Bill Text: NJ AR16 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges federal government to withdraw its support of efforts of British government to access Belfast Project records.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee [AR16 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-AR16-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman SEAN T. KEAN
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Urges federal government to withdraw its support of efforts of British government to access Belfast Project records.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Assembly Resolution urging the federal government to withdraw its support of the efforts of the British government to access the Belfast Project records.
Whereas, Between the years 2001 and 2006, researchers at Boston College undertook the Belfast Project, producing an oral history collection of interviews with key players involved in the Troubles, a decades-long period of conflict in Northern Ireland, other parts of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland; and
Whereas, The purpose of the Belfast Project was to gain valuable insight into the motivations, events, and aftermath of violent conflict through first-hand accounts of parties on all sides of the Troubles; and
Whereas, Prior to the interview, each interview subject signed an agreement with Boston College that provided that access to the tapes and transcripts collected as part of the project would be restricted until after the subject's death; and
Whereas, Pursuant to a mutual legal assistance treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom, in May and August of 2011, an Assistant United States Attorney issued two sets of subpoenas to Boston College to obtain the Belfast Project records for the purpose of assisting the United Kingdom in its investigations of alleged violations of its laws; and
Whereas, Litigation is currently ongoing as the Belfast Project researchers and Boston College seek to maintain the academic confidentiality of the Belfast Project records; and
Whereas, Enforcement of these subpoenas could have a deleterious effect on all current and future oral history projects and on academic efforts at United States universities to understand violent conflict and to seek truthful first-hand accounts of those conflicts; and
Whereas, Release of the Belfast Project records may compromise the safety of interview subjects, the researchers, and their families; and
Whereas, Sensitive information contained in the Belfast Project records, and the criminal proceedings that could potentially develop from their release, will likely threaten the still-fragile peace in Northern Ireland; and
Whereas, The involvement of the United States government and the use of its taxpayer-funded resources, to assist the British government in an effort to politicize these confidential interviews on the pretext of a criminal investigation, is indefensible; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the federal government to withdraw its support of the efforts of the British government to access the Belfast Project records.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, and attested by the Clerk thereof, shall be transmitted to the board of trustees of Boston College, the lead researchers of the Belfast Project, and the United States Office of the Attorney General.
STATEMENT
This Assembly Resolution urges the federal government to withdraw its support of the efforts of the British government to access the Belfast Project records. The Belfast Project records are an oral history collection of interviews with key players involved in the Troubles, a decades-long period of conflict in Northern Ireland, other parts of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. The records were collected by researchers of Boston College in an effort to gain valuable insight into the motivations, events, and aftermath of violent conflict through first-hand accounts of parties on all sides of the Troubles. In May and August of 2011, an Assistant United States Attorney, on behalf of the British government, issued two sets of subpoenas to obtain the Belfast Project records for the purpose of assisting the United Kingdom in its politically-motivated investigation.
