Citizens for America

Citizens for America (CFA) was founded in 1983 at a White House meeting between Lewis Lehrman and Jack Hume to promote the Reagan agenda. (4,16) Tracee Howell of CFA said that CFA’s purpose was to sell to the public the president’s [Reagan] "pet projects" such as the Strategic Defense Initiative and the contra war in Nicaragua. (16) CFA is one of the groups forming the "New Right" that have played a leading role "in creating and implementing the administration’s contra policy, as well as providing public relations services, and acting as a cover for financing military and ‘humanitarian’ efforts for the rebels."(16) CFA states that it is a national civic league for individuals who believe in federal policies of economic growth and a strong national defense. (1) CFA has 265 local chapters. (1) Funding: Lehrman and Hume were able to attract major rightwing funders such as Joseph Coors and Ivan Boesky. Many backers of CFA come from the Fortune 500, including the heads of such corporations as Atlantic-Richfield, Shell Oil, Chase Manhattan, Dr. Pepper, W. R. Grace, Amway, and Northrup. (16) Ultra rightwing Texas billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt, Texas financier T. Boone Pickens, and Reagan "kitchen cabinet" members Holmes Tuttle and Earle Jorgensen have also contributed to CFA. (19) The J. E. and L. E. Mabee Fdn donated $20,000 in 1985, and in 1986 the Starr Fdn donated $50,000. (9,10) CFA’s 1986 budget was $1. 8 million. (16) Activities: Local chapters of CFA act as lobbies in the home offices of congressional representatives. (1) CFA coordinates these activities with legislative action and media campaigns which include ads, op-eds, and letter-writing drives. (18) In 1983 CFA developed a close working relationship with the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (S/LPD) of the State Department. The S/LPD was established in 1983 to produce domestic propaganda to influence the public and the Congress to support the Reagan administration’s Central American policy. (18) Its relationship with CFA, which included a number of contracts for op-eds, articles and editorials–the information for which was provided by the S/LPD–later became the subject of an inquiry by the Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives. The review, conducted by the Comptroller General’s office, concluded that S/LPD’s "activities involving the preparation and dissemination of certain types of information violated a restriction on the use of appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by the Congress." However, the review ruled that on the basis of available evidence the antilobbying statute had not been violated. (18) CFA has been listed among the DC-based political lobbies that provided "private" aid to the contras. (11) CFA produced slick anticommunist publications targeting the Sandinista government which were distributed to interested audiences along with materials of the State Department, the Defense Department, Heritage Foundation, and the Senate Republican Policy Committee. The group also sponsored a major public relations campaign for the Nicaraguan contras, including a 1985 national tour of contra leaders to 200 congressional districts and a barrage of pro-contra aid radio and newspaper ads in 1986. (16,23) CFA worked closely with Oliver North in North’s contra supply efforts."Abramoff and CFA were assigned responsibility for organizing briefings by contra speakers, telephone-trees ‘to targeted congressional offices encouraging them to vote for aid to the freedom fighters in Nicaragua’." (Interior quotes are from a declassified "NSC Intelligence Document," Exhibit OLN-217). (24) CFA was the principal U.S. sponsor for a 1985 meeting of anticommunist resistance groups ("freedom fighters") held in Angola. (12) This conference was important to the Reagan White House and generated at least three memoranda–one from speechwriter Dana Rohrabacher to White House communications director Patrick Buchanan, one from Buchanan to National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, and one from National Security Council staffer Walter Raymond to McFarlane. The memos discussed whether the president should send a personal message to the Angola meeting via Lehrman and whether Rohrabacher should attend the meeting. (12,13,14) The conference was considered instrumental in pressuring the Reagan administration to authorize a $15 million aid package for UNITA in 1986. (11) The conference also exerted pressure on the U.S. Congress and public to support the Nicaraguan contras and the guerrillas in Afghanistan. (15) Lewis Lehrman of CFA and Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus joined in a 1986 effort to give Angolan UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi official "freedom fighter" status with the U.S. government. Savimbi and UNITA then became eligible to receive U.S. aid. (11,15) CFA along with the Conservative Network, the American Conservative Union, the Conservative Caucus, Eagle Forum, and the Heritage Foundation gave a plaque of honor to Attorney General Edwin Meese in late 1987. (3) CFA joined forces with the American Conservative Union in 1987 to form The Committee to Save the Reagan Platform. The group geared up to make a strong stand on conservative issues at the 1988 Republican convention. (7) Government Connections: The founders of CFA were very close to the Reagan White House. On April 22, 1987, the president invited them to a private lunch in the State Dining Room to express gratitude for their support. (4) Lewis Lehrman worked for Radio Free Europe. (27) https://militarist-monitor.org/citizens_for_america/