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The Congressional Friends of Ireland, or Friends of Ireland , is an organization in the United States Congress that was founded in 1981 by Irish-American politicians Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Daniel Moynihan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill to support initiatives for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. [1]
"The Friends of Ireland is a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives opposed to violence and terrorism in Northern Ireland and dedicated to maintaining a United States policy that promotes a just, lasting, and peaceful settlement of the conflict that has cost more than 3,100 lives over the past quarter century", according to a statement by Kennedy in the Senate on 22 March 1994. [2]
Representative Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts) is the current chair of this bipartisan group of senators and representatives. In chapter 9 of his book "Irish America and the Ulster Conflict 1968-1995," (Blackstaff Press, 1995) Andrew J. Wilson writes that the Congressional Friends of Ireland played a significant role in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985.
Prior to the formation of the caucus in 1981, the phrase "Congressional friends of Ireland" was in use in the United States as early as 1920 when The New York Times wrote, "An editorial article in the current issue of The Freeman gives the Congressional friends of Ireland and the Irish vote a gentle but somewhat disconcerting prod." [3]
Each year in March, the Irish Taoiseach visits the United States for Saint Patrick's Day. A Shamrock Ceremony takes place in the morning at the White House where a crystal bowl containing shamrock, a traditional symbol of Ireland, is presented to the President in the Oval Office. This is followed by a Friends of Ireland luncheon hosted by the House Speaker in the U.S. Capitol or the Rayburn House Office Building. [4] [5] The luncheon is attended by the President, Vice President, the Taoiseach, the Speaker, and other officials. [6] In the evening, a Saint Patrick's Day Reception takes place at the White House. [7]
The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy became the first Kennedy elected to public office, serving in the Massachusetts state legislature until 1895. At least one Kennedy family member served in federal elective office from 1947, when P. J. Kennedy's grandson John F. Kennedy became a member of Congress from Massachusetts, until 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy II retired as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island.
The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section II, of the U.S. Constitution. By custom and House rules, the speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House and is simultaneously its presiding officer, de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various other administrative and procedural functions. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debates—that duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party—nor regularly participate in floor debates.
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. was an American Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, the third-longest tenure in history and the longest uninterrupted tenure. He represented northern Boston in the House from 1953 to 1987.
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time House minority leader, and a 24-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years.
John Andrew Boehner is a retired American politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 8th congressional district from 1991 to 2015. The district included several rural and suburban areas near Cincinnati and Dayton.
Daniel P. Coughlin, served as the 59th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from March 23, 2000, to April 14, 2011. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to serve in that position, and the process that led to his selection included some controversy. However, as a 2010 article in The Washington Post pointed out, on the occasion of Coughlin's tenth anniversary in the House Chaplain position, "there is ample evidence that the rancor that accompanied his selection has disappeared: Last week, lawmakers from both parties streamed onto the House floor to honor his decade of service."
Paul Grattan Kirk Jr. is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 2009 to 2010, having been appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ted Kennedy. From 1985 to 1989, he chaired the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Irish Heritage Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is known as Irish-American Heritage Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada. It was first celebrated by proclamation of the President and Congress in the United States to honor the achievements and contributions of Irish Americans. The heritage month is in March to coincide with Saint Patrick's Day, the Irish national holiday on March 17. Heritage Months are usually proclaimed by nations to celebrate centuries of contributions by a group to a country.
Anthony Kearns is an internationally acclaimed tenor, record producer, and a member of The Irish Tenors.
The United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland is the top U.S. diplomat supporting the Northern Ireland peace process. The position is held by Joe Kennedy III, appointed by President Joe Biden on December 19, 2022.
The City Club of Cleveland is a non-partisan debate forum in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1912, and known as "America's Citadel of Free Speech," it is one of the oldest continuous independent free speech forums in the United States.
The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate is a non-profit civic engagement and educational institution on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, next to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus. Named for long-time U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, the institute contains a full-scale reproduction of the United States Senate Chamber, a replica of Kennedy's Washington, D.C., office, and digital exhibits. The organization includes the Kennedy Home in Hyannis Port, which was donated to the institute in 2012 as part of a "mission of educating the public about the U.S. government, invigorating public discourse, emphasizing the importance of bipartisanship, and inspiring the next generation of citizens and leaders to engage in the public square." The Kennedy Institute is, along with the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, a co-sponsor of The Senate Project, whose goal is, through hosting a series of Oxford-style debates between leading U.S. Senators, to reintroduce the culture of seeking common ground and bipartisan consensus that has been the essence of the Senate since it was conceived in 1789.
The American Jobs Act and was the informal name for a pair of bills recommended by U.S. President Barack Obama in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress on September 8, 2011. He characterized the proposal as a collection of non-controversial measures designed to get Americans back to work, and he repeatedly urged Congress to pass it "right away"; he also said that the bills would not add to the national deficit and would be fully paid for.
Joseph Patrick Kennedy III is an American politician and diplomat who currently serves as United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland since 2022. Prior to this, Kennedy served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented a district that extends from Boston's western suburbs to the state's South Coast. He worked as an assistant district attorney in the Cape and Islands and Middlesex County, Massachusetts, offices before his election to Congress. In January 2021, he became a CNN commentator.
A special election to the United States House of Representatives for Ohio's 8th congressional district was held to determine the successor to John Boehner, who resigned his seat on October 31, 2015. Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich set the primary election for March 15, 2016, and the general election for June 7. The winner of the June special election ran for reelection in November 2016 but served the remainder of Boehner's 13th two-year term, which ended in early January 2017.
On January 6, 2015, the first day of the 114th United States Congress and two months after the 2014 U.S. House elections, the incoming House members held an election for its speaker. This was 123rd speaker election since the office was created in 1789. The incumbent, John Boehner, received 216 votes, a majority of the votes cast and was re-elected to office, despite a coordinated effort by Freedom Caucus Republicans to oust him.
The following is a timeline of the presidency of Bill Clinton, from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 1995.
The following is a timeline of the presidency of Bill Clinton, from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 1998.
The following is a timeline of the presidency of Bill Clinton, from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1994.