Thank you for entrusting me with the office of National Committeeman for the past eight years. I am pleased to inform you that I have filed for re-election. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve you, the Oregon Republican Party and this great country at the Republican National Committee.

I was reelected in 2004 with four key goals: First, to use my RNC Executive Committee membership to lead and ensure that this party is a fighting machine, not a retirement center for big government advocates; second, to restore this Constitutional Republic by defending founding principles at home; third, to restore America’s greatness internationally by neutralizing foreign threats to this nation; and fourth, to advocate and promote the Oregon Republicans Party, our candidates and Oregonians nationally. Your support has been essential in achieving these goals.

 Today’s RNC is a fighting machine. It can wage a comprehensive offense by organizing grassroots, formulating strategies, developing battle plans, executing battle plans, holding and capturing real estate by electing Republicans to offices, and raising money for political warfare. The RNC also can coordinate attacks with talk show hosts, Fox News, print media, bloggers, think tanks, and single-issue organization (NRA and National Right to Life). Chairman Mike Duncan understands that politics is warfare. He invested $18 million to create the first RNC electronic war room, which enables us to archive and digitalize all network feeds, cable channel feeds, radio talk shows, print media clippings, and bloggers posts.

Now I want to move the RNC to the next level by teaching this fighting machine to articulate conservative ideology and to advance the line by going on offense with a legislative agenda. For example, prior to 2006 we could have pushed Congress to pass legislation, which would have required employees to remit their own income taxes directly so they would know how much they are paying. The American Left then would have had a difficult time raising taxes. We know the Left creates middle class entitlements to gain power by redistributing wealth and growing government. They understand the middle class vote. It is hard to roll back those freebies after they are in place.

 Further, I want to return to the RNC to protect this fighting machine and counter a purely academic approach to conservative advocacy. Recently Newt Gingrich publicly called for conservatives to declare independence from the Republican Party after Senator McCain became our presumptive nominee. I was horrified. Only a unified national organization can be in a position to wage a comprehensive political war to defend founding principles. It is madness to pull our best troops off the line. Our battlefront would cave in. And our party could not unite behind our nominee if conservatives abandoned the party. Today Newt Gingrich and the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi filmed a commercial focusing on how we can come together to find solutions for problems caused by climate change. We should never accept the other side’s premises and never allow our opponent to dictate where, when, and how to fight.

 Big picture wisdom must accompany the defense of founding principles. This is not based on polls, but on what is right: God, family, country, Constitution, conservative movement, grassroots, and the party.

During Senator Martinez’s confirmation vote and last June’s amnesty fight, RNC conservatives understood we must defeat amnesty, an offense to the principle of rule of law. We had to minimize Senator Martinez’s power as RNC General Chairman. However we could not weaken President Bush politically, otherwise Democrats would be able to block funding for our troops. That is why all three members of Oregon’s RNC delegation voted for Senator Martinez. But serving on Chairman Duncan’s transition team, I made it clear I did not want to see Senator Martinez use his office to promote amnesty, nor did I want to risk empowering Democrats to cut troop funding. So we cut the General Chairman’s budget from $750,000 down to $17,000 and passed a resolution restricting his duties to promoting Reagan Conservatism, advising the White House and raising money for the RNC.

Each of us then took a strong stand against amnesty in our own states. I spoke out directly against Senator Martinez’s support for amnesty. Lars Larson also used me to balance his interview with Presidential Spokesman Tony Snow. I described as very unfortunate Tony’s claim that not giving amnesty to illegals would hurt our economy. The party of Lincoln fought a civil war to free slaves. We must not return to the economic arguments of slave owners to defend amnesty. I firmly believe that because we stood up to our own President on this issue, today’s RNC remains a fighting machine. The NY Times admitted this, saying “…the RNC has seemed to have taken less of a supporting role than on other White House initiatives…” It turned out Senator Martinez would be the shortest serving General Chairman in RNC history.

 I’ve been asked if my big picture approach to electing Senator McCain would result in his reviving amnesty, after he secures the borders and implements an employment verification system. My answer is “No”. First, I do not operate in fear. Second, I intend to lead the fight at the RNC against a revived amnesty. Third, from the original defeat of amnesty, we learned how to rally the grassroots. Finally, I believe we must have faith in Americans, who understand that allowing illegals to pay a fine in exchange for U.S. citizenship is not only de facto amnesty, but is effectively selling U.S. sovereignty.

Restoring America’s greatness requires RNC members to stand against appeasement policies. During the 2004 National Convention, the State Department refused to authorize guest passes for Taiwan, a free democratic society, because it did not want to offend China. However, the DNC directly issued 24 guest passes to Taiwan to the DNC convention. We believe freedom is God’s gift to humanity, but the State Department was operating in fear of China. A failure to issue guest passes to Taiwan would be viewed by China as “kowtow” (appeasement). Showing weakness would only further embolden China to challenge us. Working with others, I personally secured 25 guest passes for Taiwan, surpassing the DNC by one. We also amended the Platform to strengthen the language of the Taiwan plank. To honor our achievements, the Communist Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs called Secretary Powell and the White House within hours after the platform was adopted to register an official complaint. We scored for America!

Recently I asked one of our members, who plans to serve on the RNC Platform Committee, to submit an amendment on my behalf, proclaiming that restoring America’s greatness is a national party goal. This goal would be defined as: when achieved, no one will be able to talk about America and its glory in the past tense. The RNC must champion the concept that America is unique in human history and it is our calling to lead the world into an era of freedom, liberty and opportunity for all people.

As an advocate for the ORP and Oregon, I organized a fundraising event in DC for one of our gubernatorial candidates. I also helped secure $2.4 million for the Saxton campaign through Governor Mitt Romney, then Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. I nominated Oregonians for White House internships and arranged special White House tours for Oregonians visiting Washington. I secured Lars Larson’s invitation not only to the 2005 Presidential Inauguration, but also to President Bush’s round table discussion with national conservative talk show hosts. Now I am working with the RNC to make sure that the 5th Congressional seat, the only pick-up in the nation, will be funded. This is a great year for Oregon. We are targeted for three races: Senator McCain’s Presidential election, Senator Smith’s reelection, and the 5th Congressional seat. We have a real opportunity to turn Oregon into a Red State.

As your National Committeeman, I led with conviction, defending founding principles and working to restore America’s greatness. I demonstrated my ability to deliver for Oregon. My next goal is to lead the efforts to rally grassroots behind Senator McCain and elect him as President. If we fail, America will suffer the tyranny of one party liberal rule, just as Oregon now suffers. I know tyranny. I lived under it for 20 years before coming to this country. Since freedom is God’s gift to us, it is our obligation to cherish and safeguard it. The only way I know to regain freedoms lost to liberalism, moral relativism and political correctness is to lay a foundation for the next conservative revolution at the RNC.

I can’t do any of this without your support. I respectfully ask for your support and vote. I look forward to seeing you in Salem on June 7th. Thank you.

Very truly yours,

Solomon Yue, Jr.

Republican National Committeeman for Oregon