OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Reaffirming Support for the Good Friday Agreement and Other Agreements to Ensure A Lasting Peace in Northern Ireland

Floor Speech

Date: Dec. 3, 2019
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of Mr. Suozzi's resolution, again saying that it is in America's national interest to protect the Good Friday Agreement peace accords.

As was stated on the floor, the U.S. has equities in this agreement. The work of George Mitchell back in the 1990s was instrumental, according to all the parties involved, in terms of its success.

Since then, Congress has reaffirmed that involvement by appropriating funds for the Northern Ireland Trust Fund, which promotes reconciliation amongst the sectarian factions that unfortunately are still apart, to an unfortunate degree. Nonetheless, it has been a great success over the last 21 years.

As an undergraduate student studying in England in 1973, I visited Belfast and Enniskillen in those dark days of The Troubles, with 30,000 British soldiers patrolling the streets, bombings taking place, over 3,000 causalities.

Fast forward to today, I brought a trade mission from Connecticut over with an aerospace-focus. There is calm. There is a functioning government and system and rule of law that has transformed that island and, particularly, Northern Ireland's society. It is all about trying to protect that future with this resolution.

I would just end by saying this is in accordance with the people of Northern Ireland. When Brexit was voted on, the people of Northern Ireland voted almost 56 percent to remain in the European Union because they wanted to make sure there was no risk of a hard border.

Again, the measure passed, including Great Britain's votes, but only by an even smaller margin of 51 percent. So this resolution is not just a sentimental expression by people here in the U.S. It is totally in accordance with what I think is the will and the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland.

I thank the sponsors on both sides of the aisle, in terms of making sure that this important diplomatic success for the 20th century, that the U.S. was an instrumental part of, will be protected.

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