PHILADELPHIA – June 9, 2026 – The Middle East Forum has assembled a broad coalition of advocacy organizations behind H.R. 8236, the Designating Hamas Affiliates in America Act. The coalition’s co-signed letter [click here] urges members of Congress to co-sponsor and pass H.R. 8236, which directs the U.S. Department of the Treasury to list the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The letter unites a nonpartisan alliance of Middle Eastern diaspora communities, faith-based advocacy groups, Muslim civil-rights and Islamic-reform organizations, media watchdogs, legal associations, human-rights defenders, and policy-action institutions. Their missions differ, but their position on CAIR does not, with each citing CAIR’s record of bigotry and extremism and its documented links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced H.R. 8236 by detailing CAIR’s origins as an accused Hamas front, its status as an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terror-finance case, and the terrorism-related crimes of individuals connected to it.
The bill documents bipartisan condemnation of CAIR. The FBI barred formal outreach to CAIR under President George W. Bush; the Obama administration maintained the policy. The Biden White House disavowed the group in 2023 after its national director praised Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel. Republican governors in Florida and Texas have moved against CAIR by executive action, and a Democratic attorney general in Maryland removed two successive CAIR members from a state hate-crimes commission.
H.R. 8236 would freeze CAIR’s assets, revoke its tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, and bar U.S. persons from transacting with it. The coalition’s letter demonstrates why a Specially Designated Global Terrorism listing is legally sound and consistent with precedent, noting that at least nine domestic nonprofits that have been designated since the September 11 attacks have lost their tax exemptions as a result.
“By co-sponsoring this legislation, members of Congress also signal support for the Treasury Department to independently designate CAIR under existing statutory authority,” the letter reads.
MEF Action, the Forum’s national advocacy and government-affairs project, helped initiate H.R. 8236 and has built support for designation across key constituencies. “This coalition spans faith communities, reform advocates, and national-security researchers. It also crosses party lines—proof that opposing CAIR is not a partisan stance but an American consensus,” said Benjamin Baird, director of MEF Action.
“Republican governors, Democratic attorneys general, and presidential administrations of opposing parties reached the same conclusion about CAIR. This coalition reflects that bi-partisan record,” said Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum.
Concerned citizens can visit the MEF Action Center to send their own letters urging their representatives to support H.R. 8236.
The Middle East Forum is a Philadelphia-based applied policy research organization that promotes U.S. interests in the Middle East and protects Western civilization from Islamist threats. Founded in 1994, MEF pairs rigorous analysis with direct-action programs to advance U.S. leadership, support America’s allies, and defend religious liberty worldwide.
For more information, visit www.meforum.org
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For more information, contact:
Gregg Roman
Roman@MEForum.org
+1 (215) 546 5406
@GreggRoman - Twitter
