introduction of S.
458 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

____________________