Posted on 12/02/2001 11:38:27 PM PST by American_Patriot_For_Democracy
There is an organization called the Pakistani American Congress (PAC) http://www.pakamrcongress.org/ which pushed Pro-Taliban, and Pro-Jihadist issues through Congress by buying and selling our own American politicians.
The Organization's Name is the Pakistani American Congress [PAC], the Nature of Organization: Political and Social Work, and its Street Address is 29482 West Ten Mile Road City, Troy State/Province, MI, Postal/Zip Code: 48336 Country: USA .
Their Phone: (248) 474-3335 Fax: (248) 474-3280 Email: information@pakamrcongress.org Website: www.pakamrcongress.org
It is an umbrella association of forty-four Pakistani organizations in nineteen states. All these organizations are represented by up to three members in the PAC who elect the national board and the office bearers for two years.
Its constitution was approved in October 2000 and came formally into being in March 1991. Looks like it's going strong.
This is what the PAC says about some of its achievements:
"Presently, PAC focuses on the political action in the United States to help Pakistan and Pakistani Americans living here. For example in 1991 and 1991, PAC helped pass two resolutions in the House of representatives in Washington condemning the atrocities committed against the Kashmiri civilian population by the Indian Armed forces. At that time, PAC helped publish a book called "Kashmir - From Happy Valley to Valley of Death" by Dr. William Baker. Perhaps PAC's greatest achievement was to prevent the anti-Pakistan forces to get Pakistan declared a terrorist state seven years ago in the USA during Dr. Sakhawat's presidency."
PAC has embarked on developing a dialogue with different social and cultural organizations and Think Tanks in Pakistan and USA in order to learn and contribute positively in fair and equitable policy developments in both countries. Another project to be started is dependant on finding Pakistanis who could help Pakistan in various professions by providing their services and advice on national projects which might enable Pakistan to open up her century old bureaucracy to modern specialization era.
They further go on and say stuff like, "We need to have a more effective influence on the American news media by promoting our own writers and friends of Pakistan (Friends of Pakistan? Like the Terrorists who carried out the World Trade Center attacks?). Youth groups of Pakistani origin must be helped to organize on different university campuses to prepare themselves for future leadership position of some of our major organizations. Our common denominator, Love for Pakistan, must translate it self into practical projects to make a positive difference in the lives of the wonderful people of Pakistan."
The ninth annual Pakistan Day on Capitol Hill was held on June 27, 2001 in Washington DC. Thirty-three lawmakers and/or their staffers attended the session to show their support for the Pakistani American community and strengthen US-Pakistan friendship.
The following 22 House Reps were present in person: Nick Lampson (TX), Ciro Rodriquez (TX), Jim Turner (TX), Ron Paul (TX), John Culberson (TX), Curt Weldon (PA), Joseph Pitts (PA), Robert Borski (PA), Xavier Becerra (CA), Grace Napolitano (CA), Dane Kildee (MI), David Bonior (MI), Fred Upton (MI), Benjamin Gilman (NY), Major Owens (NY), Gregory Meeks (NY), Henry Hyde (IL), Bobby Rush (IL), Danny Davis (IL), Shelly Berkley (NV), James Moran (VA), Connie Morella (MD).
The following 9 House Reps were represented by their staff members: Dana Rohrabacher (CA), Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA), John Conyers (MI), Dennis Hastert (IL), John Shimkus (IL), Jerry Costello (IL), Paul Ryan (WI), Charles Taylor (NC), Mark Foley (FL).
The following 2 Senators were represented by their aides: Mari Landrieeu (LA) and Tim Johnson (SD). It's worth looking at the various sections of this site including their "constitution."
*Spit!* This is a disgrace.
I have found Ron Paul to be a fairly well thought representative. The assertion that these Congressmen are bought seems a bit ill-founded.
Wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on their activity though.
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's chief spokesman during the campaign finance investigations is now serving as a foreign agent for Pakistan, representing the Islamabad government at a time when White House officials are making key decisions on how to address the threat of a nuclear arms buildup between Pakistan and India.
Lanny Davis, who left as special White House counsel in February to resume his position as a partner with the powerhouse Washington lobbying and law firm of Patton Boggs(Cokie Roberts brother's firm), also has not registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, according to a Globe review of federal records. Davis said yesterday that he believed he had not yet billed his client enough money to require registration but planned to register soon.
Ordinarily, senior administration officials are prohibited from lobbying on behalf of clients immediately after leaving the White House. But White House officials said Davis did not earn a large enough salary while on the public payroll to be covered by federal "revolving door" criminal statutes and a 1993 presidential directive preventing senior aides from immediately engaging in work as a lobbyist.
"He was not in the category required to sign that pledge, so he did not sign," said Jim Kennedy, a White House spokesman, referring to a lobbying prohibition pledge required of anyone making more than $110,000 a year. Davis said he made $100,000 a year.
The government of Pakistan is just one in a range of clients that Davis has taken on since returning to his legal and lobbying practice from his high-profile position at the White House, where he served as Clinton's chief spokesman on myriad campaign fund-raising investigations. Last week, Davis led a group of 125 American Indian tribal leaders trying to secure gambling rights in California through a series of meetings with Attorney General Janet Reno, members of Congress and staff aides on Capitol Hill and in the Justice Department.
