Sinn Fein chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness has expressed concern to the White House about what he called the British government's failure to implement the reform of the RUC, and about upcoming Orange parades at Drumcree.
Mr McGuinness, who is also the Northern Ireland Minister of Education, was accompanied by Ms Rita O'Hare, Director of the Sinn Fein bureau in Washington, for a meeting with Mr Jim Steinberg, President Clinton's chief advisor on Northern Ireland.
The main issue discussed was what Mr McGuinness called the "totally unacceptable" proposals in the policing Bill before the House of Commons. He submitted Sinn Fein's "70-plus" amendments to the White House.
Mr McGuinness said that while the policing issue "does have the capability of destroying everything we have worked for, any attempt to inject a crisis into the process would be a mistake."
Asked whether there was now a link between the reform of the RUC and IRA decommissioning of weapons, Mr McGuinness said while he wanted to see all commitments by both the British government and the IRA fulfilled, "I have more confidence that the IRA will fulfil its commitments than I have in others."
He had also discussed concerns about Drumcree "and the plight of the people on the Garvaghy Road, who have been put through an intolerable experience over the past six or seven years."
Today, Mr McGuinness will meet members of the House of Representatives and senators on Capitol Hill.