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Key John Birch Society causes of the [[1970s]] included opposition to [[OSHA]] and the establishment of diplomatic ties with the [[People's Republic of China]]. The organization claimed in [[1973]] that the regime of [[Mao Zedong]] had murdered 64 million Chinese as of that year, and further accused the country of being the primary supplier of illicit [[heroin]] into the [[United States]]. The society was also vehemently opposed to transferring control of the [[Panama Canal]] from American to Panamanian sovereignty.
In the 1990s and early twenty-first century, the Society has opposed Free Trade agreements such as NAFTA and the proposed Free Trade Association of the Americas (FTAA). It continues to press for an end to United States membership in the United Nations, and it points to the Utah legislature's recent resolution calling for the US to take such a step as evidence of the effectiveness of JBS lobbying.▼
The second John Birch Society chairman, [[United States House of Representatives|US Representative]] Dr. [[Larry McDonald]], was killed in the 1983 [[Korean Air Flight KAL-007|KAL-007 shootdown]] incident. Society members suggested that McDonald had been the principle target of the Soviets in the attack upon the airplane.
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By the time of Welch's death in 1985, the Birch Society's membership and influence had declined, but the UN's role in the Gulf War and President Bush's call for a '[[New World Order (political)|New World Order]]' paralleled Birch Society claims about the goals of the internationalist One World Government conspiracy. Growing right-wing populism in the United States helped the JBS position itself for a comeback, and by 1995 its membership had grown again to more than 55,000.▼
▲By the time of Welch's death in 1985, the Birch Society's membership and influence had declined, but the UN's role in the Gulf War and President George H. W. Bush's call for a '[[New World Order (political)|New World Order]]' paralleled Birch Society claims about the goals of the internationalist One World Government conspiracy. Growing right-wing populism in the United States helped the JBS position itself for a comeback, and by 1995 its membership had grown again to more than 55,000.
== Chairmen ==
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