Chris Smith: “First of all, this resolution is a bipartisan resolution. I am very pleased and honored to have the gentleman from New…”

“First of all, this resolution is a bipartisan resolution. I am very pleased and honored to have the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the chairman of the Committee on International Relations, as one of the principal cosponsors of this bill; also, the gentleman from New York (Mr. King); the gentleman from New York (Mr. Manton); the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh); the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy); the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh); the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne); the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays); the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey); the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews); and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Kennelly) to name just some of the cosponsors of this H. Con. Res. 1252. Mr. Speaker, we are expressing a sense of the Congress that all parties to the multiparty peace talks regarding Northern Ireland should condemn violence and fully integrate internationally recognized human rights standards and address the outstanding human rights violations as part of the peace process. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note that Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the British Irish Watch, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and many, many others have urged that this House pass this resolution.”