[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 170 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 170


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 11, 2001

 Received and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Encouraging corporations to contribute to faith-based organizations.

Whereas America's community of faith has long played a leading role in dealing 
        with difficult societal problems that might otherwise have gone 
        unaddressed;
Whereas President Bush has called upon Americans ``to revive the spirit of 
        citizenship . . . to marshal the compassion of our people to meet the 
        continuing needs of our Nation'';
Whereas although the work of faith-based organizations should not be used by 
        government as an excuse for backing away from its historic and rightful 
        commitment to help those who are disadvantaged and in need, such 
        organizations can and should be seen as a valuable partner with 
        government in meeting societal challenges;
Whereas every day faith-based organizations in the United States help people 
        recover from drug and alcohol addiction, provide food and shelter for 
        the homeless, rehabilitate prison inmates so that they can break free 
        from the cycle of recidivism, and teach people job skills that will 
        allow them to move from poverty to productivity;
Whereas faith-based organizations are often more successful in dealing with 
        difficult societal problems than government and non-sectarian 
        organizations;
Whereas, as President Bush recently stated, ``It is not sufficient to praise 
        charities and community groups; we must support them. And this is both a 
        public obligation and a personal responsibility.'';
Whereas corporate foundations contribute billions of dollars each year to a 
        variety of philanthropic causes;
Whereas according to a recent study produced by the Capital Research Center, the 
        10 largest corporate foundations in the United States contributed 
        $1,900,000,000 to such causes;
Whereas according to the same study, faith-based organizations only receive a 
        small fraction of the contributions made by corporations in the United 
        States, and 6 of the 10 corporations that give the most to philanthropic 
        causes explicitly ban or restrict contributions to faith-based 
        organizations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) Congress calls on corporations in the United States, in 
        the words of the President, ``to give more and to give better'' 
        by making greater contributions to faith-based organizations 
        that are on the front lines battling some of the great societal 
        challenges of our day; and
            (2) it is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) corporations in the United States are important 
                partners with government in efforts to overcome 
                difficult societal problems; and
                    (B) no corporation in the United States should 
                adopt policies that prohibit the corporation from 
                contributing to an organization that is successfully 
                advancing a philanthropic cause merely because such 
                organization is faith based.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 10, 2001.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.