RNC Chair and Co-Chair Condemn Statements by Julian Bond

'The Party of Lincoln and Douglass Continues to Support The Rights of All Americans'

Tuesday February 23, 3:28 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Republican National Committee
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990223/dc_rnc_jul_1.html

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson and Co-Chairman Pat
Harrison issued the following joint statement today:

``We condemn the inaccurate and racially-divisive statements of Julian Bond, Chairman of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who this weekend sought to gain political advantage at the expense of bipartisan
efforts to reach common ground on issues of race.

``The Party of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass continues to support the rights of all Americans. The Republican Party
provided the votes in Congress necessary to pass both the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Republican
Senator Everett Dirksen, who was honored by the NAACP this weekend, led both bills through the Senate.

``Chairman Nicholson publicly repudiated the racist views of some members of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), in
contradiction to statements made by Mr. Bond. In addition, it is worthy to note that not only are the majority of Mississippi state
legislators who belong to the CCC also Democrats, Mississippi's Attorney General, Michael Moore spoke to the CCC in 1995.
It was also recently exposed that the South Carolina Democrat Governor Jim Hodges met with the leader of the CCC during his
campaign, as well as after he was elected. Where is Mr. Bond's outrage over those Democrat connections to the CCC?

``We should condemn racism wherever and whenever we find it, not use racism for partisan advantage. We maintain that the
most important civil rights issue of this generation is for every child to receive the best education possible, and we should support
this goal regardless of race or party affiliation.''

SOURCE: Republican National Committee