| .What
Is A PAC? |
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| A Political Action Committee (PAC) is the
popular term for a political committee that
is organized for the purpose of raising and
spending money to elect and defeat candidates
for public office. A PAC can represent business,
labor or ethnic interests and be organized
as a connected (separate segregated fund)
or as a non-connected committee. According
to FEC guidelines, a PAC must register within
10 days of its formation and provide the names
and addresses for the PAC officials and members
and any connected organization. |
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| .Do
Iranian Americans need A PAC? |
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| Iranian American accomplishments have been
both significant and numerous. Today, there
are successful Iranian Americans in almost
every walk of life in American society. Iranian
Americans have excelled in law, medicine,
education, art, the media and sports. However,
there is one area in which Iranian American
achievement is lacking - that is the political
arena. The reality of the American political
system is that it is dependent on financial
contributions. PACs are playing an ever increasing
and significant role in the American electoral
system because they allow communities to pool
their resources for maximum impact. According
to the FEC, PACs contributed $220 million
to federal candidates in the 1997-1998 election
cycle. With the passage of the McCain-Feingold
Act covering campaign contributions, the importance
of PACs and of ethnic groups such as the Iranian
American community becomes significantly enhanced. |
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| Is
IAPAC affiliated with the government of Iran? |
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| No! IAPAC has no relationship with the Islamic
Republic of Iran. IAPAC is political action
committee focused on the needs of our community
in the United States and is not focused on
U.S. policy towards Iran, establishing ties
with or legitimizing the government of Iran. |
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| Why
Doesn't IAPAC take a position on US-Iran Relations? |
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|
It goes without saying that the vast majority
if not all Iranian Americans strongly promote
and hope for a free and democratic Iran.
However, we have seen time and again that
as soon as foreign policy issues are raised,
great divisions appear within the community.
The political situation in Iran as well
as U.S.-Iran relations are strictly and
completely beyond the scope of our mission
and activities. Our objective is to focus
exclusively on the issues of importance
to Iranian Americans living in the United
States. |
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