TO: PRESIDENT GEORGE
BUSH
SUBJECT: OVER 500
ACADEMICS FROM COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE U.S. PLUS MORE THAN 5,000
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTERS ASK THAT THE DANIEL PIPES NOMINATION TO THE USIP BE
REJECTED. PLEASE DO NOT BYPASS THE SENATE AND TAKE AWAY ITS DEMOCRATIC
PREROGATIVE BY MAKING A RECESS APPOINTMENT OF THIS NOMINEE
BY FAX
FAX NO. (202) 456-2461
August 17, 2003
President George
Bush
1600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington,
D.C.20500
Dear President
Bush,
We are academics
who have signed a letter to the Senate HELP Committee asking them to reject the
nomination of Daniel Pipes to the U.S. Institute for Peace, or at least hold
full public hearings so his extremist views can be fully brought before the
American people. To date, more than 500 academics from universities and
colleges across this country have signed the letter along with some 5,000
cosignatories from all walks of life. In the past few days it has been widely
reported that you are considering by-passing the Senate by making a recess
appointment. If this is true, it would be a serious blow to our country’s
democracy. At the July 22, 2003 meeting of the Senate HELP Committee the
Ranking Member and other senior
Senators eloquently voiced their opposition to the Pipes nomination focussing
for the most part on what are widely held to be the nominee’s racist
views. Further action on the nomination was put over until after the August
recess. In addition to what are taken to be his virulent bigoted views, Pipes’
views on conflict resolution run counter to the mission statement of the USIP.
His own website publishes what amount to genocidal remarks by supporters
advocating in one case the extermination of tens of thousands of Palestinian
refugees in the refugee camps as a way to solve the problem there. Recently, in
a interview on national radio he refused to condemn the interment of Japanese
Americans during the second world war. This is not the kind of person we can
afford to have at, of all places, the U.S. Institute for Peace. Outside of the adverse effect Pipes
might actually have on the job, the message it sends to the rest of the world about what our country is
about works against our own peace and security. We urge you to withdraw the
nomination, or at the least let the Senate perform its function and let the
full democratic vetting of this candidate go forward. To do otherwise,
repeating, for emphasis what we have said above, would be a serious blow to our
democracy.
What follows is
the letter signed by us and sent to the Senate HELP Committee in June. The
additional thousands of signatories are on file with the ranking member and
others of the Senate HELP Committee.
June 17,
2003
Health,
Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee
United
States Senate
428 Dirksen
Senate Office Building
Washington,
DC 20510-6300
Re:
Nomination of Daniel Pipes to the Board of Directors of the United States
Institute of Peace (USIP)
Dear Mr.
Chairman, and Members of the Committee,
As American
citizens we are deeply concerned about the nomination of Daniel Pipes to the
Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). His views
are widely held to be deeply racist, and many, including those from our most
prestigious universities, believe he is actively engaged in an attempt to
revive the tactics of McCarthyism, a most shameful chapter in our
nation’s history, as a means of silencing free speech. In addition, Mr.
Pipes’ often stated views on conflict resolution which favor the use of
force and fear over negotiations contradict the stated purpose of the USIP
whose mission statement is “to promote international peace and the
resolution of conflicts among nations and peoples of the world without recourse
to violence.”
Finally, at
a time when our government is already dealing with feelings in much of the rest
of the world that it is anti-Arab or anti-Muslim, the fact that Mr. Pipes is
widely seen as a radical anti-Arab propagandist, as the Washington Post has put
it, “is salt in the wound.” We stand with people of all
backgrounds, ethnicities, and religious persuasions who, in the interest of the
most cherished principles of our democracy, condemn this nomination.
We trust
that, as the Washington Post has also put it,"if the White House does not
rescind the nomination", the Committee will “have the good sense to
turn it down.” However, if for any reason the Committee has doubts about
rejecting the nomination, then we urge it respectfully, in the strongest
possible terms, to hold full and public hearings so that the nominee's
extremist views and practices may be brought out in the light of day in front
of the American people. Such an extreme and completely inexplicable nomination
cannot be allowed to be rushed through to approval without a chance for the
American public to be heard. In our view, however, the widely known facts are
way more than sufficient to warrant immediate rejection of the nomination
without any further examination and we hope the Committee will do so.
Respectfully,
Over 500
academic signatories included here