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Apil 8, 2003
Union
of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations Calls on Senate to Pass
“C.A.R.E. ACT” – America's Charities
Need Resources
Today, in anticipation of a floor debate
in the U.S. Senate, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
called upon members of that body to pass the Charity Aid Recovery &
Empowerment (‘CARE’) Act sponsored by Senators Santorum (R-PA), Lieberman
(D-CT) and others to deliver increased financial assistance to America’s
charities through tax incentives and increases to key federal social
welfare programs.
The CARE Act is a charitable resources
bill and a critical component of what has come to be known as the
faith-based initiative. As originally introduced, the CARE Act primarily
addresses the “resources” element of this initiative through tax and
spending provisions. It will spur new individual contributions to
charities by providing a tax deduction of up to $800 per family to the
millions of Americans who do not take itemized deductions on their taxes.
It will allow people to rollover their Individual Retirement Account
assets directly to charities without paying a tax penalty. It will
provide increased incentives for donations to foodbanks, reduce the
federal excise tax on charitable foundations and raises the cap on how
much a corporation can contribute to charity. The CARE Act will help the
working poor begin to build personal savings accounts through tax credits
for matching contributions by banks. Finally, the CARE Act would increase
the budget of the federal Social Service Block Grant program, the primary
source of federal grants to social welfare charities, by more than one
billion dollars over the next two years.
Nathan Diament, the Union’s director of
public policy issued the following statement in advance of today’s Senate
action:
The crisis
confronting America’s charities has only grown worse over the past
several months while the Senate has failed to pass the bipartisan
compromise embodied in the CARE Act. While some activist groups and
their allies have held these resources hostage to an agenda never raised
by the original Santorum-Lieberman bill, we welcome the decision by
Senators Santorum & Lieberman to make the extra effort to deliver these
much needed resources to America’s charities and the people in need they
serve. The Orthodox Jewish community continues to believe in and
strongly support the efforts of President Bush and congressional leaders
to empower America’s ‘armies of compassion.’ Senate passage of the CARE
Act is an important step in the right direction.”
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