In 2002, although 133 members of the House of Representatives voted against it, Engel voted for the resolution granting President Bush the authority to use force in Iraq, as did the two Senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and almost 300 members of the United States House of Representatives. After revelations that intelligence provided to Congress was partially unreliable, and the subsequent problems faced after Saddam Hussein was deposed, Engel has come to regret his decision to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and consistently votes in favor of gradual withdrawal. He has met with anti-war activists, and in 2008, he publicly called for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Engel received an "A" grade from the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans in 2008. In 2007, Engel became a Co-Chair of the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs. He supported the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and aided Irish nationals facing deportation from the United States. He has been a friend of Gerry Adams, former leader of Sinn Féin, and was the author of legislation that prohibits employers in Northern Ireland and Ireland from receiving U.S. funds from the International Fund for Ireland, unless they comply with fair employment and non-discrimination principles called the "MacBride Principles". In 2010, Rep. Engel was instrumental in helping Joe Byrne return to the United States, after a bureaucratic problem left him detained in Ireland and separated from his family in Rockland County. As a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Engel has supported Albanian-Americans and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. He is co-author of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, along with Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), which addresses child labor in the cocoa fields of West Africa. In early 2001, he wrote the House resolution condemning the Taliban for forcing Hindu citizens to wear distinguishing marks as reminiscent of the Nazis forcing Jews to wear a yellow Star of David. In 2008, he wrote a resolution commending the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Promote Racial and Ethnic Equality. Engel sponsored a bill to support the Day of Silence, during which students vow to remain silent to bring attention to the harassment and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in schools. That bill has been re-submitted in the 111th United States Congress. He also voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which allowed for states not to be required to recognize same-sex marriages in other states. In 2010, he voted in 2010 to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, enabling homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. Military.