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October 27, 2003
Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
to Join in Capitol
Call to Congress to
Move Charity Legislation; Letters Sent Appealing to
Frist and Daschle; Blockading Relief
at This Time is
“Shameful”
Tomorrow, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of
America will join Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and other leaders of the
non-profit, charitable sector to call upon the Senate to allow a joint
House-Senate Conference Committee to convene so that the bipartisan
Charity Assistance Recovery & Empowerment (“CARE”) Act might make its
final moves toward becoming law.
The CARE Act, part of President Bush’s “faith based initiative,” is
designed to bring new resources to America’s charitable organizations by
offering new tax incentives for charitable contributions. It will do so by
allowing the millions of taxpayers who do not utilize itemized deductions
to receive a deduction for charitable contributions; it will make it
easier and less costly for people to donate IRA funds to charity; and it
will encourage in-kind contributions to charity as well. Moreover, under
the Senate version of the bill, the CARE Act will significantly boost the
budget of the Social Service Block Grant fund, the source for most social
welfare grants awarded to community-based organizations.
While the House and Senate have each passed different versions of the
legislation by overwhelming votes, it appears that some Senate Democrats
are objecting to convening a conference committee that would resolve these
differences and allow the bill to be sent in final form to the President
for signature.
Last week, the UOJCA wrote to Senate Majority Leader Frist and Minority
Leader Daschle appealing to them to ensure such a committee could convene
to finalize the bill. Tomorrow, UOJCA public policy director Nathan
Diament will join the CARE Act’s prime sponsor – Senator Santorum – and a
Capitol Hill event to express this request again. In advance of that
event, Diament stated:
It is deeply disturbing that at the very time Americans in need, and the
charities who serve them, require greater support some Senators seem
determined to blockade that support from being delivered. Today’s
newspapers report upon a survey by The Chronicle of Philanthropy
documenting a drop in charitable giving for the first time in five years.
The CARE Act will work to turn this trend around and spur new donations to
the myriad of charities that do good works in this nation. After many
months of negotiations and revisions to this legislation, it is shameful
that in an hour of need any Senator would deliberately block this
initiative. We appeal to the many senators who support the CARE Act to
prevail on their colleagues and allow it to move forward.
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