[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 61 (Tuesday, May 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E797-E798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION BILL

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DAVID WU

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 2002

  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, September 11 showed us the horrors of this 
world. But it also showed us the good in human nature. Americans have 
been incredibly generous with their time and money in response to the 
terrorist attacks. Numerous charitable organizations were started 
within hours of the attacks to help the families whose lives were 
suddenly torn apart. People took time off from work to assist with 
feeding the emergency rescue crew digging through the rubble. And over 
$1 billion dollars has been raised to assist in these efforts.

[[Page E798]]

  Yet, since September 11, other important charitable efforts have been 
suffering from a lack of donations. The Starlight Children's 
Foundation, for instance, estimates that fundraising was down roughly 
$500,000 for the year, which represents a large portion of its annual 
budget. Numerous other charitable organizations have seen similar 
reductions in contributions. This decrease in contributions has led to 
reduced services and even the failure of some organizations.
  Moreover, charities are having to rely more on individual donations 
as businesses curtail their donations. American Airlines, for instance, 
its business severely affected by the September attacks, announced that 
it would not be making any charitable contributions this year.
  It is imperative that Congress do something to address this growing 
problem.
  Last fall, we debated proposals to stimulate our economy. While I 
agreed that legislation was needed to stimulate the economy, I was 
adamant that any proposal balance business interests with those of 
individual taxpayers. So, with each debate, I went before the Rules 
Committee proposing an amendment that would allow taxpayers who do not 
itemize their deductions to deduct their charitable contributions. Not 
only would this encourage charitable giving, but the tax benefit would 
help individuals and ultimately could help stimulate the economy. 
Unfortunately, my amendment was ruled out of order each time.
  Today, I am introducing legislation that would allow for such a 
deduction. Although I was not able to get this included in the economic 
stimulus bill that passed Congress, I feel strongly that we should turn 
this proposal into law. We should encourage charitable giving.
  My legislation is very similar to the proposal that was enacted in 
H.R. 7 earlier this year. However, unlike the proposal in H.R. 7, my 
amendment does not put an arbitrarily low cap on the dollar amount that 
can be deducted. Instead, it would follow current law for taxpayers who 
itemize their deductions. Specifically, this means that standard 
deduction taxpayers can deduct charitable contributions up to 50% of 
their adjusted gross income.
  On April 15, more than 30 million taxpayers who itemized deductions 
on their tax returns were able to claim tax deductions for any 
contributions made to their favorite charities. The effect of the 
deduction was to lower the taxpayer's cost of giving one dollar by 
amounts ranging from 15 cents to almost 40 cents.
  This same benefit should go to the millions of taxpayers who also 
generously contribute to charities but are not eligible for a 
charitable deduction because they claimed the standard deduction 
instead of itemizing deductions on their tax returns.
  I am proud that President Bush endorsed my proposal on April 11. I 
urge all of my colleagues to support this very important bill as well. 
We have the opportunity to enact legislation that will not only 
encourage charitable giving but will help stimulate our economy as 
well.

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