National Chairman's Letter

February 2001

Dear Members and Friends of the Independent American Party,

Our National Conference in January was a real success with a very pleasant evening social, positive National Committee business meeting, and a motivating Freedom Forum.

At our business meeting: 

We elected national officers for a two-year term (or until we expand enough to include officers from other regions of the country), and increased the number of officers from five to seven. I was reelected as National Chair, Sandra Richter as Vice Chair and Cheryl Tullius as Secretary. Clair Bangerter was elected as Treasurer, Renee Dale (former Treasurer) as Assistant Secretary, Pat Champion as Assistant Treasurer, and Patty Arnold as Assistant at Large. 

We passed a resolution that encourages state parties that are affiliated with other national parties to also affiliate with our national party. For example, this will allow a state party, such as the Nevada IAP, to remain affiliated with the national Constitution Party but also affiliate with the national Independent American Party. We see no immediate problem with such an arrangement so long as such state parties are in agreement with our IAP Mission and Principles. 

The potential problem will be in presidential election years -- should the two national parties pick different presidential nominees. In such a case, we would expect the state party to align with the better of the two presidential nominees. In 2000, the Constitution Party and IAP both nominated the same candidates -- Howard Phillips for President and Curtis Frazier for Vice President.

At our Freedom Forum: 

Janine Hansen, President of Eagle Forum of Nevada, spoke on "The Blessings that come from the Sacrificial Investing in Liberty." She related some of her successes and failures in lobbying the Nevada legislature, and gave us much encouragement in continuing our fight for freedom. 

Jim Dexter, State Chairman of the Utah Libertarian Party, spoke on "The Road to Hell is Paved with Politicians' Good Intentions." He gave us a libertarian perspective on various issues and vowed to work together with us on the issues in which we agree. 

Janalee Tobias, President of Women Against Gun Control, spoke on "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Mom?" She talked about the importance of our 2nd Amendment rights, and of the threats and harassment she has received because of her views and efforts.

Dan Hansen, past State Chairman of the Independent American Party of Nevada, gave brief remarks on Morality and Tyranny, and entertained us with several verbal "Bushisms." 

I, as National Chairman, spoke on "America's Cultural War." I contrasted America's past as a righteous and blessed nation with the America of today in becoming a wicked and cursed nation. 

Transcripts of these addresses are being published on our www.usiap.org web site this month. We are also adding other Viewpoint articles to the site each weekend.

Yours for Freedom!

Bruce Bangerter
IAP National Chairman