Subject: LID BLOWN ON SECRET MEETING OF HARD RIGHT
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 19:40:57 -0400

NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE
PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
Tracey Conaty
619-595-7949
800-757-6476 Pager
[email-masked] 

Robert Bray
619-595-7949
[email-masked] 

LID BLOWN ON SECRET MEETING OF HARD RIGHT
"WHO'S WHO" AT GOP CONVENTION

SAN DIEGO, August 9, 1996 

In a first-ever major press report today in USAToday, The Council for
National Policy (CNP), little known in the media but arguably the most
powerful Far Right policy group, was exposed for its behind-the-scenes
leadership fo the GOP and its dominance of the Republican Convention. The
Council is conducting a closed meeting at the Loew's Coronado Bay Resort in
San Diego Aug. 9 and 10 immediately preceding the GOP Convention. 

The CNP's leadership reads like a who's who of the hard Right, with many, if
not most, of its members key players in the GOP Convention and national
politics, business and religious affairs. CNP members include: 

       Ralph Reed, Christian Coalition 
       Pat Robertson, Christian Coalition 
       Gary Bauer, Family Research Council 
       James Dobson, Focus on the Family 
       Ed Meese, Heritage Foundation 
       Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ 
       Reed Irvine, Accuracy in Media 
       Beverly LaHaye, Concerned Women for America 
       Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum 
       Richard Viguerie, American Target Advertising 
       Paul Weyrich, Free Congress Foundation 
       John Whitehead, Rutherford Institute 
       Donald Wildon, American Family Association 

Conservative business leaders in the group include Howard Ahmanson, Holly and
Jeffrey Coors, and Rich DeVos of Amway, which is a major underwriter of the
GOP Convention. At least 12 members of the U.S. Congress are affiliated,
including Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX); Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC); Rep. Dan Burton
(R-IN); Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), Senate Majority Leader; Sen. Don Nickles
(R-OK); and Rep. Barbara Yucanovich (R-NV), among others. 

"If 'rapture' were to strike at the meeting of the Council for National
Policy this week at the GOP Convention, the major leadership of the hard
Right would evaporate," said Suzanne Pharr of the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force (NGLTF) and a noted author and researcher of the hard Right. "They
have championed most of the significant arch-conservative policy now part of
the GOP platform. One might ask why they are attending both the Republican
National Convention and their own secretive gathering. Surely it is not to
support the GOP's posturing on moderation." 

Skipp Porteous, a leading researcher of the hard Right, in Freedom Rider
Magazine
(Jan./Feb. 1996) says about the CNP, "[their] goal is to make the members'
'shared moral values' dominant in domestic and foreign policy. If there is
one group in the U.S. that serves as an umbrella for the hard right, it is
the CNP." Visit the IFAS home page at http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/ for a
complete list of CNP's membership. 

"The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is working to expose and oppose the
Far Right's dominance of mainstream American politics, especially in the
Republican Party and at the GOP Convention," said NGLTF executive director
Melinda Paras. "NGLTF organizers have travelled thousands of miles to every
state to organize against the Radical Right. NGLTF is organizing rallies,
protests and other activities in San Diego. 

For more information on the Council for National Policy and other Right Wing
groups at the Convention, contact Suzanne Pharr, NGLTF, (619)595-7949.