proposed legislation
Coalitions for America Letter
to Sen. Frist
CBN.com –
Coalitions for America
717 Second Street, N.E., Capitol Hill (202) 543-8592
Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 543-5605 (fax)
Paul M. Weyrich
National Chairman
Eric Licht
President
Robert D. Thompson
Vice President
April XX, 2005
The Honorable Bill Frist
Senate Majority Leader
Office of the Majority Leader
S-230, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Frist:
We, the undersigned, representing a wide variety of charitable
institutions, are writing to express our deep concern with proposals
by the Senate Finance Committee staff to substantially increase
the regulatory burden on public charities. These proposals, if
enacted, would severely reduce the ability of public charities
to play their historic role of addressing public needs with private
resources. Indeed, with regard to the large number of charities
that are small institutions, it could put many of them out of
business, while simultaneously discouraging the formation of new
charitable organizations.
One of America’s longest and finest traditions is our reliance
on private charities rather than government to meet a wide variety
of public needs. This tradition is actually older than our republic;
private charities played important roles even in colonial America.
In the 19th century, private charities played critical roles in
diminishing some of our country’s most pressing social ills,
such as alcoholism they founded schools, colleges and hospitals.
By taking on roles that were filled by government in many other
countries, private charities helped America to maintain the limited
government consistent with the intent of our Founding Fathers.
The role of charitable institutions is no smaller today than
it was one hundred years ago. Indeed, it may be greater. Charitable
institutions address an almost infinite range of American society’s
needs, ranging from housing for the poor through education and
public policy research to architectural preservation. More, these
institutions provide avenues through which ordinary citizens can
help address their nation’s problems, as donors of time,
talent or money, rather than having to wait passively for government
to act. We believe this function is central to our nature as a
republic.
The staff of the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee
on Taxation recently put forward a series of proposals that would
impose stringent new regulations on charities of all types. As
people who know charitable institutions from the inside out, we
regrettably have to say that this new regulatory burden would
greatly decrease our ability to serve our fellow citizens.
Proposed provisions would:
• Impose regulations on small charitable institutions that
only the largest institutions, with large staffs, could readily
met. All charities would be compelled to shift substantial resources
away from their intended purpose of helping other Americans to
meeting arbitrary regulatory requirements and providing government
paperwork.
• Possibly give private accrediting agencies, which may
be politicized, arbitrary authority over public charities.
• Make board members of charitable organizations, many
of whom generously donate their time and talent, subject to new
and unjustified federal liability standards and legal exposure.
• Discourage donors from establishing family foundations,
an important source of charitable giving.
• Severely limit deductions for non-cash contributions,
again discouraging charitable contributions.
• Effectively presume that all charities are guilty of
misdoings until proven innocent.
In a letter to the Philanthropy Roundtable, Senator Rick Santorum
of Pennsylvania recently wrote, “I am deeply committed to
expanding, not contracting, the role of private philanthropy in
meeting the social, educational and other needs of the most disadvantaged
people of our country.” We are writing to you, as Senate
Majority Leader, in hope that you share Senator Santorum’s
commitment.
We request that, as Majority Leader, you do not allow proposals
of the Finance Committee Staff or similar proposals, the effect
of which would be to undermine the role of charities in American
public life, to come to the Floor of the United States Senate.
No American citizen, whether he gives charity or receives it,
can benefit from legislation that would inhibit if not prevent
charitable institutions from continuing to perform their historic
American roles and functions.
Sincerely,
Paul M. Weyrich
National Chairman
Coalitions for America
Dr. James Dobson
Founder and Chairman
Focus on the Family
Donald E. Wildmon
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
David Keene
Chairman
American Conservative Union
Beverly LaHaye
Founder and Chairman
Concerned Women for America
Morton C. Blackwell
President
The Leadership Institute
Gary L Bauer
President
American Values
James L. Martin
President
60 Plus Association
Lew Uhler
President
National Tax Limitation Committee
Kevin L. Kearns
President
U.S. Business and Industry Council
and USBIC Educational Foundation
Ken Connor
Chairman
Center for a Just Society
Bruce Chapman
President
Discovery Institute
Rev. William and Deborah Owens
Coalition of African American Pastors
Memphis, Tennessee
Dr. Carl Herbster
President
Advance USA
William J Murray
Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition
Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman
Traditional Values Coalition
Mike Smith
President
Home School Legal Defense Association
Tom Schatz
President
Citizens Against Government Waste
Chip Mellor
President & General Counsel
Institute for Justice
Don Irvine
Chairman
Accuracy in Media
Phyllis Berry Myers
President
New Black Leadership Coalition
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
John C. Holmes, Ed.D
Director, Government Relations
Association of Christian Schools International
Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring, Inc.
Stephen Baskerville
President
American Coalition for Fathers and Children
Mathew D. Staver
President & General Counsel
Liberty Counsel
Malcolm A. Kline
Executive Director
Accuracy in Academia
Joe Grieboski
President
Institute on Religion and Public Policy
Leslee Unruh
President and Founder
Abstinence Clearinghouse
Robert E. Regier
Executive Director
South Dakota Family Policy Council
Larry Cirignano
Executive Director
Catholicvote.org
Caleb Kershner
Director of Federal Policy
National Center for Home Education
Gary Palmer
President
Alabama Policy Institute
Pastor Rod Parsley
Founder & President
Center for Moral Clarity
Victoria Cobb
Executive Director
The Family Foundation of Virginia
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation
Ron Pearson
President
Council for America
Jeff Gayner
Chairman
Americans for Sovereignty
Duane A. Parde
Executive Director
American Legislative Exchange Council
Kay R. Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Thomas A. Shields
Coalition for Marriage and Family
Robert B. Carleson
Chairman
The American Civil Rights Union,
Phil Burress
President
Citizens for Community Values
Rick Scarborough
President
Vision America
Gary Aldrich
President
Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty
Dr. Robert E. "Bob" Reccord
President
North American Mission Board, SBC
Michael Valerio
President
Helen and Michael Valerio Foundation
David C. Gibbs, Jr.
President
Christian Law Association
Rick Schatz
President and CEO
National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families
Peter LaBarbera
Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute
Kristian M. Mineau
President
Massachusetts Family Institute
Len Munsil
President
The Center for Arizona Policy
Randy Leskovar
National Director
Mayday for Marriage
Carl Olson
Chairman
State Department Watch
Dr. Ed Bonniwell
Senior Pastor
Faith Christian Fellowship Church
Cincinnati, Ohio
Richard A. Viguerie
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