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January 30, 2003
Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Welcomes
Renewed Senate Effort To Support America’s Charities
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of
America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization –
welcomed this afternoon’s introduction of bipartisan legislation in the
U.S. Senate that will generate new private support for America’s charities
and increase the federal government’s spending on social welfare programs.
The “Charity Aid Recovery & Empowerment” (‘CARE’) Act is designed to
implement important components of President Bush’s “Armies of Compassion”
initiative which seeks to ensure that government policies and resource
allocations support the social welfare work of faith- and community- based
organizations.
The provisions of the CARE Act include: a tax deduction for non-itemizers
($400 for singles/$800 for couples); allowing individuals to rollover
their IRA assets to a charity without paying tax on the gains accrued in
the IRA; a larger tax deduction for food donation; increasing the amounts
that corporations can contribute to charity; increasing federal social
welfare allocations under the Social Service Block Grant; and making more
level the federal social welfare grant playing field for faith-based
agencies by protecting some elements of their religious character,
offering technical assistance programs and easing some application
criteria.
The CARE Act was developed over the course of last year between the White
House and Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Rick Santorum (R-PA). It was
introduced today by a bipartisan coalition of ten senators. The Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations has been a long-time supporter of religious
liberty and the faith-based initiative, and was involved in the bill’s
development as well. Harvey Blitz, president of the Union, and Nathan
Diament, the Union’s director of public policy, issued the following
statement in connection with the announcement of the CARE Act’s
introduction:
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations welcomes the bipartisan CARE
Act. This consensus package is an important step in the drive to have
public policy support the work of America’s faith & community based
charities with a new infusion of private and public resources. Its
provisions will also begin to ameliorate bureaucratic inequities under
which faith-based charities have been forced to operate for decades.
Americans have long appreciated the critical role that faith & community
charities play in our society, but during these difficult economic times,
America’s charities are facing an unprecedented strain on their resources.
The CARE Act will ease this crisis. We applaud the leadership of President
Bush and appreciate his passionate commitment to this effort. And we
applaud the determination of Senators Lieberman and Santorum to find
legislative common ground so that we may serve the common good.
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