Dear John,
As we have warned, legislation has now been introduced pushing for a U.S. ban on travel to Iran [[link removed]] .
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The legislation is being promoted by Jason Brodsky, the Policy Director for the hawkish pro-Israel group "United Against Nuclear Iran" and who was also involved in establishing the Saudi-backed "Iran International".The bill has been introduced by Rep. Joe Wilson – most famous for shouting "You Lie!" [[link removed]] at President Obama during his first State of the Union in what was then a new low, but now is the new norm, for Congress.
Wilson regularly headlines events in support of OIAC, the MEK lobby.
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And he recently headlined an event on Capitol Hill by NUFDI, a lobby that seeks a restoration of the Pahlavi monarchy:
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We need to take action NOW to tell lawmakers that Iranian Americans DO NOT support a ban on U.S. travel to Iran.
Take Action [[link removed]]
There is no shortage of lobbies and interests on Capitol Hill advocating for sanctions, travel bans, military threats, and other forms of "pressure" that punishes ordinary Iranians and leads to violations of Iranian Americans' rights here at home. From AIPAC to FDD, from MEK to NUFDI to UANI, the list is long.
There is only one Iranian-American voice on Capitol Hill standing up to these policies that hurt ordinary Iranians and undermine Iranian Americans: NIAC.
When NIAC was established, the only voice on Capitol Hill expressing the supposed views of Iranian Americans was the MEK. And the many organizations and lobbies advocating for hawkish Iran policies used the MEK as their "Iranian-American" voice to justify their proposals.
We built for 20 years to ensure that Iranian Americans who support peace, diplomacy, human rights and putting people first could make their voices heard.
The MEK is still there, but in the past year they’ve been joined by other Iranian-American organizations calling for new forms of collective punishment.
We support pluralism and believe everyone in our community should have a voice. Right now, we need to raise our voice to tell lawmakers that a majority of our community does not support a ban on travel to Iran. Iranian Americans know better than anyone the heinous repression imposed by Iran's government, but hundreds of thousands of Iranian Americans choose to visit Iran regularly to see their loved ones and that must remain their choice. No government should sever our connection to our loved ones.
Tell Congress "Do Not Ban Travel to Iran" [[link removed]]
If Donald Trump wins next year, we could face a ban against Iranians coming to the U.S. and a ban on Americans traveling to Iran. Isolating Iranians and isolating us from our families does nothing to help U.S. national security and only serves an agenda that ends with more repression, more misery, and eventually military conflict. We will not let that happen.
Best,
Jamal Abdi NIAC Action Executive Director P.S. As a grassroots organization, we depend on your support to stand up against the chorus of voices that want to punish ordinary people. Will you make a donation today to help us defeat this legislation and to strengthen our people-powered voice? [[link removed]]
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