Muslim Charity Seeks Release of Frozen Assets
Nov 15, 2004 by Guest Blogger
Last month, the Department of Treasury froze the assets of the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA) after a raid on its office in Columbia, MO, and the home of its executive director. Last week, Shereef Akeel, a lawyer for the Muslim charity, applied for a license from the U.S. Treasury Department to free its frozen assets for the purpose of paying rent and utility bills.
read in fullNonprofits' Suit Opposes CFC Terrorist Watch List Policy
Nov 15, 2004 by Guest Blogger
OMB Watch and 12 other nonprofits filed suit against the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) on Nov. 10, challenging their policy that requires participating charities to check their employees' names against government terrorist watch lists. The complaint, filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia, charges the policy violates the First Amendment rights of participating charities and was made illegally in secret.
read in fullOMB Watch Press Statement on Lawsuit Against the Combined Federal Campaign
Nov 12, 2004 by Kay Guinane
Statement of Kay Guinane, Counsel and Manager of OMB Watch Nonprofit Advocacy Project, Nov. 10, 2004
read in fullComments Needed on Alternative Guidelines to Prevent Terrorist Financing
Oct 18, 2004 by Guest Blogger
A group of charitable and philanthropic organizations has released a draft "Principles of International Charity" that can be used to prevent diversion of charitable funds to terrorists. Both domestic and international nonprofits are being asked to comment on the draft, which is an alternative to the Dept. of Treasury's November 2002 guidelines. OMB Watch and other groups have called on Treasury to withdraw their guidelines .
read in fullDraft Guidelines for Nonprofits to Prevent Diversion of Funds to Terrorists
Oct 12, 2004 by Kay Guinane
Draft alternative to "Voluntary Best Practice Guidelines for Domestic Charities" published by Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control. You can submit comments to Kay Guinane online at http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/2431 or fax to 202/234-5150.
read in fullText of Memo from National Combined Federal Campaign Committee
Oct 12, 2004 by Kay Guinane
Text of memo from National Combined Federal Campaign Committee to Mara Patermaster, CFC Director, re "Proposed Certification on Terrorist Lists" August 2003
read in fullLetter to the Editor and Response Regarding Aug. 9 Article on New CFC Rules
Oct 4, 2004 by Guest Blogger
To the Editor:
During my last few years on active duty service, I watched the number of charities registered with CFC [the Combined Federal Campaign] grow dramatically. And many of them sounded dubious. Yet we were encouraged to donate, even at our meager wages. This applied to federal civil service employees as well. However, I fully support the new CFC rule that charities have to certify that they don't support terrorism or organizations that do. It's already been proven in the national media that many benign-sounding charities were actually funding groups that continue terrorism worldwide. This has been forced on Corporate CEOs and was the same policy forced on South Africa. The policy is not misguided, but long overdue.
read in fullSummary of Combined Federal Campaign Regulations
Aug 12, 2004 by Kay Guinane
5 CFR Part 950- Solicitation of Federal Civilian and Uniformed Service Personnel for Contributions to Private Voluntary Organizations
read in fullTerror Prevention and Nonprofits: CFC Policy Raises Concerns about Chilling Impact
Aug 9, 2004 by Guest Blogger
The Director of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) announced July 31 that participating organizations have an affirmative obligation to check government terror watch lists in order to comply with a certification they are required to sign that they do not support terrorism. The statement prompted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to withdraw from the fund. In a letter to the CFC, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said, "that requirement is not clear from your certification and I am sure that most if not all of the 2,000 participating charities have a different practice and understanding of the CFC requirements." OMB Watch released a statement on August 6 calling on CFC to withdraw the certification requirement.
read in fullCharities Urge CFC: Change Misguided Terror List Rule
Aug 6, 2004 by Guest Blogger
STATEMENT OF OMB WATCH: August 6, 2004
OMB Watch joins coalition of nonprofits in urging the Combined Federal Campaign to alter its new policy interpretation, which requires nonprofits to screen employees according to government blacklists and erodes basic democratic principles. Full statement (.pdf)Coalition list and release.
