Press Releases

MANASSAS, Va., Feb. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a private lunch during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., Rick Santorum assured 90 national conservative leaders that, if he won the Republican presidential nomination, he would not move to the political center.

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said, "Rick Santorum was the only candidate to come before CPAC and say conservative principles are the things that win elections."

"If you want to understand why conservatives are backing Rick Santorum, look no further than the enthusiastic response he received at CPAC when he said that 'personnel is policy' and that 'conservatives aren't merely a wing of the Republican Party--they are the Republican Party'," observed Viguerie.

"In his public speech at CPAC, and at a private luncheon with 90 national conservative leaders, Rick Santorum said he would campaign for the Republican nomination as a conservative, run against Barack Obama as a conservative, and govern as a conservative," Viguerie said.

"When Rick Santorum came before conservative leaders and said he 'would not walk away from the conservative movement. It is who I am.  I don't have a pollster. I do what I do from the heart, not because some consultant or focus group tells me this is what to do or what to say,' he rejected the content-free, run-to-the-center campaign the establishment and the media always demand from Republicans," he said.

"That is why the majority of conservative leaders and grassroots conservatives, starting with the January 13 meeting in Texas, are leaving the sidelines and backing Rick Santorum for President," Viguerie concluded.

NOTE TO EDITORS:  Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation) and one of the "conservatives of the century"(Washington Times).  He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.

Contact: Bob Sturm, (703) 396-6974 or Ryan Rogge, (703) 396-6971 After 6 PM Eastern & on weekends,(703) 307-8176 or (703) 674-6948 

SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC expressed today grave concern about India's relations with Iran. In a letter to the Indian ambassador to the United States, AJC stressed that any effort by India to intensify its commercial activity with Iran could undermine the U.S. and EU sanctions that aim to stop Iran's nuclear-weapons program.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100816/AJCLOGO )

"We are alarmed and dismayed by this apparent move to elevate commercial interests over vital security concerns," wrote AJC President Robert Elman and Executive Director David Harris in a letter to Ambassador Nirupama Rao.

The full text of the letter to Ambassador Rao follows:

Her Excellency Nirupama RaoAmbassador Extraordinary and PlenipotentiaryEmbassy of India2107 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20008

Dear Ambassador Rao:

As you are aware, AJC has been a long-time friend of India and an advocate of increasingly close cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.

In that spirit, we were deeply troubled by recent news reports of Indian efforts to intensify trade relations with Iran at the very moment that Washington and fellow democracies are applying new economic pressures in the banking and energy sectors to persuade Tehran to halt its pursuit of nuclear-weapons capability.

We were particularly struck by the announcement this week, by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, that "a huge delegation" of Indian business representatives would soon travel to Iran to capitalize on opportunities created by European withdrawal from the Iranian market. This suggests that New Delhi is attempting to take advantage of sanctions adopted by like-minded nations for the explicit purpose of preventing nuclear proliferation by a dangerously aggressive regime -- and which could, in turn, trigger an escalating arms race -- in a highly volatile region.

In light of India's history of support for International Atomic Energy Agency resolutions on Iranian transgressions, and repeated expressions of Indian Government concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions, we are alarmed and dismayed by this apparent move to elevate commercial interests over vital security concerns.

India has asserted that it will only abide by UN Security Council restrictions on trade with Iran, but not go beyond. Yet, as in the recent case of Syria, further measures are today impossible because of a threatened veto by one or two permanent members. We fear that India risks not only the erosion of the latest steps laudably adopted in Washington, Brussels and elsewhere, but also its standing as an admired partner in safeguarding regional and global security.

We thank you for conveying AJC's concerns on this urgent matter to your Government, and look forward to the prospect of discussing it with you at your earliest convenience.

With the assurance of our profound esteem and best wishes, we remain,

Respectfully,Robert Elman, PresidentDavid Harris, Executive Director

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

MANASSAS, Va., Feb. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Richard A. Viguerie, the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement regarding Mitt Romney's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in which he described himself as "severely conservative":

"In my 50 years in conservative politics at the national level, I have never heard anyone other than Governor Romney describe himself as 'severely' conservative. 

"Romney has shown, once again, that he can mouth the words conservatives use, but he has no gut-level emotional connection with the conservative movement and its ideas and policies.

"To paraphrase a story about Mark Twain, one day his wife decided to repeat some of his more colorful four-letter words to embarrass him into cleaning up his language.  After absorbing the barrage, the author thought for a moment and said, 'Honey, you've got the words right, but you just don't have the tune.'

"After 50 years in the conservative movement, I can say with some authority:  Mitt, you may have the words of conservatism right, but you just don't have the tune."

NOTE TO EDITORS:  Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation) and one of the "conservatives of the century"(Washington Times).  He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.

Contact: Bob Sturm, (703) 396-6974 or Ryan Rogge, (703) 396-6971After 6 PM Eastern & on weekends,(703) 307-8176 or (703) 674-6948rav@conservativehq.com

SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com