Rays of Light in the Darkness Dinner

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The Honorable Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

The Honorable Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)

The Honorable R. James Woolsey

Dr. Tawfik Hamid

Dr. Walid Phares

featuring

Frank Gaffney

The Honorable Jon Kyl (R-AZ)-
Jon Kyl has served as Arizona’s senator since 1994,  is House Minority Whip, and is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security. Sen. Kyl has successfully battled for tough new anti-terrorism tools for our nation’s law enforcement, including the vital “Lone Wolf ” amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which allows law enforcement to obtain warrants when targeted non-state supported terror-suspects. This year, Sen. Kyl lent his powerful voice to expose the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) unsavory connections in a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller and hosted embattled Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders, after Wilders was denied access to the United Kingdom because of his film, “Fitna.” Senator Kyl recently proposed Amendment 932 to deny taxpayer funds to companies which do business with Iran’s energy sector. Kyl is also a strong advocate for continuing the missile defense programs crucial to American and Israeli security. Prior to entering the Senate, Kyl served in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1995. Kyl was born in Oakland, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Arizona with his law degree in 1966.

Sen. Lieberman is a four-term U.S. senator from the state of Connecticut, Chairperson of the Homeland Security Committee and 2000 Democratic candidate for vice president. Sen. Lieberman championed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security to protect the nation from terrorist attacks after 9/11, and has led his committee in an investigation of homegrown terror and the radicalization of young Muslims in the United States, and has looked into the dangerous growth of internet recruiting among Islamist terror organizations. Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Kyl worked together to author and push through Congress an amendment which designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity. In 2006, Senator Lieberman co-sponsored the “Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act,” aimed at preventing U.S. aid to the Palestinian territories reaching terrorists. Sen. Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut and graduated from Yale with a degree in law in 1967.

Former director of Central Intelligence (1993-1995), former ambassador to negotiations on conventional armed forces in Europe-Vienna (1989-1991), former undersecretary of the Navy (1977-1979) and presently a co-chairman of the Committee on the Present Danger, James Woolsey is a clear voice in the struggle against the totalitarian Islamist movements  dedicated  to the destruction of Western civilization. A strong activist of energy independence for America, Woolsey speaks the uncomfortable, but necessary truth that America’s addiction to foreign oil funds the efforts of radical Islam and that America must stop paying the bills for those dedicated to our destruction.  Woolsey was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from Tulsa Central High School. In 1963, he received his BA from Stanford University and in 1965 his MA from Oxford University and an LLB from Yale Law School in 1968.

Dr. Tawfik Hamid-
Former Islamic extremist Tawfik Hamid knows all too well the danger posed by radical Islam. Originally from Egypt, and a former member of Jamaa Islamiya, Dr. Hamid broke with radicalism.  Now seeking a reform of Islam based on modern peaceful interpretations of traditional classic Islamic texts, Dr. Hamid has spoken on the subject of the Jihadi mindset both in academia and government, including the Pentagon, National Counter Terrorism Centre and the Joint Counter-Terrorism Taskforce for New York City. Dr. Hamid has a medical degree in internal medicine and a master’s degree in cognitive psychology and educational techniques. Currently, Dr. Hamid is a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and President of Global Movement Against Radical Islam.

Dr. Walid Phares is a senior fellow and the director for Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington (2001-2009). He is also a visiting fellow with the European Foundation for Democracies in Brussels (2006-2009). He is Fox News Terrorism and Middle East Expert since 2007 and has been MSNBC-NBC Terrorism Analyst from 2003 to the end of 2006. Dr. Phares has been an advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives Caucus on Counter Terrorism since 2007 and to the Trans Atlantic Legislative Group on Counter Terrorism since 2008.  He has served as an analyst to governments, international organizations, NGOs and the media on the ongoing world conflicts, including the war on terrorism and the war of ideas, particularly since September 11, 2001, regarding al Qaeda and Hezbollah’s ideologies and strategies, regional and local Jihadist groups, as well as Islamist strategies within the West. Born and raised in Lebanon, Dr. Phares was educated at St. Joseph and the Lebanese Universities of Beirut where he obtained degrees in law and political science as well as a certificate in Sociology. He obtained a master’s in international law from the Universite de Lyons in France.