[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 92 (Thursday, June 26, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1331]]

   H.R. 1902, THE CHARITABLE DONATION ANTITRUST IMMUNITY ACT OF 1977

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 1997

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 1902, the 
Charitable Donation Antitrust Immunity Act of 1997.
  This bill continues Congress' efforts, begun in the 104th Congress, 
to protect charities from abusive litigation. My colleagues may recall 
that this legislation was sparked by concerns raised by a nationwide 
class-action lawsuit filed in Federal court in Texas in 1994. That 
litigation charged that charitable gift annuities and other similar 
products that are widely used by charities, universities, and other 
organizations to raise donated funds, were issued in violation of the 
securities and antitrust laws. That lawsuit caused great concern among 
the charities and other organizations that were the suit's target, 
which saw potential liabilities in the billions of dollars as a result 
of this litigation and the likely copycat suits that would follow.
  In 1995, the Commerce Committee moved a bipartisan bill through the 
Congress to protect these organizations against the securities 
allegations raised in that lawsuit. That legislation, H.R. 2519, which 
was supported by the Securities and Exchange Commission, codified and 
clarified existing administrative exemptions that applied to charitable 
gift annuities and similar products, which were never intended to fall 
within the scope of the Federal securities laws as charged by the 
plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuit. That bill passed unanimously in the 
Commerce Committee and received a resounding vote of 421 to 0 in this 
body, whereupon it was passed by the Senate on a voice vote and, 
shortly thereafter, signed into law by the President.
  Concurrent with our efforts in the Commerce Committee, the Judiciary 
Committee passed companion legislation to address the antitrust aspects 
of the Texas litigation.
  Unfortunately, despite our success in the last Congress, the threat 
that this litigation presents to charitable and other organizations 
that use charitable gift annuities and similar products to raise funds 
has not gone away. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 
recently held that the 1995 antitrust legislation was not broad enough 
to prevent the plaintiffs from continuing their litigation in this 
area. Thus, Chairman Hyde and his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee 
have introduced legislation that will clarify Congress' intention and, 
we hope, end the litigation threat to charitable organizations across 
the country.
  I am pleased to continue to support efforts to preserve the ability 
of America's charities, universities, and other organizations to use 
charitable gift annuities and similar products to raise needed funds, 
and urge the President to sign H.R. 1902 so that the needless threat to 
these organizations can be laid to rest once and for all.

                          ____________________