S9724 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 7, 2005 be incurred if current law remains in place When John Smith died tragically in 1994, their ceasefire appeared to be collapsing in and the annual fee declines, the total cost to Mo Mowlam, a fellow north of England MP, January 1998, following several murders. the private sector of extending this mandate was a principal lieutenant of Tony Blair in Not only did she hold the ring, albeit with would be close to $300 million annually, be- his leadership campaign. Her reward in being difficulty, but it was the moment the British ginning in fiscal year 2006. Measured that appointed Northern Ireland spokeswoman system realised that agreement would only way, the cost of the mandate would exceed marked a shift away from the moderate pro- happen if it involved a radical programme to the annual threshold for the private sector nationalist stance of McNamara and release paramilitary prisoners, however as defined in UMRA. By contrast, measured Labour’s formal policy through the 1980s of awful their convictions. She well understood against the fees paid for fiscal year 2005, the Irish unity by consent. that to obtain peace one had to be prepared mandate would impose no additional costs Whether Labour would ever have been ac- to get one’s hands dirty. on the private sector because the fees under tive persuaders for unity is doubtful. That In the last hours of the Good Friday nego- the bill would not differ much from those policy was devised as a means of containing tiations, she sat with the Taoiseach Bertie currently in effect. In any case, CBO esti- pressure from the Labour left for ‘‘troops Ahern (and this columnist) listening inter- mates that the total costs to State, local, out’’ and British withdrawal. By 1994, after minably to some 77 unsatisfied demands by ´ and tribal governments would be small rel- the Downing Street Declaration, Labour ad- Sinn Fein, all requiring answers, not least to ative to the threshold for intergovernmental justed its position to broad bipartisanship satisfy large backroom teams. While the Government had always striven mandates. with the John Major government, both on for agreement bringing everyone present on Estimate Prepared By: Federal Costs: Lisa constitutional principles and tactics. board, the point had been reached, where, if Cash Driskill and Jimin Chung; Impact on Mo Mowlam did her homework while in op- necessary, continued Government credibility State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Lisa position, studying the issues, attending con- would have required agreement without Sinn Ramirez-Branun; Impact on the Private Sec- ferences, meeting different parties, and act- Fe´in (already geared to campaign against tor: Selena Calera. ing as conduit to Tony Blair. Unwilling to changes to Articles 2 and 3). Estimate Approved By: Peter Fontaine, open any flank for attack that might endan- ger election victory, Labour refrained from Mo Mowlam, like the Taoiseach, favoured Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Anal- retaining a special electoral system, which ysis. criticising the Tory mishandling of the peace process which contributed to, even if it was would, most likely, have secured a place in f not responsible for, the breakdown of the the Assembly for both the Women’s Coali- tion and the loyalists. The loyalist parties DEATH OF MO MOWLAM first ceasefire. Labour kept its powder dry, and by the 1997 general election had become mistakenly believed they did not need such Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last almost as acceptable to unionism as the out- arrangements to stay out of the cold, cre- month, sadly, Mo Mowlam, Great Brit- going Conservative administration. ating problems to this day. Mo Mowlam became Northern Ireland Sec- The Good Friday agreement is Britain’s ain’s former Secretary of State for finest achievement so far in relation to Ire- Northern Ireland, died after a long and retary of State, and held office during the crucia1 12-month period that began with res- land. Mo Mowlam is entitled to full credit courageous battle with cancer. Mo will for her part in that, as the following Labour long be remembered for her leadership toration of the IRA ceasefire in July 1997. With Irish help, Labour worked round the de- Party conference affirmed with thunderous at a critical moment in the history of mand for immediate decommissioning that applause. It is almost always a mistake for a Northern Ireland. I first met her when was a roadblock to progress at that stage. minister to challenge the prime minister, she was a member of the Labour Party She kept her cool in the conference room and she was easily undermined by those who and her party was in opposition in Par- in July 1997 and gave nothing away when coveted her post for Peter Mandelson. His Conor Cruise O’Brien, sitting alongside Rob- main