{"id":15388,"date":"2009-10-14T15:51:13","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T13:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=15388"},"modified":"2014-01-05T17:31:27","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T15:31:27","slug":"chairman-of-turkish-lobi-is-resigning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2009\/10\/14\/chairman-of-turkish-lobi-is-resigning\/","title":{"rendered":"CHAIRMAN OF TURKISH LOBI IS RESIGNING"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<h1>U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler is leaving Congress to lead think tank<\/h1>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\/*\n* Tell JavaScript how much of each type of content there is\n*\/\n\tstoryVideoCount = 0;\n\tstoryVideoBoxCount = 0;\n\tstoryVideoOldTypeCount = 0;\n\tstoryAudioCount = 0;\n\tstoryPhotoCount = 0;\n\tstoryPhotoGalleryCount = 0;\n\tstoryGoogleMapCount = 0;\n\tstoryMapBoxCount = 0;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div id=\"assetsWrapper\">\n<div id=\"storyAssets\"><!-- No main media area --><\/p>\n<div id=\"storyNonImageContentArea\">\n<h2>Related Content<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li> Planet Washington Blog &#8211; Musings from the Capitol<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END id=\"storyNonImageContentArea\" --> <!-- no polls to display --><\/div>\n<p><!-- id=\"assetsWrapper\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- id=\"storyAssets\" --><\/p>\n<h3>By Beth Reinhard<\/h3>\n<p><!--  begin \/production\/story\/credit_line_format.comp --><\/p>\n<h3>The Miami Herald<\/h3>\n<p><!--  end \/production\/story\/credit_line_format.comp --><\/p>\n<div id=\"storyBodyContent\">\n<p>U.S. House of Representatives member Robert Wexler of Boca Raton, a self-described &#8220;fire-breathing liberal,&#8221; defender of Israel and friend of both President Barack Obama and Gov. Charlie Crist, is quitting Congress to head a think tank seeking peace in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>In a conference call Tuesday night with Democratic leaders, Wexler said he will become director of the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. Wexler, 48, is expected to make a public statement about his plans at a 10 a.m. Wednesday press conference at his Boca Raton office.<\/p>\n<p>The jockeying to represent his heavily Democratic congressional district began in earnest Tuesday as the news of his departure began to leak out.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m still a little bit in shock over all this,&#8221; said state Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Parkland, though he added he was &#8220;for sure&#8221; considering a run for the seat.<\/p>\n<p>Other potential Democratic contenders in the district covering parts of North Broward and Palm Beach counties are state Sen. Ted Deutch of Delray Beach, West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter and former Broward County Commissioner Ben Graber.<\/p>\n<p>Once Wexler&#8217;s resignation becomes official, state law requires Crist to call a special election. That can leave candidates little time to raise funds and campaign, and sometimes makes for an unpredictable and chaotic race.<\/p>\n<p>Wexler prided himself on representing the &#8220;greatest generation&#8221; &#8212; the World War II veterans and Depression survivors from the Northeast who turned South Florida&#8217;s retirement communities into Democratic strongholds. He was a high-profile spokesman for the Democratic party during the 2000 presidential recount in the state and fought for a paper trail for voters using electronic machines.<\/p>\n<p><em>To read the complete article, visit <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/politics\/story\/1281774.html\">www.miamiherald.com.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<div>===========================================<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">\\\\Bad news for us  all..<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\">MeltemB<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong>From:<\/strong> Congressman Robert Wexler  <strong>Sent:<\/strong> Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:05 PM <strong>Subject:<\/strong> Wexler to Head Middle East Non-Profit  Institute<br \/>\nToday, I am announcing that I will be accepting the position  of President of the Center for Middle East Peace and will leave Congress in  early January of 2010.<\/p>\n<p>I was able to successfully serve in Congress due in large  part to the friendship and generosity of you and the thousands of my other  friends and supporters throughout Florida and the entire country.<\/p>\n<p>Thank You.<\/p>\n<p>Many of you have supported me since my earliest campaigns for  Congress or even my elections to the Florida State Senate.\u00a0 Your  friendship and support has meant the world to me over the last nineteen years,  and I value it immensely.<\/p>\n<p>I have truly cherished the opportunity to serve my  constituents \u2013 many of who make up the generation that sacrificed in World War  II and Korea and rebuilt our nation after the depression.<\/p>\n<p>I am proud that everyday I have sought to advocate for and  provide a voice to my constituents; whether it was fighting for a legitimate  vote during election 2000, or working toward enacting a voter verified paper  trail in Florida, to countless other issues impacting health care, education,  Social Security and more. Therefore, my decision to leave Congress did not come  easy.