New York, NY, December 22, 1998…Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) today assured the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that he finds repugnant the white supremacy views of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), after ADL raised concerns that the Congressman had addressed the racist group.

In a letter to Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, Rep. Barr said, "If I had been aware white supremacist views occupied any place in the Council of Conservative Citizen's philosophy, I would never have arranged to speak." The Congressman said he wrote to the President of the CCC's Washington Chapter "denouncing the organization's racist views," and "urged them to be more forthright with their speakers, rather than engaging in a disingenuous effort to legitimize these outlandish views by wrongly associating elected officials, such as myself and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott."

Mr. Foxman welcomed Rep. Barr's "clear and unequivocal statement" repudiating the CCC, saying he had "set the record straight." Stating that, "the CCC cloaks itself in the mantle of conservatism to mask its underlying racist agenda," Mr. Foxman said he hoped Rep. Barr would communicate his experience and his knowledge of the group to others in the Republican Party, so they not be duped.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: For a on-line copy of ADL Backgrounder on the Council of Conservative Citizens, click here. To contact the Media Relations Department, 212-885-7747.

Related Link(s):   ADL Backgrounder on the Council of Conservative Citizens

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.