February 11, 2003

MPAC is urging the American Muslim community and friends of the community to contact the White House immediately to voice concern over the false characterization of a hard working American Muslim employed by the White House.

In the latest of a series of attacks against American Muslim employees in government, extremist conservatives have attacked an employee in the White House solely because he is Muslim.

Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration, and David A. Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU) are leading this slander.

Gaffney spoke at a recent Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference, which sold virulently anti-Muslim bumper stickers. One bumper sticker laid out the swastika as the "s" in Islam while another read "No Muslims - No Terrorism." The stickers were said to have been removed after Vice President Cheney, who spoke at the CPAC conference, expressed "strong displeasure" at their presence.

However, a Washington Post reporter who later asked for one was slyly handed one from under the table by a smiling attendant.

To make matters worse, during the question and answer session, Gaffney, in a shocking display of bigotry, questioned the patriotism of a White House employee simply because he is a Muslim and the son of a senior official at a prominent mosque in Houston, the Islamic Delwah Center. (See Gaffney's comments below)

MPAC is proud of Muslim government employees' hard work on behalf of all Americans. These citizens are working double time to protect our nation, using their education, skills and resources to serve their country, the United States. Detractors from the hard work of these citizens should be censured and stopped from making outright racist statements intended to tar all American Muslims.

Thank Grover Norquist

One brave defender of integrity within the Republican party has been Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). The Washington Post recently reported that Norquist e-mailed fellow American Conservative Union board members, the group that sold the racist bumper stickers, calling for a resolution apologizing "for the discomfort and insult that these offensive materials caused."

Norquist also formally uninvited Frank Gaffney from what the Washington Post describes as his "Wednesday...weekly lunch for conservative A-listers."

In a letter MPAC sent to Mr. Norquist, MPAC thanked Mr. Norquist for, "Sending a message to Americans that there is still something called honesty, integrity, and taking a principled stand in Washington D.C."

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ACTION ALERT (Two Items)

1. Write or call the White House and thank President Bush for supporting White House employees of all races and religions.

EMAIL: president@whitehouse.gov
(Please CC MPAC at mpacdc1@aol.com)
PHONE NUMBER: 202-456-1111

Talking Points:

a. We are grateful to the President for his fair characterization of Islam and the majority of Muslims all over the world.

b. We condemn the erroneous remarks made at a recent CPAC conference and urge all American Muslims and friends of the community to request that the White House join us in deploring this type of misguided behavior.

c. We ask that the White House continue to support all its employees regardless of race, ethnicity or religion.

2.Thank Mr. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, for defending integrity within the Republican party.

Talking Points:

a. Thank Mr. Norquist for taking a stance out of principle to protect the integrity of the Republican Party and preserve fairness toward all American citizens.

EMAIL: friends@atr.org
PHONE: 202-785-0266
FAX: 202-785-0261

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Frank Gaffney's Comments During Question and Answer Period at CPAP Conference:

"... I'm sure quite unintentionally the president of the United States has repeatedly been put in the position of seeming to embrace the Wahabbists who are trying to dominate this religion (Islam) in our own country.... I received a press release the other day from an organization that is one of the leading Wahhabist sympathizers and, I believe, (Wahabist) funded organizations in this country called the American Muslim Council. It is an organization whose radical anti-American screeds have been much in evidence for many years... (T)his same organization recently crowed that their executive director, a black Muslim radical, was invited to the White House for a session to hector the administration about this rounding up of their co-religionists.... (I)n this press release they credited one (name withheld) for having gotten them into the White House. It turns out that (X's) father is one (X), the treasurer of the Islamic Delwah (sic) Center, a prominent Wahhabi mosque in Houston. But the reason he was able to influence whether (AMC Executive Director) Eric Vickers and the AMC were present at this White House meeting was because he is also, I believe, the associate director for cabinet affairs in the Bush White House responsible, if you can believe it, for the state department, the defense department and the justice department. This is not how we win the hearts and minds of peace-loving, pro-American Muslims, it is a perilous path and I hope that it will be corrected."