Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, submitted the following statement today for the hearing to confirm Susan Rice as the Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations:

“The United Nations is an imperfect institution, but it is still a remarkable one that serves vital humanitarian needs for the world’s most vulnerable and in many cases forgotten populations.  From the thousands of troops deployed on peacekeeping missions, to providing vital services to millions of refugees, from combating global disease, to feeding the world’s hungry, tens of millions of men, women and children have been given a lifeline by United Nations programs—programs which the United States must continue to support.  Dr. Rice, I look forward to working with you in advancing America’s interests at the United Nations and to reforming and strengthening that institution to better serve us all.” 

This morning I gave my opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the nomination hearing of Secretary-Designate of State, Hillary Clinton. I have had the pleasure of working closely with her on a wide range of issues for many years, and I look forward to our continued partnership and to her leadership as Secretary of State. I have no doubt she will do a remarkable job.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today made the following statement at the Foreign Relations Committee hearing to confirm Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State:

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of its subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs, today issued the following statement after President-Elect Obama announced several nominations for his national security team:

“I applaud President-Elect Obama’s nomination of an experienced national security team.  Hillary Clinton, James Jones, Robert Gates, Janet Napolitano, Eric Holder, and Susan Rice each have a proven record of pragmatic problem-solving and bipartisan cooperation on a host of complex challenges to U.S. national security. 

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) had a historic meeting with Reverend Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively, of the Northern Ireland Assembly.  Dodd meet with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to hear firsthand what the United States should do to support Northern Ireland’s path toward irreversible peace.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), and Susan Collins (R-ME) today introduced a resolution commending the creation of a new, power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. Effectively marking the end of decades of conflict and violence, Reverend Ian Paisley took the office of First Minister on May 8, 2007, with Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister. The resolution comes as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been instrumental in crafting the new government, visits the United States today.   

“Today is not only a historic and hopeful day for the citizens of Northern Ireland, but also it is an exemplary milestone of peace and unity for nations around the world suffering from strife.  I am hopeful that this agreement will establish a lasting peace in the region, and will signal to the world that compromise and power-sharing are possible, even after years of conflict that claimed countless lives.

“Today marks a historic and positive step towards establishing a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.  The Democratic Unionist Party, under the leadership of Reverend Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein, under the leadership of Gerry Adams, reached a momentous power-sharing agreement for Northern Ireland, scheduled to come into effect on May 8.  I strongly agree with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern who remarked that today’s developments were “unprecedented and very positive.” 

“The IRA announcement is welcome news. It is a great day for the people in Northern Ireland who have sought to live in peace and security for so long. Gerry Adams and the leadership of Sinn Fein should be commended for their efforts in removing violence from the politics of Northern Ireland. Now it is time for all the parties to the Good Friday Accords to live up to their responsibilities and start serving the people of North Ireland who they were elected to represent.”

Statement by Senator Christopher J. Dodd
Condemning Violence and Criminality in Northern Ireland
March 17, 2005

Mr. President, I rise to today to join my colleagues, Senators Kennedy, McCain and others in condemning ongoing violence and criminality by the Irish Republican Army.

Our actions are prompted in part by our meeting yesterday with the sisters and fiancée of Robert McCartney, a Catholic resident of Belfast who was brutally murdered on January 30, by individuals who are members of the IRA. These six young women, Catherine McCartney, Paula Arnold, Gemma McMacken, Claire McCartney, Donna Mary McCartney, and Bridgeen Karen Hagans, have publicly challenged the code of silence that generally surrounds IRA activities, including the brutal murder of their brother, an innocent bystander.

Mr. President, these brave women came to Washington seeking our help to ensure that this heinous act is not forgotten as time passes and that justice is done, not only on behalf of their brother, but for all the people of Northern Ireland – Protestant and Catholic alike. They have called upon the IRA and Sinn Fein to stop covering up Robert’s murder, and to begin immediately to cooperate directly with the Northern Ireland Policing Service in order to bring to justice those responsible for this heinous crime.

In response to their appeal, Mr. President, we believe that it is important that the United States Senate express itself on their behalf. That is why we have asked the Senate to act on the pending resolution. That is why President Bush met personally with these brave women at the White House earlier today -- to highlight the importance of justice being done.

Our actions on this resolution and the President’s meeting earlier today put the world on notice that we condemn such acts. In addition, with this resolution we call on the leadership of Sinn Fein to insist that everyone responsible for this murder be brought to justice and that anyone with knowledge about the crime cooperate fully and directly with the Police Service of Northern Ireland in making that possible.

Mr. President, as an Irish American, I look forward to the annual celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day. Earlier today we participated in the Annual Speaker’s luncheon with visiting Prime Minister of Ireland, Bertie Ahern to commemorate this day.

I must tell you, Mr. President, that we did so with less exuberance than in past years when there was frankly more to be joyful about.

Ten years ago on this day, there was excitement and promise at our Saint Patrick’s Day celebration – the 1994 IRA ceasefire had been in place for more than six months and there existed a positive climate conducive to finding a political resolution to a quarter century of sectarian violence.

Seven years ago, in 1998, there was even more concrete evidence that sectarian violence was over as we were literally days away from the parties signing the Good Friday Accords which they did on April 9 of that year. That document was crafted by the political parties under the able leadership of former Majority Leader George Mitchell with the active involvement of President Bill Clinton, and Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern. It spelled out in black and white an agenda and institutions for delivering justice and equality to both traditions within a framework of inclusive self-government.

Our annual Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations since 1998 have been an opportunity to take stock of the progress toward full implementation of the Good Friday Accords. I for one have approached this day each year with the hope that we might finally declare that the Accords were fully functioning, and that violence and terror were no longer a part of the fabric of Northern Ireland’s society.

Sadly, this Saint Patrick’s day we struggle to call the glass half full with respect to progress on the Accords. The Northern Ireland Assembly is in suspension, the assembly’s Executive is vacant. The parties are deadlocked over what must be done to restart the process. Collectively, Northern Ireland’s political leaders must accept responsibility for the political impasse that now exists. But Sinn Fein and the IRA carry a heavier burden than others for restarting the process. Sinn Fein, as an organization, must commit itself fully and unequivocally to solely political means to advance its agenda of equality and inclusion. There is no place in a democracy for a political organization to have its own private paramilitary organization. Sinn Fein cannot call itself a democratic organization if it does not severe all ties with the IRA, an organization which espouses, condones, and covers up unlawful acts such as murder and robbery. And, if the IRA is in fact committed to the full implementation of the Peace Accords as it has publicly stated, then it must fully and verifiably decommission its weapons and go out business entirely.

In my opinion, nothing short of these actions is going to repair the damage done to the peace process by the recent acts of criminality by the IRA. Public demonstrations by the Catholic community in Belfast in support of the McCartney sisters’ quest for justice made it patently obvious that whatever support might have existed for the IRA in that community exists no longer. It is very clear that the people of Northern Ireland want to live in peace – they want an end to vigilantism and intimidation – they want transparency and the rule of law. They want a future for themselves and their children.

Today, Northern Ireland is a struggling democracy – at a crossroad. Elections have occurred. Elected representatives have been chosen. The mechanisms of self-government are clearly spelled out in the Good Friday Accords. Everyone knows what needs to be done to move the process forward. I hope and pray that those with the power to make a difference will have the courage to do the right thing. The people of Northern Ireland deserve and expect nothing less.

Thank you, Mr. President.