For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 20, 2001

Statement by the Press Secretary
Updated Implementation of the Patten Report

The United States Government strongly supports the updated Implementation Plan of the Patten Report, which sets out a clear roadmap for police reform in Northern Ireland. This document is constructive and far-sighted. We warmly applaud today's commitment by the SDLP to participate in the new policing institutions, and we urge other parties to follow suit. A new beginning in which the police service can command the support of all communities in Northern Ireland is now within reach. An agreement on policing, an essential element of a lasting peace, should give new impetus to the comprehensive package put forward by the British and Irish governments August 1 to achieve full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Here, too, we call on all parties of Northern Ireland to accept the two governments' proposals and to take those steps that will lead to full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

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