Factsheets
From
adding rich diversity, to spurring small businesses and economic
growth, Irish Americans and Irish immigrants have helped build this
country and strengthen our communities.
Hillary has a record of standing by the Irish American community:
- As First Lady, she
directly supported the Northern Ireland peace process by engaging
women’s groups, bringing them into the process and setting the
foundation for a more durable peace. Her visits to the Catholic and
Protestant sectors in Belfast to meet working-class women from both
communities helped empower key voices for peace. During the talks,
Hillary was active in urging all of the parties to keep moving forward
and advocated the inclusion of women in the peace process. She helped
lay the groundwork for cross-community parties such as the Women’s
Coalition in decisive years when the peace process was being bedded
down. Once the peace talks began, Hillary was influential in ensuring
the peace accords addressed equality based on gender, religion, and
sexual orientation. She visited Northern Ireland five times, beginning
in 1995 when she visited with President Clinton in what was described as
a turning point for the conflict.
- As Senator from New York,
she represented New York’s vibrant Irish-American community. She
visited the Republic of Ireland on her first trip in the Senate, and
Northern Ireland on her second trip. She worked with community leaders,
met with Irish leaders every year she was a Senator and had an intern
in her office from Northern Ireland every year. She was a member of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, where she defended
human rights and religious tolerance in Europe. Hillary also
continuously supported comprehensive immigration reform and sponsored
the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act in the Senate, which
later became law and allows immigrant children and pregnant women to
obtain Medicaid.
- As Secretary of State, she ensured
Ireland was high on the U.S. foreign policy priority list. She traveled
to Northern Ireland in 2009, urging Stormont to complete the process of
devolution, which contributed to the Hillsborough Agreement in 2010.
She also pledged that the United States would stand behind Northern
Ireland as it continued its work toward lasting peace and stability.In
one of her last oversees trips as Secretary of State, she traveled to
Northern Ireland and Ireland in December 2012. She pledged to work with
the Irish Government on shoring up their economy and in March 2009, she
met with Charlie Bird, the Washington Correspondent of Ireland's public
broadcaster RTE, for one of her earliest sit-down interviews since
becoming the Secretary. She appointed a Special Economic Envoy for
Northern Ireland, which helped regenerate the local economy by securing
new investment in Northern Ireland, and worked behind the scenes,
continuing to encourage Northern Ireland’s leaders and promote
implementation of the Good Friday agreement.
- As a citizen, Hillary
was inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame in 2015 for her
contribution to Northern Ireland peace. Prior to this, she has received
countless awards and honors for her role in Ireland and advocacy on
behalf of Irish America including a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from
the Worldwide Ireland Funds.
As President, Hillary will continue to fight for issues that are important to the Irish American Community. She will fight to:
Keep families together through comprehensive immigration reform: There are an estimated
50,000 undocumented immigrants from Ireland living
in the United States. As president, Hillary will fight for
comprehensive immigration reform that provides a full and equal path to
citizenship, treats every person with dignity, upholds the rule of law,
protects our borders and national security, and brings millions of
hardworking people into the formal economy. She will protect and defend
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action
for Parents of Americans (DAPA), put in place a simple, straightforward,
accessible system for parents of DREAMers and others with a history of
service and contribution to their communities to be able to make their
case and be eligible for deferred action, and call on Congress to repeal
the 3- and 10-year bars. Hillary believes we should do more to
encourage Irish immigrants who are eligible for citizenship to take that
final step, including expanding fee-waivers and outreach programs.
Ensure Quality Education: Hillary
will champion new opportunities in education to ensure nothing stands
in the way of all Americans achieving their full potential. Hillary will
increase our investment in Early Head Start and the Maternal, Infant,
and Early Childhood Home Visiting program. She also has a plan to make
pre-K universal for all 4 year-olds in America, and will fight for
strong public schools in every community across the country. Like too
many Americans, Irish Americans and Irish immigrants face difficulty in
paying for college and paying off their student debt. Through her New
College Compact, Hillary will fight to ensure that cost is not a barrier
for anyone who wants to attend college—and that debt won’t hold them
back when they do.
Create Good-Paying Jobs and Get Incomes Rising Again: Hillary
has said getting incomes rising is the defining economic challenge of
our time, and she will fight to raise incomes so that all American
families can get ahead and stay ahead. Her plan includes raising the
minimum wage, ensuring equal pay for women, providing incentives for
companies to share profits with their employees, guaranteeing paid
family and medical leave, and boosting apprenticeships to help more
people get into the workforce. She recently announced a major plan to
invest $125 billion to create good-paying jobs, rebuild crumbling
infrastructure, and connect housing to opportunity in communities that
are being left out and left behind. Her plan includes investing $20
billion to create youth jobs, and another $25 billion to support
entrepreneurship and small business growth in underserved communities.
She will pay for the new investments in this initiative through a tax on
Wall Street—ensuring that the major financial institutions that
contributed to the Great Recession are doing their part in bringing back
the communities they hurt the most.
Expand Access to Affordable Health Care to All Families: Hillary
has been fighting her entire life to ensure that families have access
to affordable health care. She will stand up to Republican attempts to
roll back the Affordable Care Act and will protect the progress we have
made. She will work to lower out-of-pocket health care costs, reduce the
cost of prescription drugs and transform our health care system to
reward value and quality. She believes we should let families—regardless
of immigration status—buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges. As
president, Hillary will fight to defend Medicare and Social Security as
well as expand benefits for widows and women who have taken time out of
the workforce—so that all American families can retire with dignity.
Stand with Our Allies and Re-Affirm the Importance of the Trans-Atlantic Alliance: Hillary
knows that the world is too complex and complicated for the U.S. to go
it alone. As President, she’ll ensure that we support our allies like
Ireland and the United Kingdom, and work together on important issues
such as climate change, fighting terrorism, and economic security.
Above all, this is an alliance of values, rooted in a deep commitment to
liberty and democracy.
Sláinte!
