Ad (2 Epwarp W. Ricu ‘Attorney, Arbitrator, Mediator Edward W, Rich PC Telephone 231.932.1500 PO, Box 6017 Email ewrich@ewrichpc.com ‘Traverse City, M1 49696 Web www.ewrichpe.com June 21, 2011 Rep. Dave Camp Chairman House Ways and Means Committee 341 Cannon U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman Camp: 1 am writing to ask your assistance in resolving an issue with the United Arab Emirates stemming {rom a program to bring together Christians and Jews in the U.S. with Muslim scholars from the Middte East in order to reduce the unnecessarily negative impact of religious differences on our relations. Ms. Margaret Cone both developed and ran the program, and it was a big success. As you are aware, the political upheaval in the Middle East has dramatically raised the stakes for the U.S. and for the world as a whole, This program, and others like it, have demonstrated that the religious differences that some have used to promote conflict can be overcome through direct interaction between religious leaders and by exposing those leaders to the different legal traditions and cultural history that have shaped present-day attitudes and practices in our separate societies. Through Ms. Cone’s long-term relationships with the Catholic Church and the Jewish community, she became interested in finding ways to develop programs that foster greater inter- faith dialogue among Christians, Jews and Muslims and so developed the World Leadership Program (WLP), an initiative to improve intercultural understanding among emerging religious scholars from the U.S. and the Muslim Middle East. Through her efforts in the summer of 2010, the WLP brought 16 religious scholars from al-Azhar University in Cairo to the United States for an \1-week program of study and dialogue with 16 American religious scholars drawn from doctoral programs and seminaries at Harvard, Princeton, and Yeshiva University, among other institutions.As you know, Al-Azhar is the center of Sunni Islamic learning in the world and is associated with the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. ‘These al-Azhar scholars will help shape the next generation of faculty members and Islamic law students at al-Azhar University. ‘The program offered each scholar an exceptional opportunity to enrich himself through study, interaction and the exploration of the commonalities and values shared by their traditions and those of the West. The program began for the al-Azhar participants in January 2010 with fourteen weeks of intensive English language instruction in Cairo, followed by a rigorous eight- week English language and cultural immersion program at the University of Michigan. The al- Azhar students then traveled to Georgetown University in July 2010 and were joined by their American counterparts for an intensive two-week course of study. The Georgetown program primarily dealt with two aspects of American culture: its legal foundations and its religious traditions. The first week focused on the Constitution and our history of law, and the second week on the experiences of different religious groups in America. The program included a Saturday synagogue service, a Sunday Catholie Mass and a Friday service at a Washington-area mosque. ‘The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nayan, through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassy in the U.S. and its ambassador, Yousef Al Otaiba, agreed in early September 2009 to sponsor the WLP while the Crown Prince was in Washington on official business. Several months later, the UAE entered into a contract with the University of Michigan, Georgetown University, and Ms. Cone to fund the program, Substantial sums were paid in accordance with the contract to the University of Michigan and Georgetown University, but legitimate and budgeted items incurred by Ms. Cone have not been paid. These expenses include, among other things, airline flights for al-Azhar and American faculty and students, hotel and meals for the al-Azhar faculty while in Washington, D.C., faculty and student honoraria and per diem, student text books and reading materials for the program, and al-Azhar faculty and student U.S. visa expenses. She worked many hours and expended considerable personal funds to ensure the success of the program. Mr. Otaiba had agreed to reimburse the expenditures and pay for time spent. Mr. Omar Al Shamsi, the UAE Deputy Chief of Mission, was appointed by Mr. Otaiba to handle the bills and to discuss the next year's program, Mr. al-Husein Madhany, chief of staff of the WLP, met with Mr. Shamsi on July 22, 2010, and both of these matters were discussed in detail. Mr. Shamsi gave no indication at that time that the UAE would not reimburse Ms. Cone and the WLP. In fact, he spoke highly of the program results and requested that the WLP send an invoice for all WLP-related expenses. At that time, he also offered to hold an event at the Embassy for the next summer program. Per his instructions, an invoice and detailed spread sheets were hand-delivered to the Embassy in October 2010. This was followed by many emails and telephone calls to UAE Embassy staff, including individuals in the Embassy accounting department, but no further payment has ever been made to Ms. Cone and the WLP.Finally, Mr. Otaiba emailed Ms, Cone on December 7, 2010 that the UAE had decided not to fund year two of the program "due to significant budget cuts”. Mr. Otaiba explained that it was purely a financial decision and once again praised the program by stating, "I know for a fact the program was an outstanding success as I've heard many compliments from within the administration and elsewhere" In response, another invoice was sent at the beginning of January 2011 to Mr, Otaiba and Mr. Shamsi. Mr. Shamsi’s assistart emailed several weeks later that Byron Fogan, an attorney for the UAE, would handle the matter. Almost a month later, Mr. Fogan said that the UAE would not pay the invoice. He admitted that Ms. Cone’s expenses were legitimate but said that the UAE “had spent too much” and did not want to pay any more bills for the program. The UAE has paid the University of Michigan and Georgetown University. Its clear that the UAE has a legal obligation to reimburse Ms. Cone for the personal funds she used to cover program-related expenses and to compensate her and the WLP staff for their hard work and the money expended in order to make the al-Azhar program a tremendous success. ‘The WLP was a ground breaking program. Religious studies students from al-Azhar had never participated in this kind of program nor had they ever met an American, Not surprisingly, the UAE’s refusal to pay is causing Ms. Cone extreme financial hardship, anxiety, and worry. She paid for some of the program expenses with her personal funds with the agreement that the UAE would reimburse her. J am hoping that you. will bring this issue to the attention of Ambassador Otaiba. We have tried on numerous occasions to meet with him and settle this natter amicably, but he has refused to do 50, Please note that we wish no ill will for the UAE ot its officials. In fact, our hope is to persuade them to continue their fine work in supporting the WLP’s unique effort to bridge the unnecessary, dangerous, and growing gap between the Muslim Middle East and the West. ‘Thank you for your attention to this matter, and for any assistance that you can provide. Sincerely, An Ke dy