Political Activity
The Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association of America.
Members of Congress have ranked the NRA as the most powerful lobbying organization in the country several years in a row. Opponents of the organization accuse it of unduly influencing political appointments. Chris W. Cox is the NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist, a position he has held since 2002.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, the NRA spent $10 million. In 2011, the organization refused an offer to discuss gun control with U.S. President Barack Obama. In response to the invitation, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said "Why should I or the N.R.A. go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?" In his statement, LaPierre named Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (both Democrats) as examples of the "people" he referred to.
Eight U.S. Presidents have been NRA members. They are Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. Although Nixon disavowed his "Honorary Life Membership" in 1969 and Bush resigned in 1992 after a politically charged ad by the Association regarding the BATFE.
Read more about this topic: National Rifle Association
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or activity:
“The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Moderation is the feebleness and sloth of the soul, whereas ambition is the warmth and activity of it.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)