Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) applauds The Washington Post for the paper's February 9, 2006 editorial that made clear-cut recommendations on lobbying reform, one of which included disclosure of contributions to charities that are connected to lawmakers. NCRP has been a lone voice calling for charitable disclosure, amidst the blatant misuse of charity within the lobbying process by the likes of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Jack Abramoff, and others.

NCRP distributed its recommendations for lobbying reform to lawmakers last week. In addition to lobbyists' disclosure, they include a call for foundations and charities-especially member-established and member-linked foundations and charities-  to fully disclose donors' names and amounts to avoid further loopholes for interested parties to gain favor with lawmakers. Funding must also be increased for Internal Revenue Service tax-exempt oversight and enforcement to further prevent lawmakers and lobbyists from using the charitable sector to advance corporate and political interests. In particular, NCRP urges Congress to use the revenue collected from the foundation excise tax as it was originally intended: to fund government oversight of the tax-exempt sector.

"Current legislative efforts ignore largely untraceable loopholes, which if neglected in this round of lobbying reform, would leave the charitable sector, Congress, and K Street ripe for more abuse and illegal behavior," said Rick Cohen, executive director of NCRP, in an NCRP release dated January 30, 2006.  "Lobbying reform should prevent politicians, their campaign staffs, and their K Street cronies from cloaking dirty dealings behind charity and philanthropy," he said.

Cohen's article in the Fall 2004 issue of Responsive Philanthropy, "Abramoff: Well-Connected to the Well-Heeled of the Right," was one