MORE ON ISLAMIC SAUDI ACADEMY TEXTBOOK ISSUE

WOLF CONTINUES TO PUSH ON ISLAMIC SAUDI ACADEMY TEXTS

Sends Fourth Letter to State Department Seeking Resolution of Issue

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) today sent the following letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the issue of whether or not textbooks being used at the two Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) campuses in northern Virginia promote violence or intolerance. This is Wolf's fourth letter to the secretary on this issue.

Copies of Wolf's earlier letters and the State Department's first response are available online at wolf.house.gov.

September 16, 2008

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State

2201 C St NW Ste 7276

Washington DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

I write to let you know that I just received my first response from the State Department after having written three letters over a two-month period regarding the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) and concerns raised by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on the content of textbooks being used there.

I've noted in these letters the time sensitivity of resolving this issue which hinged on the start of the 2008 school year, now well under way. After seeming inattention to these concerns, the letter my office ultimately received in response did not address my repeated request that you convene a meeting of relevant State Department and USCIRF representatives-to include the expert analysts commissioned by USCIRF to translate and interpret the ISA textbooks as well as any analysts commissioned by the State Department to translate and interpret the ISA textbooks that the department has received- to conclusively determine what is being taught at ISA. Such a meeting is in the interest of all involved. If ISA is in the process of adopting new curricula as State's response indicated then this independent review would either conclusively alleviate broader concerns or would rightly inform an appropriate response from the U.S. State Department.

I have enclosed a copy of a recent report issued by the Heritage Foundation which stated, consistent with the findings of the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service, that ISA is subject to the terms of the Foreign Missions Act as laid out in my previous letter. Heritage noted that "presidential case law and established rules of statutory interpretation mandate that the secretary of State may declare that the ISA is a foreign mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and, if operating against the interests of the United States, may be closed." In fact, Secretary of State George Schultz used his authority under the FMA to exercise jurisdiction over the Palestinian Information Organization.

I bring this report to your attention to stress once again that you are well within your authority to convene a meeting as described above, and arguably are obligated to do so given what is at stake.

Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Wolf

Member of Congress

FRW:ea

enclosure

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