positive contribution, in late 1999, was liament. I was delighted when Prime to persuade Ulster Unionists to let the insti- Minister Blair came to power and ert McCartney on the UKUP delegation, sought formal repudiation of more radical tutions start, however temporarily. named her Secretary of State for Apart from her deserved place in British views she had once held on Ireland. Further Labour Party folklore, Mo Mowlam’s cour- Northern Ireland. She was a breath of negotiations at Stormont created conditions age and down-to-earth approach will ensure fresh air and quickly won over nearly of engagement from late September in that she long retains a warm place in the every Irish American she met. She was multi-party talks chaired by former U.S. memory of most Irish people. exceedingly effective and was the right Senator George Mitchell that included Ul- person for the job at the right time in ster Unionists, loyalists and Sinn Fe´in, as f Northern Ireland. With her remarkable well as the SDLP, Alliance and Women’s Co- COMMEMORATION OF 50TH ANNI- abilities, she created the conditions alition. As incoming Secretary of State, she made VERSARY OF THE GREAT LAKES that led to the historic Good Friday every attempt to be even-handed, and was COMMISSION Agreement in 1998. Mo was fair, intel- prepared to be as sympathetic and receptive Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, this year ligent, and willing to take risks for to unionist as to nationalist and republican marks the 50th anniversary of the peace. views. Her eventual decision to let the Great Lakes Commission. The Great On a personal note, my wife, Vicki, Drumcree parade through in 1997 (for the last Lakes Commission is a bi-national and I will always warmly recall our time) was evidence of that. Much of the comment about her focuses agency working to improve the Great visit with Mo, and her husband, Jon Lakes and the region. The Commission Norton, at Hillsborough in Northern more on style than substance. Her casual manner and outspoken language were some- promotes the orderly and comprehen- Ireland in January 1998. thing that not all British civil servants, used sive development, use and conservation Irish Senator Martin Mansergh, him- to the traditional patrician style exemplified of the Great Lakes basin, its tribu- self a key player in the Northern Ire- by Sir Patrick Mayhew, appreciated. The taries and the St. Lawrence River. Its land peace process, recently wrote a Irish delegation had few problems on that members include the eight Great Lakes front, though occasionally she made even well-deserved tribute to Mo in the Irish States, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Times, and I ask unanimous consent Ray Burke look fastidious. She was a culture shock to the Ulster Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Pennsyl- that it be printed in the RECORD. Unionist Party, as to some extent was Liz vania and Wisconsin, with associate There being no objection, the mate- O’Donnell. If Mo Mowlam ended up closer to member status for the Canadian prov- rial was ordered to be printed in the nationalists, it was because unionists left inces of Quebec and Ontario. RECORD, as follows: her little choice, by increasingly refusing to Since its establishment in 1955, the [From the Irish Times, Aug. 27, 2005] deal substantively with her. Great Lakes Commission has been a They bypassed her with impunity, by con- MO WAS WILLING TO DIRTY HER HANDS FOR pioneer in applying principles of sus- stant recourse to No 10 Downing Street—if PEACE not Tony Blair himself, his diplomatic ad- tainability to the natural resources of (By Martin Mansergh) viser John Holmes, who provided reassuring the Great Lakes basin and St. Law- A first memory of Mo Mowlam is of a continuity for them from John Major’s time. rence River. The Commission promotes young, newly elected MP accompanying, as Nevertheless, with the help of minister of the paired goals of environmental pro- deputy, the British Labour Party’s Northern state Paul Murphy, and partnered on the tection and economic improvement and Ireland spokesman Kevin McNamara to an Irish side by David Andrews, she kept the has built its reputation on an inte- Anglo-Irish conference in Ditchley Park, Ox- talks on the road over a difficult eight- grated and objective approach to public fordshire. month period, even if many strategic nego- The British have an inexhaustible belief in tiations also took place between Downing policy issues and opportunities. country house diplomacy to solve problems Street, the NIO, the Taoiseach’s Office, For- When the Great Lakes Commission like Northern Ireland in an atmosphere cut eign Affairs and Justice. Mo Mowlam made was founded in 1955, the Great Lakes off from the modem world. Its efficacy was an important and courageous decision to go region was about to gain greater re- not evident on that occasion.