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The Irish government is standing in line with European partners in opposing the decision by President Donald Trump to rescind U.S. participation in the Iran nuclear deal.
"I am greatly disappointed by the U.S. announcement that it is withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran, the JCPOA," said Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Coveney.
In 2015, I was one of 25 House Democrats to vote against the Iran nuclear deal (the JCPOA) because I believe it left too many important matters on the table. I was concerned by the amount of money that would be released to the regime and inevitably used for terrorism, rather than the Iranian people. I believed inspections could have been more stringent. I did not support the deal's timetable.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brendan Boyle and Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chairs of the Friends of a Free, Stable and Democratic Syria, wrote to President Trump urging him to immediately release funding to the White Helmets, a volunteer group that has tirelessly rescued people caught in bombings, airstrikes and other attacks in Syria since the start of the war there in 2011, and nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for this work. It was recently reported that the State Department froze U.S. funding for the group.
WASHINGTON, DC – Following comments last week from President Trump calling Kim Jong Un "very honorable," Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced legislation urging the administration to uphold American values and not neglect North Korea's human rights record during negotiations with the Kim regime.
British Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Darroch is in receipt of a letter from 16 members of Congress who joined together to express concern about hundreds of families still waiting for legacy truth and justice.
The bipartisan Congressional initiative follows a recent visit by Mark Thompson of the Relatives for Justice group in the North. The tour was organized by New York State Ancient Order of Hibernians, and supported by an array of Irish-American organizations including the Irish American Unity Conference and Brehon Law Society.
WASHINGTON -- The House passed by voice vote a bill Tuesday ensuring that the regime of Bashar al-Assad won't get any U.S. taxpayer funds slated to help Syria.
The legislation was introduced in December by House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.). It garnered 21 additional bipartisan co-sponsors.
In an ominous coincidence of timing, John Bolton assumed his role as national-security adviser on Monday, right as news broke of an air strike on a military airport in Syria operated by Iran, widely assumed to be carried out by Israel, and just two days after 70 Syrians died and hundreds more were wounded in an apparent chemical attack by the Assad regime in Douma. Exchanges of blame and threats between Russia, Iran, Israel, and the White House have overshadowed the consternation and horror with which many in Washington have reacted to Bolton's appointment.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13), a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement in response to news that President Trump has appointed Ambassador John Bolton as National Security Advisor.
"John Bolton is a dangerous radical. President Trump's decision to make Bolton his National Security Advisor is deeply disturbing.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13), Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the Iran Responsible Reporting Act to punish the widespread corruption within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In particular, the bill would amend existing law to require reporting on efforts by other countries to sanction Iran for human rights and ballistic missile violations. It would also authorize a summit among major trading partners of Iran to address the issue of IRGC front companies.
Britain's departure from the European Union could unravel the Belfast Agreement, a US congressional committee has been warned.
Speaking at a special hearing of the Helsinki Commission – a US government agency which promotes human rights – Brian Gormally of the Belfast-based Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) said, while it was unlikely that any one particular effect of Britain's exit would destroy the peace settlement, "the cumulative impact could begin to unravel it".