Political Quotes

“I assure my colleagues, the distinguished managers of the bill and my good friends, that I will not hold the floor long. I noted that nobody else was speaking just at the moment. Mr. President, a couple of weeks ago I went on Senate business to the Republic of Ireland in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom over a 3- or 4-day weekend as one who has been involved in the international fund for Ireland. It was at a time just prior to the publication of the framework Document of Peace between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Our distinguished former colleague, Senator George Mitchell, was also there representing the President of the United States. He and I had various meetings in Dublin and elsewhere. I have discussed those before. But I thought of this earlier this week. I picked up the New York Times and saw under a heading ``Belfast Journal'' a very, very moving article by James F. Clarity. I will speak to that in just a moment. What I noticed were rather hopeful signs as I drove from Dublin to Belfast and went into Northern Ireland leaving the Republic of Ireland. The gates and barriers and bomb detectors, police and military that you normally see across the border were absent. In fact, you could see the marks on the ground where the speed bumps had been removed. And you did not see the all-pervasive military patrols, at least in the daylight hours throughout Belfast. In Belfast, I met with both Protestant and Catholic groups.…”