Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

On August 22, 2003 the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release declaring President Bush's recess appointment of controversial Mideast scholar Daniel Pipes to the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) a "moral victory." The statement said, "By issuing this recess appointment, the president acknowledges that Pipes' nomination would have been turned down by the Senate, despite that body's Republican majority. Without being approved by the Senate, Pipes will serve just 18 months of what would have been a four-year term." The group went on to note, "Perhaps the most positive by-product of the campaign was the creation of a broad coalition of religious, ethnic, and civil liberties groups that will last long after Pipes takes his seat on the USIP board."