<\/p>\n<p>Those who know me, and those who have followed my career know  that one of my overriding passions has been my work on the Foreign Affairs  Committee helping to strengthen and preserve the unbreakable bond between the  United States and Israel, and working toward a just and comprehensive peace in  the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and the Arab  world. Additionally, I have made a special effort to improve congressional  relations with key allies in the Muslim world by founding the Turkey and  Indonesia caucuses. Moreover, it was an extraordinary honor to serve as a Middle  East Advisor to President Obama during the presidential campaign and I treasure  the experiences I had traveling the country, and especially throughout Florida,  advocating for the President\u2019s Middle East agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Taking over as President of the Center for Middle East Peace  offers me an unparalleled opportunity to work on behalf of Middle East peace for  an important and influential non-profit institute. After much discussion with my  family, I have decided that I cannot pass up on this opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>While I regret that I will be unable to complete my current  term in office, I truly believe there is no time to waste.\u00a0 We are  at a unique and critically tense moment in the history of the Middle East with  both significant opportunities to succeed in the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well  as major challenges involving Iran, Hamas, and al Qaeda. In the coming months,  Israeli and Arab leaders will be faced with monumental decisions that will  dramatically affect the region and the entire world for decades to come.  Critically important American security and foreign policy interests are also at  stake. I am convinced that now is the time for me to engage on these issues on a  full time basis. If you want to learn more about the Center for Middle East  Peace, you can visit its website at <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/images.myngp.com\/LinkTracker.aspx?crypt=IVi0ax2%2b6UBSinc%2fCPYaKf68wWvfCZTZFuLyT3um14PLJUfnZ5s9ZM%2fGiXDMfN9qIHyF1hIHR3sGhJmIimFRBMVmmC2MpRuhd2tJltUmNuY%3d\">www.centerpeace.org<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>I may be leaving Congress but I except our friendship and  work on the issues that we care about to continue. I will stay in touch in the  months and years to come and I hope you will do the same.<\/p>\n<p>With gratitude and profound thanks,<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert<\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"middle\">Paid for by &#8220;Wexler for  Congress&#8221;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>PO Box 810669<br \/>\nBoca Raton,\u00a0FL\u00a033481<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Robert Wexler to resign from Congress<\/p>\n<div>&gt;\u00a0Posted by Anthony Man on October 13, 2009 04:48  PM<\/div>\n<\/h3>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Update:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties,  plans to resign from Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Wexler plans to meet with reporters Wednesday morning in Boca Raton to detail  his next move. A Democratic source with knowledge of Wexler\u2019s plans said the  seven-term congressman is likely to take a public policy job that deals with the  Middle East. The job does not involve working for the Obama administration and  does not involve lobbying.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats expressed admiration for their longtime political colleague \u2014 and  began handicapping who among their ranks might run. Republicans were critical of  the Democratic congressman.<\/p>\n<p>The district is especially enticing for Democrats because the party holds an  overhwhelming edge in registered voters. Most of the district lies in Palm Beach  County, giving someone with that home base an edge in what will certainly be a  Democratic primary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a very safe Democratic seat. The Republicans have either mounted  jsut a token opposition to Wexler\u2019s re-election or he\u2019s run unopposed. Even  Republicans realize this is just a safe Democratic seat,\u201d said Robert Watson, a  political scientist and director of American studies at Lynn University in Boca  Raton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you\u2019ve got 10 people [Tuesday] night invesigating  it,\u201d said state Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Parkland. \u201cThis could be a  once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ring and state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, are the two potential  replacements mentioned Tuesday by Watson and several Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Another possible candidate is Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler is leaving Congress to lead think tank Related Content Planet Washington Blog &#8211; Musings from the Capitol By Beth Reinhard The Miami Herald U.S. House of Representatives member Robert Wexler of Boca Raton, a self-described &#8220;fire-breathing liberal,&#8221; defender of Israel and friend of both President Barack Obama and Gov. Charlie Crist, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":774856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[490,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-armenian-question"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}