The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution July 13 expressing support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 as the blueprint for lasting peace in Northern Ireland. The resolution was introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and had nine co-sponsors including senators Biden (D-DE), Collins (R-ME), Corzine (D-NJ), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Harkin (D-IA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), and McCain (R-AZ).

The Resolution urges the full decommissioning and complete disbandment of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in keeping with the pledge of all signatories to the Agreement to a "total and absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means." Sinn Féin is called upon to work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and also to cooperate fully in the investigation into the murder of Robert McCartney, who was killed in January. 

The resolution also urges North Ireland’s largest political party, the Democratic Unionist Party, to both share power with all parties including Sinn Féin, and work in good faith with the institutions created by the agreement in particular the multi-party Executive and cross border North-South bodies. Finally, the British government is called on to permanently restore the institutions created by the Agreement, among them being the Northern Ireland Assembly, suspended in October 2002. 

In a statement in support of the resolution, Senator Kennedy said, "All of us are hopeful that a constructive way forward will be found, and the best way to do so is by continuing to implement the Good Friday Agreement."

The text of the Resolution is included below.
 

S.RES.173
Expressing support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 as the blueprint for lasting peace in Northern Ireland. (Introduced in Senate)

SRES 173 IS 

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. RES. 173

Expressing support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 as the blueprint for lasting peace in Northern Ireland. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
 

June 16, 2005

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. DODD, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. BIDEN, and Mr. LEAHY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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RESOLUTION

Expressing support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 as the blueprint for lasting peace in Northern Ireland. 

Whereas in 1998, the Good Friday Agreement, signed on April 10, 1998, in Belfast, was endorsed in a referendum by the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland; 

Whereas the parties to the Good Friday Agreement made a clear commitment to `partnership, equality, and mutual respect' as the basis for moving forward in pursuit of lasting peace in Northern Ireland; 

Whereas the parties to the Good Friday Agreement also affirmed their `total and absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means' in pursuit of lasting peace in Northern Ireland; 

Whereas inclusive power-sharing based on these defining qualities is essential to the viability and advancement of the democratic process in Northern Ireland; 

Whereas paramilitary and criminal activity in a democratic society undermines the trust and confidence that are essential in a political system based on inclusive power-sharing in Northern Ireland; 

Whereas the United States Government continues to strongly support the peace process in Northern Ireland; and 

Whereas the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Ireland continue to strongly support the Good Friday Agreement as the way forward in the peace process, and have committed themselves to its implementation: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That—

(1) the Senate reiterates its support for the Good Friday Agreement, signed on April 10, 1998, in Belfast, as the blueprint for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland; and

(2) it is the sense of the Senate that—

(A) the Irish Republican Army must immediately—

(i) complete the process of decommissioning;

(ii) cease to exist as a paramilitary organization; and

(iii) end its involvement in any way in paramilitary and criminal activity;

(B) the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland must—

(i) share power with all parties according to the democratic mandate of the Good Friday Agreement; and

(ii) commit to work in good faith with all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, which established an inclusive Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council, for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland;

(C) Sinn Féin must work in good faith with the Police Service of Northern Ireland;

(D) the leadership of Sinn Féin must insist that those responsible for the murder of Robert McCartney and those who were witnesses to the murder—

(i) cooperate directly with the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and

(ii) be protected fully from any retaliation by the Irish Republican Army; and

(E) the Government of the United Kingdom must—

(i) permanently restore the democratic institutions of Northern Ireland;

(ii) complete the process of demilitarization in Northern Ireland; and

(iii) advance equality and human rights agendas in Northern Ireland.