Congress breaks without debating extradition pact

The treaty is now unlikely to come before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee until late January at the earliest.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians has vowed to turn the treaty back and has written to the top two members of the committee urging them to examine “and then oppose” ratification of the treaty, which was signed by the U.S. and British governments last March.
The AOH letter was sent last month to the committee’s chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat.
The Hibernians have also set up an ad hoc committee to coordinate the group’s growing campaign against ratification of the treaty.
Before becoming law, the treaty must be approved by the Foreign Relations Committee and then the full 100-member Senate.
“Not only do Irish Americans feel threatened, but also this law threatens both due process and judicial review as it pertains to all United States citizens,” the AOH letter to Lugar and Biden stated.
The new treaty, which has been previously excoriated by a number of Irish American attorneys, was signed with little fanfare by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and British Home Secretary David Blunkett on March 31.
While the treaty does not specify any nation or conflict, the Hibernians fear that it could be used against Irish nationals, or even U.S. citizens, in the context of Northern Ireland.
“This document recalls the extradition treaty signed in London on June 8, 1972 which was subsequently amended by the Supplementary Treaty signed in Washington on June 25, 1985,” the letter to Lugar and Biden continued.
“Those treaties are certainly sufficient and there is no reason to feel they are inadequate with the exception that the present Department of Justice wishes to curry favor with the United Kingdom.”
The 1985 Supplementary Treaty sparked concerns from Irish Americans similar to those now being voiced by the Hibernians. A number of Irish-American activists testified against the treaty in hearings held in Washington, D.C., in the fall of that year.
The AOH letter said that the latest treaty would remove the right of U.S. citizens to protest against the government of the United Kingdom without fear of frivolous charges.
“There is no need for this treaty to be ratified,” the letter argued.
The letter pointed out that the instruments of ratification were to be exchanged “as soon as possible” but that it appeared that both the State and Justice departments were now waiting for a “good time” to present it to the Foreign Relations Committee.
That time will now be in 2004.