The US Congress has attached the so-called MacBride Principles on fair employment to its approval of $19.6 million (about £13 million) for the International Fund for Ireland.
The approval was part of the $500 billion Budget Bill which President Clinton will sign into law shortly.
The nine principles set out equal opportunity and non-discrimination guidelines for companies and projects in Northern Ireland receiving money from the IFI. Non-compliance would mean future US funding would be unavailable.
Yesterday, the Irish Embassy in Washington said the IFI, under the aegis of the Irish and British governments, was "in full compliance with all conditions attached to US support for the fund".
The Embassy said: "The fund has for some time been aware of Congressional wishes in regard to the Principles and, as we understand it, has largely internalised these in its disbursement procedures."
The passing of the "Principles of Economic Justice", unofficially called after the late Sean MacBride, who originally sponsored them, has been hailed as a "magnificent achievement" by Father Sean McManus of the Irish National Caucus, which has lobbied for them for over a decade.
Father McManus said the new legislation mandated that contributions to the IFI "should be used in a manner that effectively increases employment opportunities in communities with rates of unemployment higher than the local or urban average of unemployment in Northern Ireland". The principles were "about fair employment for all in Northern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic alike", Father McManus said.
Mr Ben Gilman, chairman of the House International Affairs Committee, welcoming the passing of the principles into law, said this was "also an important message on equality which will help ensure that no US taxpayer monies can be used to reinforce the `unsatisfactory status quo' where job, workplace discrimination and sectarian harassment poisoned life in the north of Ireland for too long".
The principles would send the message that "real change must come on the ground and employment and other forms of discrimination must fade into the dustbin of Northern Ireland history," Mr Gilman said.