Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, on April 10, 1998, the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement, giving birth to a new era of peace in Northern Ireland. On this 25th anniversary, I join my colleagues in sponsoring a resolution commemorating a historic success that marked the end of decades of conflict and that remains crucial to peace today and in the future. This resolution passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously just yesterday and will be passed shortly by the full Senate.

The recent celebration of this landmark event in Belfast brought together the three leaders of the day: Prime Minister Tony Blair, Taoiseach Bertie Ahearn, and President Bill Clinton. The highlight of that gathering was the unveiling at Queen's University of a bust of Senator George Mitchell, the architect of the Good Friday Agreement-- this Chamber's former majority leader and my fellow Mainer. And I know I speak for my fellow Mainers when I say how proud we were of this extraordinary accomplishment. And we salute Senator George Mitchell on this, the 25th anniversary.

During the three decades that the Troubles plagued Northern Ireland, some 3,500 people were killed and 50,000 injured in sectarian violence. In 1996, during one of the many sporadic and ineffective ceasefires, George Mitchell, 1 year after his retirement from the Senate, stepped forward to serve as America's special envoy to Northern Ireland. He was committed, determined to forge a lasting peace. And he did.

George Mitchell approached this daunting task with the statesmanship and dedication to justice that has defined his life. For nearly 2 years, Senator Mitchell worked with unyielding energy and endless patience to bring together the many parties and conflicting interests. Despite arguments, controversies, and walkouts, the talks were held together by his leadership and by his Mitchell Principles, which, first and foremost, held that political issues must be resolved by democratic and exclusively peaceful means.

Finally, on Good Friday, 1998, 1 day and a long sleepless night after the deadline Senator Mitchell had set to complete the complex negotiations, the agreement was, in fact, reached. Six weeks later, the voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland endorsed the pact with overwhelming margins.

The Good Friday Agreement has been a remarkable success in meeting its primary goal of ending bloodshed and bringing sustainable peace. The resolution that I introduced with Senator Menendez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calls upon Congress to reaffirm its steadfast support for this historic agreement and to the principles of peaceful and democratic participation as the only way to settle political differences. And, equally important, it recognizes George Mitchell's pivotal role.

Senator George Mitchell himself defined leadership as having the wisdom to know what is right, the courage to say what is right, and the strength to do what is right. This is not merely a definition he has offered throughout an inspiring life of service but also an example he set for others.

I appreciate my colleagues' support of this resolution in his honor as we seek to commemorate this historic anniversary of the agreement that he forged--an agreement that would not have come about but for George Mitchell's endless leadership and patience.

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