A bipartisan group of US Congress members has called on Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant to put a stop to the Orange Order march on Garvaghy Road.
In a letter to Mr Bryant today, members of the Friends of Ireland Caucus described the issue as a "consequential moment on the island of Ireland" and said that allowing the march to proceed would "reopen wounds that have yet to fully heal".
"Failing to intervene and allowing this contentious parade to move forward would risk undermining the progress that has been painstakingly built over the past three decades," they said.
The letter was signed by House Representatives Richard Neal, Timothy Kennedy, Brendan Boyle, Lloyd Doggett, Stephen Lynch, John Larson, Joe Courtney, Mike Kelly, Bill Keating, Val Hoyle, Debbie Dingell, Jim McGovern, James Gallagher and Jimmy Gomez.
The representatives added that during the Troubles, "these parades became a symbol of the sectarian tensions, public disorder and violence that once threatened Northern Ireland's peace".
"Without decisive action, we risk reopening one of the most painful chapters of Northern Ireland's history and undermining nearly three decades of peace, stability and reconciliation made possible by the Good Friday Agreement," they said.
The members of Congress said the march down Garvaghy Road had been prevented for good reason year after year.
"This march harkens back to decades of sectarian rule and the divisions that defined one of the darkest periods in Ireland's history," they said.
They hailed the progress made on the island of Ireland but said that the United States is a guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and has a vested interest in seeing the principles embodied in the accord upheld.
The Congressional Friends of Ireland is a group of Democrats and Republicans that has supported peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.
It was founded in in 1981 by Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Daniel Moynihan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill.
The letter comes as the Garvaghy Road residents temporarily postponed their court case challenging the Drumcree parade.
It was due to have been heard in Belfast's Court of Appeal tomorrow.
