2009

The Summit

On September 22, 2009, TAG held its second summit in the U.S. Congress. The summit was attended by a European delegation formed by the Presidency of the EPP Group and two other members of the European Parliament. The EPP Group included its President, Mr. Joseph Daul, (MEP, France) and its Vice Presidents, Mr. Jaime Mayor Oreja (Spain), Mrs. Corien Worthmann-Kool (Netherlands), Mr. Joseph Szajer (Hungary), Mr. Manfred Weber (Germany), Mr. Voti Bonsignore (Italy), Mr. Othmar Karas (Austria), Mrs. Rumiana Jeleva (Bulgaria), Mr. Paulo Rangel (Portugal), and Mr. Marian Jean Marinescu (Romania). In addition, the delegation was joined by Mr. Gunar Hokmark MEP (Sweden), Mr. Timothy Kirkhope MEP (UK), and MP Erwin Cotler of Canada, bringing a third legislature to TAG’s activities.

A number of US Congressional members participated including: Kay Granger (R-TX; founding Member of TAG), John Shadegg (R-AZ; founding Member of TAG), Former Member: Bud Cramer (D-AL; founding Member of TAG), Sue Myrick (R-NC; founding Member of TAG), Mike McCaul (R-TX), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Doc Hastings (R-WA), Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Steve Rothman (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-WA), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), John Carter (R-TX), Bill Shuster (R-PA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA).

The Second Summit addressed major issues of defense and security such as radicalization of militants within the West, the Iranian nuclear threat, Transatlantic defense cooperation, and US-European cooperation in international interventions particularly in Afghanistan and in Iraq.   

A second TAG declaration on human rights abuses was signed by participants as well as a document on counter-radicalization. The summit was also attended by European and US think tanks and foundations including scholars from the National Defense University and US national security and intelligence agencies.

Moderate Muslim-American NGOs Summit

In response to a TAG recommendation, a Moderate Muslim Summit was held in Congress in July 2009. Leaders of Muslim-American NGOs participated in a seminar along with representatives from the Obama Administration, including the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Defense. The seminar aimed at connecting the moderate Muslim-American leaders with key policymakers in the Executive branch.

TAG Document on Iran

In September 2009, TAG issued a special call for Western lawmakers to support the youth and women movement in Iran after the Green Revolution in June 2009. It became the strongest Western document in favor of democracy in Iran and called on the U.S. Government and the European Union to extend serious support to the democracy movement in Iran as a strategy to weaken the authoritarian Iranian regime.