In the minds of many Americans – of both parties – New York's late U.S. Sen. David Patrick Moynihan is regarded as one of the most perceptive of all our national leaders.

That is why his 1980 statement should be carefully remembered – and acted upon appropriately – by our U.S. Department of State.

Pat Moynihan warned this nation about his fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter, in declaring:

"Unable to distinguish between our friends and our enemies, he has essentially adopted our enemies' view of the world."

Now, Charlotte, North Carolina's former mayor and seven-term congresswoman, Sue Myrick, who is the House deputy minority whip, says of former President Carter's meeting with the terrorist group Hamas:

"He's just unilaterally going off on his own and undermining everything the international community and the United States is trying to do. ... We have a policy in this country about Hamas, and he is just deliberately undermining that policy, and it's wrong. You know Hamas has continually stood for terrorism against peace, and the State Department, the administration and Israel all opposed him going over there to meet."

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So, Rep. Myrick has asked that former President Carter's passport be revoked. She has also asked that taxpayer funding of the Carter Center in Atlanta be revoked.

"Why should we support his Center when he will not support his government?"

Hamas has refused to recognize the state of Israel and has also refused to renounce terror.

Despite this, our former president has hugged and kissed Hamas leaders. And among Hamas leaders with whom he has met is Khaled Meshal. He is accused of being responsible for the terrorist murders of two dozen of Carter's fellow Americans.

Mr. Carter also laid a wreath on the tomb of the late Yasser Arafat.

Myrick's spokesman, Andy Polk, told WorldNetDaily last week that 1) Congress has granted the secretary of state the power to grant and verify passports, and 2) the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Haig v. Agee ruled that the secretary of state has the implied power to revoke passports, as well.

Which raises the significant question:

Why has the Bush White House failed to revoke Jimmy Carter's passport?

WND also quoted both Republican and Democrat congressmen asking for action regarding Jimmy Carter.

"America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies." Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., said in a statement. "It sends a fundamental troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups."

Knollenberg said the Carter Center has received about $19 million in taxpayer funds since 2001. The Center is housed at Emory University in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the non-binding legislation was forwarded by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.

If adopted, the bill would express the "sense of Congress" that is "disapproves of former President Jimmy Carter's freelance diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, which contradict the stated foreign policy position of the current administration."

Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., chairman of the Foreign Affairs Mideast subcommittee, wrote Carter imploring him not to meet with any more Hamas officials.

"This visit will undermine the Middle East peace process and damage the credibility of Palestinian moderates," they wrote, adding that the "legitimacy and prestige that Hamas will derive from your visit will be seen in the region as a clear demonstration that violence pays."

Rep. Arthur Davis, D-Ala., told Fox News: "I don't think Israel should try to negotiate with Hamas because Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist."

Davis added that Carter's overtures undermined a tradition of support for Israel in America.

On Tuesday, more than 50 House members wrote Carter urging him not to meet with Meshal, calling him the man behind the deaths of 26 Americans.

At yseterday afternoon's daily White House news briefing, I asked press secretary Dana Perino:

KINSOLVING: Deputy Republican Whip Sue Myrick of North Carolina has called for Jimmy Carter's passport to be revoked. Does the president believe that Congress as well as the case of Haig v. Agee have or have not granted the right to revoke passports, and if so, why hasn't Jimmy Carter's passport been revoked as requested by Deputy Minority Whip Sue Myrick?

PERINO: I think we went over this last week. I don't have anything else to add.

KINSOLVING: Human Events reports that when John Gizzi asked you about any possible prosecution of Mr. Carter under the Logan Act, you referred the question to the State Department. They referred this question to the Justice Department, which referred it back to the State Department. Question: What do you believe these evasions tell the world about the Bush administration compared to former President Carter?

PERINO: Let's just put it this way. No one is suggesting revoking President Carter's passport.

KINSOLVING: Why not?

PERINO: Period.

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