Great News for Human Rights in Northern Ireland

Rep. Chris Smith is Back as human Rights Chair

CAPITOL HILL. Wednesday, January 5, 2011 --- One important consequence for Ireland of the Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives is that Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) is again going to Chair a Subcommittee on Hunan Rights -- as he has done before when he held a total of eleven Hearings on Northern Ireland.

There has been a slight renaming and re-configuring of subcommittees in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This time Congressman Smith will chair the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. He will,therefore, be able to hold Hearings on Northern Ireland.

“ This is the best possible news for those concerned about Human Rights in Northern Ireland,” said Fr. Sean Mc Manus, President of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus. “ No one could be better than Chris Smith. He has an outstanding record. Irish-Americans – whether Republican or Democrat – can take great comfort in this. And they can rest assured that no pressure from any government will deflect Chris from his commitment to human rights in Ireland and around the globe”.
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Fr. Sean Mc Manus
President
Irish National Caucus
P.O. BOX 15128
Capitol Hill
Washington, DC 20003-0849
Tel. 202-544-0568
Fax. 202-488-7537
sean@irishnationalcaucus.org