U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr.
REMARKS ON THE IRISH PEACE PROCESS
Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor this evening to once again call on Dr. Ian Paisley and the Democratic Unionist Party to support peace and justice in Northern Ireland and not get in the way of creating a truly devolved government. I call upon my colleagues to support the "New Beginning" policy envisioned in the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent Patten Report even as Northern Ireland tackles the controversial issue of setting up a fair and effective criminal justice system.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called Sinn Fein's leadership under President Gerry Adams "remarkable," and I certainly agree . Despite a long history of unfair treatment and attacks by unionist paramilitaries and others , Sinn Fein is moving down the path to devolution by supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland and working with the criminal justice system.
In order for the citizens of Northern Ireland to have a police force they can respect and cooperate with, they need to be assured that power sharing will be restored and officials will ensure sufficient accountability to prevent the types of abuses that have plagued the Catholic community in the North for so long.
Mr. Speaker, the community of Northern Ireland and all of the political parties must be involved in the process to create a New Beginning to Policing. Since the Patten Commission report in September 1999, much progress has been made in terms of increased recruiting of Catholic officers, establishment of District Policing Boards and increased oversight and accountability of the police service. The St. Andrews Agreement, issued this past year, showed that the path to restoring critical political institutions should include support for and devolution of policing.
Sinn Fein has taken the bold step of moving forward to support the policing institutions. Now Dr. Paisley seems to want to stay in the past instead of recognizing that it is time to move forward with a police service and a government that respects and represents all the people of Northern Ireland.
Mr. Speaker, I again commend Gerry Adams, the leadership of Sinn Fein, Prime Minster Blair, and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for all of their hard work and courage in moving the peace process forward. It will not be easy to overcome the troubling history of discrimination and distrust between communities in Northern Ireland. I hope, however, that Dr. Paisley and the membership of the Democratic Unionist Party will put aside the politics of the past and become a partner in moving towards a just and lasting peace.
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