December 06,2007

Grassley on Responses from Six Ministries So Far Regarding Tax-exempt Practices

On Nov. 5, Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, wrote to six media-based ministries for information regarding expenses, executive compensation, amenities given to executives, and board governance. The inquiry is part of Grassley’s long-standing interest in making sure tax-exempt organizations are accountable to donors and to the taxpayers as a whole. Today was his requested deadline to hear from the six ministries. He made the following comment on the level of cooperation so far.

“It’s good that some of the ministries are cooperating. I hope all of them will cooperate in the end. For the focus of this inquiry, ministries are the same as any other non-profit organization. It’s a question of abiding by tax laws just like any tax-exempt group. I’m willing to give ministries more time if that’s needed, as long as they’re cooperating and in contact with my office. It’d be very unusual if they don’t cooperate. I’ve looked at a lot of non-profit groups over the last five years, and they’ve all cooperated. The only possible exception is when I was chairman, and then-Ranking Member Baucus asked for my help in getting a subpoena for charities connected to Jack Abramoff. That was an extreme case.”

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