SENATOR COTTON AND HIS APPALLING LETTER TO BORIS JOHNSON

Posted by Jim on August 5, 2019

 In effect, an anti-Catholic and anti-Irish declaration signed by 44 other Senators

CAPITOL HILL. Sunday, August 4, 2019—— The British Embassy has been busy. Not since the MacBride Principles—a corporate code of conduct for American companies doing business in Northern Ireland— launched by the Irish National Caucus on November 5, 1984,  have we seen such on assault on the US Congress. Then, the British Embassy tried to block the MacBride Principles from making sure US dollars would not subsidize anti-Catholic discrimination in Northern Ireland. Now the British Embassy—because of Boris Johnson’s irresponsibility—is attempting to stop the campaign to make sure the United States will not subsidize the destruction of the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish Peace Process, which the United States and former British prime minister Tony Blair, God bless him, did so much to bring about.
Fr. Sean McManus—president/founder of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus—said:” I was hoping the bad old days were over and that we would never again see the British Embassy embark on what will be seen as an anti-Irish, anti-Catholic campaign in the Unites States. Now, sadly, the Embassy has been forced to recruit Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) to lead this deplorable charge. He has co-opted 44 other US Senators to sign his appalling and irresponsible letter to British  prime minster Boris Johnson, pledging to ‘support whatever course Britain takes’— even, apparently,  if that course destroys the Good Friday Agreement and Irish Peace Process, as many fear.” (Full text of letter and names of signers below, as posted on Senator Cotton’s website).
Fr. McManus continued:”Many responsible people in the EU, Ireland, north and south, and in the Unites States have expressedreal and deep concern about the dangers a ‘no-deal Brexit’ and the return of a ‘hard’ Border across the face of Ireland can do. ButSenator Cotton and the 44 blithely ignore all this—never even mentioning it. In effect, this appalling letter will be seen by many Irish-Americans as both anti-Catholic and anti-Irish—no matter the intention of the 45 signers, or that some have Irish names, or may, indeed, be Catholic.The letter demonstrates, in the context, either profound ignorance or indifference to the danger posed to both parts of Ireland, which overwhelmingly is opposed to Brexit, hard or soft. What were the other 44 Senators thinking!” I hope these 45 Senators will now clearly and unequivocally state their support of the Irish Peace Process and the Good Friday Agreement.”END.

Cotton, Colleagues Pen Letter Pledging to Back Britain After Brexit

August 3, 2019

Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353

Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and 44 of his Senate colleagues have sent a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledging unwavering support for the United Kingdom as it exits the European Union in the coming months. The letter calls for a new bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. It also reiterates the importance of U.S.-UK cooperation within the NATO security alliance and the “Five Eyes” intelligence partnership. The full text of the letter is below and can be found here.
The letter was also signed by Senators Barrasso (WY), Blackburn (TN), Boozman (AR), Braun (IN), Burr (NC), Capito (WV), Cassidy (LA), Collins (ME), Cornyn (TX), Cramer (ND), Crapo (ID), Cruz (TX), Daines (MT), Enzi (WY), Ernst (IA), Fischer (NE), Graham (SC), Grassley (IA), Hawley (MO), Hoeven (ND), Hyde-Smith (MS), Inhofe (OK), Isakson (GA), Johnson (WI), Kennedy (LA), Lankford (OK), Lee (UT), McSally (AZ), Murkowski (AK), Perdue (GA), Portman (OH), Risch (ID), Roberts (KS), Rounds (SD), Rubio (FL), Sasse (NE), Scott (FL), Scott (SC), Sullivan (AK), Thune (SD), Tillis (NC), Toomey (PA), Wicker (MS), and Young (IN).  The Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson MP

Prime Minister

10 Downing Street

London SW1A 2AA Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

We write to congratulate you on your election as prime minister. We also want to assure you and the British people of our continued, unwavering support for the special relationship between our two countries as Britain leaves the European Union.

In 2016, the British people voted to leave the European Union. While we don’t necessarily agree among ourselves about that decision, we recognize and respect your nation’s sovereign right to determine its future. It is for your government to decide the terms of a Brexit deal with the EU. In your victory speech last month, you pledged “to get Brexit done on October the 31^st,” a date just around the corner. We wouldn’t presume to recommend the right policy, but we will support whatever course Britain takes. First, if Britain leaves the EU with no deal, we will work with our administration, your government, and our friends in the EU to minimize disruptions in critical matters such as international air travel, financial transactions, and the shipment of medicine, food, and other vital supplies. Second, irrespective of how Brexit occurs, we recommit to the NATO security alliance and the “Five Eyes” intelligence partnership. We also will advocate for a new bilateral trade agreement, as early as your Brexit terms would allow, that reflects the centuries of open commerce between our nations. Finally, we pledge our friendship in the future to the United Kingdom. Our soldiers have fought together from the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of Afghanistan. Together, we have toppled tyrants and liberated the oppressed. The shared story of our special relationship is a great one indeed, and we look forward to adding more chapters still. Congratulations again to you. Your great predecessor once averred that the British people had the heart of a lion, and he “had the luck to be called upon to give the roar” during their finest hour. Best wishes in the days ahead for every success in giving the roar for what we’re confident will be another very fine hour in the long history of your lion-hearted people.