National Chairman's Letter
January 2002
Dear Members and Friends of the Independent American Party,
I am deeply saddened to announce that Daniel Hansen of the IAP of Nevada was
killed January 22 in a truck accident in Humboldt County, Nevada while returning
home from the IAP National Conference in Utah. His lovely wife Luz sustained
broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerations in the accident, but will be okay.
Our hearts and prayers go out to Dan's wife, family and friends. Anyone wishing
to send condolences to the family may email them to contact@usiap.org.
Dan's sister Janine writes: "Danny died on our national day of shame,
when unborn babies cry and would-be mothers morn. He worked all of his life to
restore the God-given right to life of the unborn and our divinely inspired
Constitution. He was the founder of the Independent American Party of Nevada. It
was his dream and his vision."
Dan spoke to us the last evening of our National Conference. He was a
favorite speaker at all seven or our conferences beginning in 1999. He was a
prolific speaker and writer. He entertained us, fed us, and challenged us. He
helped write our National Mission and Principles. Some of his speeches and
articles are posted on our national web site under Viewpoints.
Dan was a valiant warrior for freedom. I know of no one personally who
suffered as many personal sacrifices as did Dan for the cause of liberty, and
for the future of our nation and our posterity. His patriotism, friendship,
oratory, and commitment will be sadly missed. May we pick up for him, the banner
he so gallantly carried for over half his life.
Daniel M. Hansen - January 10, 1942 - January 22, 2002. He was
truest of all patriots!
* * * * *
Our National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 18-19 was a real
success!
All day Friday and part of Saturday were spent in Platform Committee
sessions. We deliberated and revised two sections of a ten-section draft of
proposed platform planks. We decided to defer the other eight sections until our
next conference. It was a thrilling experience to feel the spirit and unity of
purpose as these men and women worked at refining the proposed platform planks.
Some likened it to how our Founding Fathers must have felt when they drafted our
national documents.
Friday evening was our traditional restaurant social (a welcome event after a
full day of platform deliberations). We enjoyed dining and visiting, and had
everyone there introduce themselves. We asked two of our Saturday speakers who
attended to give us in-depth backgrounds of their involvement in politics.
At our National Committee business meeting on Saturday, we heard state
reports from those states that were in attendance and heard absentee reports
from most of those states that could not attend. The activity in our various
states is encouraging; and in some states is exciting. We made a change to our
Bylaws that deals with quorums for meetings. We increased the National Committee
representation for Minnesota and Tennessee.
Our chief accomplishment was adoption of the Legacy and Family sections for
our National Platform. These were refined by the Platform Committee for a
day-and-a half, then presented to the National Committee for discussion and
further refinement. The two sections were adopted by unanimous vote. We now have
a partial platform (that is now posted on our www.usiap.org web site).
Additional sections to the platform will be adopted at subsequent National
Committee meetings.
At mid-afternoon Saturday, we held our traditional Freedom Forum. We heard
from Ken Bowers, from Utah, speaking on "The New Elites." Grant
Solomon, of the IAP of Arizona, spoke on "Educating the Constitution."
We were well-fed.
That evening, we had a delicious light dinner, then listened to four more
speakers. Dan Hansen, Will Christensen, Mike Lehman and Carlton Bowen each spoke
to us. We were well-fed again. (We expect to have their addresses and those of
our earlier speakers transcribed and posted on our website over the next few
weeks.) As the meeting ended, our National Conference adjourned until July 2002.
* * * * *
We began working on proposed planks for an IAP platform last Fall. I commend
Richard Wilde, our Issues Committee Chairman for doing most of the work and
writing an initial draft. We emailed that draft to all our State
Contacts/Chairs/Acting Chairs in the various states and to members of the
National Committee for input. We received a number of suggestions and comments
that were incorporated into the draft. This whole procedure was then repeated a
second time. The first two sections of the final compilation were revised by the
Platform Committee during our National Conference, then revised some more and
adopted by the National Committee.
The Legacy section of our new partial platform has two parts: Christian
Heritage and Patriotism -- in which we recognize God and our love of country.
The Family section has four parts: Traditional Family, Morality, Life, and
Substance Abuse and Gambling -- in which we recognize traditional family values
and rights of the unborn. Sections on Freedom, Education, Society, Money,
Constitution, Government, Defense, and Sovereignty will be added in the future.
(Dan Hansen would be well pleased.)
Yours for Freedom!
Bruce Bangerter
IAP National Chairman