Davis, an affable lawyer and spokesman much-liked by many members of the news media for his accessibility, had represented Pakistan as a lawyer and lobbyist from July 1993 through November 1996, according to Justice Department records on file with the Foreign Agents Registration Office. Back then, he did fill out a so-called short form that registered him as a foreign agent. He returned in February to Patton Boggs and to his representation of Pakistan, which had remained a client of the firm in his absence. But Davis never filled out a new justice department form.
Davis has resumed his work for Pakistan at a pivotal time in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan's historic enemy, India, detonated five nuclear devices last month in a round of tests, spurring Pakistani officials to respond in kind. The United States has levied economic sanctions against both countries as anxieties remain high over the possibility of one country using nuclear weapons to attack the other.
"The Pakistan and India thing, strategically, is probably the most sensitive issue in the world today," said Charles Lewis, the executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington think tank. "For a former White House official to go back in the door holding a brief for a government, it's unacceptable. There's no other word for it.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Davis stressed that since he had already represented Pakistan, he was not using his White House contacts as his prime selling point when he returned to Patton Boggs. He also said that in his former capacity as a special counsel he had no access to officials with regulatory and policy-making powers, especially on the National Security Council.
"This is not an instance where I am trading off on my White House experience to represent a client," said Davis. "My job at the White House was to speak to the press about campaign finance and other related issues. If my job had anything to do with any of the issues that Pakistan might face, then from an appearances viewpoint I would certainly consider the appearance on a case-by-case basis on whether to take a client."
Davis left the White House in February after a 15-month stint as Clinton's chief spokesman on the campaign finance issues that have plagued the administration since the 1996 reelection. He is now one of Pakistan's lawyers in the United States.
Specifically, he said he is providing legal guidance to Pakistani officials on whether to file suit against the United States for the return of more than $500 million that Pakistan paid in 1989 for a fleet of 28 F-16 fighter planes but never received. In 1990, President Bush halted the deal and froze the assets under US law because officials could not certify that Pakistan was not a nuclear state.
Since India detonated its first nuclear devices on May 12, Clinton has made a series of public statements hinting that he would like to settle the issue, either by seeking a waiver to the law that would allow him to give Pakistan the planes or by refunding the money. Those signals have weakened since Pakistan exploded its own nuclear devices on May 29.
Davis acknowledged making one recent call to a White House national security official on behalf of his client. The call was placed to Jim Steinberg, the deputy national security adviser, and involved a request for a telephone conference between Steinberg and a Pakistani official, Davis said.
It was unclear yesterday whether Davis violated any regulations or laws by not registering with the Justice Department as a foreign agent when he returned to Patton Boggs in February. The head of the Foreign Agents Registration Office, Marshall Williams, said that in general, if an agent had registered previously, left his or her position and then returned to the same work, the agent would be expected to register again.
White House officials said yesterday that neither Davis nor his client, Pakistan, would receive special access because of his former duties and relationships with senior officials, including the president.
''Lanny is an appreciated figure here, but I don't know what kind of work he is doing for his client," said White House press secretary Michael McCurry. "As long as he follows legal guidelines, he has a right to provide information to the government. He doesn't get any better or worse treatment from the White House than anyone else."
I find it more anomalous to list Rep Ron Paul in a group of supposedly pro-terrorist Congressmen and implying this group has been 'bought' by PAC money or any Pakistani PAC. The specific inclusion of Ron Paul tends to detract from the allegation rather than cast doubt on Ron Paul's credibility, IMHO.
Prudently, it wouldn't hurt to track the PAC, as well as the origin of the report.
Do you believe Ron Paul is a terrorist sympathizer/supporter/even a condoner? I suspect it would take a lot more for either one of us to label him into such a group.
Maybe 5,000 deaths on US soil doesn't quite "do it for you" just yet?
If you really want affirmation of Ron Paul's support for Pakistan's lobby, why don't you go take a "look-see" at the Pakistani Lobby's "own personal website?"
Ron Paul's and Others Contribution To Humanity
And heck, if the entire nation of Pakistan can not only admit, but then apologize for, their criminal activities and conduct, why can't I be a little irritated with them (and their supporters) too?
Based on your reasoning, the Daughters of the American Confederacy should be stamped out because the Confederacy supported slavery. Or all Catholics should be punished because of the Inquisition. And all Protestants because of their persecution of Catholics.
Democracy allows participation, regardless of if you like the organization or not. And the Pac organization, from looking at their website, is not only benign, but speaks out about inequities in Pakistan. Seems to be a fairly responsible group.
This type of activity has been accepted by the United States government, and by Pakistan, as terrorism. See the link yet?
?????????
The article is about a Pakistani support group. The article lists names of Congressmen who have attended or sent representatives to their functions. I have read quite a bit from Ron Paul in the past, when he was about the only person on Capitol Hill simply acting as a statesman of the common man's interests and truly living by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. He's been fairly consistent at it for about 25 yrs.
I might not agree with everything he says, but I don't associate him with extremist terrorist tactics. Quite the contrary, if one has ever considered his heartfelt convictions.
The real question now emerges. Why is this such an issue and why imply good guys are bad guys in the same article implying foreign suspects are enemies?
Glad the article got posted. It reveals somebody has some ulterior motives. (more likely those of the article's author)
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