A number of Irish-American members of Congress have criticised the "needless difficulty" caused to the Northern Ireland political process by disagreements over IRA weapons-decommissioning.
In a joint statement by the House of Representatives' Friends of Ireland and the House Ad-Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, the congressmen welcomed the date set for elections.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish American Unity Conference had been campaigning throughout the US for the election. The Massachusetts Senate had already passed a resolution calling for elections, and similar motions were likely to be heard in California, Maine, Connecticut and other states.
In a statement signed by Republican Congressmen Jim Walsh and Peter King and Democratic Congressmen Richard Neal, Joe Crowley and John Sweeney on behalf of Friends of Ireland and the ad-hoc committee, the two groups said they applauded the decision.
Fifteen members of the two groups had written to British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, last summer to protest the suspension of the political system, it said.
The statement commends the IRA's latest act of decommissioning and adds: "We are disappointed that the decommissioning issue has, once again, created needless difficulty and has hindered the momentum of a process that gives the people of Northern Ireland the right to decide their own future."