IRA Ceasefire, 1997, Undated, 1996-1997

Central elements of Bruce Morrison's political career were his influence with Irish voters, his dedication to the plight of Irish immigrants, and his work to aid the peace process in Northern Ireland during the period known as "The Troubles."

The "Irish Americans for Clinton-Gore" subseries includes documents relating to his work to mobilize the Irish vote in support of Bill Clinton during the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns through the group Irish-Americans for Clinton-Gore. Researchers will find correspondence between Morrison, who served as co-chairman of the group, and other committee members, a small amount of correspondence between Governor (and then President-elect) Clinton and Clinton-Gore members, and various campaign documents outlining Clinton's policies on issues such as immigration, foreign policy, etc.

Following Clinton's victory in the 1992 election, Irish Americans for Clinton-Gore evolved, under Morrison's guidance, into Americans for a New Irish Agenda (ANIA). Drawing upon the political capital gained by work done on the 1992 campaign, Morrison encouraged Clinton, his former classmate at Yale Law School, to make good on campaign promises to promote peace in Ireland. The ANIA constitution, which appears in this subseries, explains that this organization's mission was to promote peace and prosperity in Ireland through the accomplishment of several key objectives: the appointment of a U.S. peace envoy to Northern Ireland, the adoption of the MacBride Principles for fair employment in the U.S., and the granting of a visa to allow Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA) leader Gerry Adams to visit the U.S. Documents pretaining to each of these objectives can be found in similarly labeled folders within the "Americans for a New Irish Agenda" subseries. Morrison and several of his fellow ANIA members participated in a fact-finding trip to Ireland in 1993 during which time they met with several religious and political leaders. Documents pretaining to this trip can be found in the "Northern Ireland Peace Process" subseries under "Ireland Trip, 1993, September."

Another subseries is labeled “Human Rights.” This section includes publications and solicitation letters sent to Morrison by pro-Ireland interest groups as well as Morrison’s own notes and communications on the issue. There is also a substantial amount of published fact books and reports on various human rights issues in Northern Ireland.

The subseries entitled "Immigration" contains correspondence, legal documents, and press clippings related to Morrison's authorship of the 1990 Immigration Act, the Morrison visa program for Irish immigrants, and the deportation of ex-IRA members from the United States back to Ireland. There is also a folder containing mostly newspaper clippings that detail the praise Morrison received from the Irish-American community for his work on Irish immigration.

The largest subseries, "Northern Ireland Peace Process," contains press clippings, correspondence, and copies of official government documents dealing with major milestones in the quest for peace in Northern Ireland, such as the establishment of All-Party Talks, the inclusion of the Sinn Fein political party in those talks, the two ceasefires declared by the IRA, and the attempts at disarming (decomissioning) that organization. A substantial amount of correspondence, itineraries, and briefings surrounding Morrison's four major trips to Ireland in the 1990s is also present within the subseries, including his 1995 trip with President Clinton, which attracted the interest of the Irish and American press. Copies of the 1998 Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement), the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, the British-Irish Joint Declaration of 1993 (also known as the Downing Street Declaration), the British-Irish Joint Framework Agreement of 1995, the Report of the Mitchell Commission on decommissioning, and other documents central to the peace process can also be found here.