[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      THE CHARITY TRANSPARENCY ACT

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                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2017

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in 2001 the U.S. Government shut down 
the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for its role in sending money to 
Hamas. But some of the Holy Land Foundation's employees are now working 
at 501(c)(3) ``charities'' that are leading the Boycott, Divestment and 
Sanctions movement in the U.S. against Israel.
  Charitable American donors have no way of knowing of the questionable 
histories of some of the employees of these charities before they 
donate. My bill, The Charity Transparency Act, will require 
organizations applying for 501(c)(3) status to disclose if any of their 
key employees once worked for such organizations.
  It would require no new paperwork and give the IRS no new 
authorities. It would just require one more disclosure on the already 
existing IRS documents.
  It would also not penalize any of these charities. It would simply 
protect charitable American citizens and arm them with the information 
they need to make better informed decisions regarding where they donate 
their hard earned money.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.
  And that's just the way it is.

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