[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3420 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3420

 To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue appropriate guidance 
  for use by victims of disasters in their application to charitable 
                       organizations for relief.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2001

 Mr. Hayworth introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue appropriate guidance 
  for use by victims of disasters in their application to charitable 
                       organizations for relief.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. IRS GUIDANCE FOR APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FOR VICTIMS OF 
              DISASTERS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the disaster resulting from the terrorist attacks of 
        September 11th was unprecedented for the United States,
            (2) the disaster has been hard on survivors both 
        financially and emotionally,
            (3) the American people have been incredibly generous in 
        their charitable contributions in response to the attacks,
            (4) it is clear that many survivors of the attacks are 
        experiencing difficulty accessing charitable resources,
            (5) it is important to get assistance to affected parties 
        through a simple and rapid process,
            (6) charities should be encouraged to work together to 
        assist survivors, and
            (7) one step charities could take would be to streamline 
        the application process for survivors by implementing a simple, 
        standard application form to be used in the aftermath of 
        disasters such as the disaster resulting from the terrorist 
        attacks of September 11th.
    (b) Secretarial Guidance.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, 
through short, simple forms and other appropriate guidance, make 
information publicly available for use by victims of disasters in their 
application to charitable organizations for relief from their need or 
distress.
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