Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL.), Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), [47] and former Attorney General John Ashcroft , "who became involved with the MKO while a Republican senator from Missouri." [48] In 2000, 200 U.S. Congress members signed a statement