FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1721
June 8, 2000
No. OV-19
Congressman Amo Houghton (R-NY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on proposals for enhanced public disclosure relating to political activities of tax-exempt organizations. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, June 20, 2000, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from both invited and public witnesses. Invited witnesses will include a representative of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Also, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee or for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
Under current law, various tax-exempt organizations participate in the political process. Depending on the tax law provision granting a particular organization its exemption, that participation can include direct or indirect intervention in political campaigns, direct or grass-roots lobbying, and dissemination of analyses with a call to action. The public often has little or no information regarding the contributors to, or the nature and extent of, the political activities of these organizations.
The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-206) directed the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Treasury Department to report on additional disclosures by tax-exempt organizations that would be in the public interest. The Joint Committee's report was delivered in January of this year as required and makes a number of recommendations for enhanced disclosure of tax-exempt organization political activities. The Treasury Department has yet to submit its report.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Houghton stated: "The public is entitled to know about the activities of organizations given special tax-exempt status by our laws. Unfortunately, current laws permit various organizations to shield their political activities from public scrutiny and accountability. This hearing will explore options for providing increased disclosure by all tax-exempt organizations participating in the political process."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
This hearing will examine various proposals for enhanced disclosure relating to the political activities of tax-exempt organizations, including organizations described in Internal Revenue Code sections 501(c)(4), (5), and (6) and section 527.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Pete Davila at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Tuesday, June 13, 2000. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Subcommittee on Oversight will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Subcommittee on Oversight staff at (202) 225-7601.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Subcommittee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline.
Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are required to submit 200 copies, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, of their prepared statement for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, no later than Friday, June 16, 2000. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Wednesday, July 5, 2000, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.