Frank Pallone: “Mr. Blair will likely spend much of his speech discussing both the U.S. and U.K. victory in Iraq and our efforts to…”

“Mr. Blair will likely spend much of his speech discussing both the U.S. and U.K. victory in Iraq and our efforts to bring democracy to the Iraqi people. He can certainly tout the fact that the Iraqi people are now free of oppression and finally afforded the basic human rights that were denied under the regime of Saddam Hussein. But, Mr. Speaker, I cannot help finding it hypocritical for Prime Minister Blair to discuss freeing the Iraqis given the nature of his policies in Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Blair sent tens of thousands of British troops thousands of miles to bring democracy to a region at the same time he was denying the basic right of democracy to people only miles from the British seat of government. Mr. Speaker, as you may know, in May Prime Minister Blair announced the indefinite postponement of the elections in Northern Ireland, which were scheduled to be held on May 29. Since his announcement, Prime Minister Blair has made little progress towards reinstating the stalled Irish peace process and providing basic human rights to the people of Northern Ireland.”