This past Memorial Day, several cable channels aired war films all day, as they do every year as a tribute to our heroic veterans.
Some of the films were old classics; others were produced more recently.
But almost without exception these films showed how essential each soldier was to the overall mission of winning the war. Sometimes the soldiers themselves questioned whether what they were doing really mattered. They weren’t able to see the “big picture,” so hunkered down in a foxhole it was easy for them to wonder if they were making a difference.
If you regularly read our emails, you know we try to keep the “big picture” in front of you. We not only provide you education and information about the threats that Islamofascism poses to us, we also fill you in on projects we’re doing, activities we’re undertaking, progress we’re making, and challenges we’re facing.
That’s because I so very much want each and every one of you, our valued members, to be able to see what we see. It is my deepest hope that you understand that, just because we haven’t had a repeat of 9/11, this does not mean our enemies have gone to sleep or the threat has gone away.
I so very much want you to understand how we are tackling this threat, and why we are doing it the way we are. If I could, I would gather every one of you together in a large stadium and personally speak to you, so you would have no question as to how important you are to this mission and no doubt as to what needs to be done and why.
And above all else, I don’t want any of you to think, even for a moment, that you’re “hunkered down in a foxhole” like those soldiers who doubted that what they did mattered to the overall mission.
Because when everyone on the “team” understands the role he or she can play, and how important that role is, and why that role is essential to the success of the mission, great things happen.
Some of you have chosen to be chapter leaders. Some of you have chosen to make financial contributions. Some of you regularly forward our emails. Some of you sign our petitions. Some of you have contacted a Member of Congress.
And because you are such an important part of our team, I need to share a very important message with you regarding how the “big picture” is changing for our organization.
You see, we are on the cusp of some major developments, and we are also facing some new challenges.
First, I’d like to briefly remind you of our activities of the past few months.
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We just launched the national petition calling on Congress to examine extremist materials in American mosques.
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We completed a nationwide poll that produced some very revealing and encouraging results, and we briefed key national leaders on those results.
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We helped focus national attention on the activities of TIZA, a tax-funded charter school in Minnesota, which led to an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Education. The issue was even covered on The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News. As a result, the school was instructed to alter two of its practices that amounted to an impermissible advancement of Islam.
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We added nearly 70 new local chapters in the past 60 days.
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Working with key Members of Congress, we have started the process of advancing some key legislative proposals.
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We conducted our second telephone town hall in which over 1,400 people signed up to participate.
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Our efforts early this year helped lead to the closing of two key terrorist web sites hosted by U.S. internet providers.
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Our petition drive and efforts encouraging our members to contact the New York legislature helped lead to the passage of “Rachel’s Law,” a law protecting authors from “libel terrorism.”
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We are helping to launch “ACT! for Canada” and “ACT! for Australia” organizations.
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And last year, I made presentations at the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, the Joint Forces Staff College, USSOCOM United States Special Operations Command, and to Members of Congress.
As you can see, as we advance in the fulfillment of our mission we are already making a noticeable difference – and our “big picture” is changing.
Because we are developing a reputation for action and effectiveness, more and more people are coming to us. Some want us to take on new challenges, others want our assistance in battles they’re already fighting. Leaders of organizations have contacted us, offering assistance and seeking ways in which we can work together.
This is all great news.
What’s more, we still have big plans for the rest of this very important election year and into 2009.
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We will be posting a “scorecard” of congressional votes on important issues by late summer.
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Around mid-summer we will launch a re-designed website for ACT! for America, with exciting new features and tools to improve our ability to educate, communicate and organize. After that we’ll launch a re-design of the American Congress for Truth website.
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We will kick off a series of grassroots training seminars around the country in September to equip and empower YOU, our members.
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In October, prior to the general election, we will publish voter information flyers, showing how candidates for President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House stand on issues we care about.
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Our three-year plan calls for us to hire, by mid-2009, an experienced full-time lobbyist to be our eyes, ears and voice inside the Congress. However, we hope to have the funds to move up that target date to late this fall. With the Saudis and other foreign entities having top lobbyists on Capitol Hill, it’s time we Americans concerned about national security and the threat of radical Islam had our own lobbyist. Combining the power of the grassroots with a full-time lobbyist is the most effective way to bring about change in Congress.
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And we are already making plans for a national conference to be held during the summer of 2009.
As you can see, we have an extremely ambitious agenda. No organization in America, that is committed to stopping radical Islam and protecting our safety and security, has both the national organization we have and the ambitious agenda we are pursuing.
As a result, based on certain information we have acquired, I can assure you of this. Radical Muslims here in America and in other parts of the world are hoping you and I will let up or give up. We can’t! Each and every one of us is crucial to the success of our mission. Lest you doubt that, consider this.
I can speak to people via radio interviews. But I can’t talk personally to your neighbor. Guy Rodgers, our Executive Director, can apply his years of experience to developing and implementing our strategic plan. But he can’t call in on your behalf to your local talk radio program. Kelly Cook, our National Field Director, can recruit and train chapter leaders, but he can’t forward one of our emails to your list of friends and family members.
As an organization, we are at a very critical crossroads, and we are facing some important decisions and challenges. We are growing and our influence nationwide is increasing -- but we still have a long way to go. One of our members recently emailed us and said “I’m looking to the day when ACT! for America has millions of members, not tens of thousands, actively impacting the direction of our country.”
So am I.
Because, as a key congressional staff member, whose area of expertise is national security, told Guy Rodgers, “that’s what it’s going to take.”
Tomorrow I will give you the next “page” of the “big picture.”
Thank you for your support, your patriotism, and your activism.
Yours for the America we love,
Brigitte Gabriel
