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Advocacy Blog
Friday, July 27, 2007
Representative Pascrell: Charities Seem to Be "Painted With Wide Brush"
Reflecting once again on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight hearing on tax-exempt organizations, a note of thanks should go out to the Council on Foundations and Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) for addressing an area of great concern. During opening statements, Pascrell commented on Treasury's assertion that charities are a "significant source of terrorist funding," observing that Treasury seems to be "painting the sector with a wide brush." Steve Gunderson, the President and CEO of the Council on Foundations testified at the hearing. Gunderson's written statement submitted for the record states;
In fact, we have seen no evidence to indicate that U.S. charities are a major source of terrorist support. Out of hundreds of thousands of U.S. charities and billions of dollars given out in grants and material aid each year, only six U.S. charities are alleged to have intentionally supported terrorists. Thus far, Treasury has not identified a single case of inadvertent diversion of funds from a legitimate U.S. charity to a terrorist organization. . . . An even larger issue is that, by exaggerating the extent to which U.S. charities serve as a source of terrorist funding, Treasury is fueling an environment in which wary donors may refrain from making charitable contributions.
Following up on Pascrell's opening statement, during questions he addresses Gunderson asking if he agrees with Treasury's claim. Gunderson responds no, and explains the difficulties facing the sector as a whole. Pascrell appears confounded, emphasizing Gunderson's statement that there is no evidence and not a single U.S. charity has been found to redirect funds to a terrorist organization. The fact that these statements were made and will be included in the record is greatly appreciated. Hopefully statements such as this will broaden the attention on the issue.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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