Nonprofit Organizations and Counterterrorism Measures

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Conyers/Reyes FISA Reform Bill Passes House Committees

Oct 10, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Both the House Judiciary and the House Intelligence Committee passed HR 3773, the Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 (RESTORE Act). The bill is meant to reform the Protect America Act (PAA) which passed hastily in August to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The bill is expected to be sent to the House floor for a vote next week.

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Congress Misses Oversight Opportunity on Charities and Anti-Terrorist Financing Laws

Both houses of Congress have now approved S. 1612, a bill that expands penalties for violations of economic sanctions against countries like Iran and designated terrorist organizations. The bill also expands the scope of prohibited activity to include vaguely defined conspiracy and aiding and abetting language that could lead to unpredictable results for the unwary.

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House Surveillance Bill Could Be Made Public Soon

Oct 5, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

In response to the Protect America Act (PAA) signed into law in August which temporarily reformed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Democrats are now working on a new, hopefully more conscious piece of legislation to revise FISA. The House Select Intelligence Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill next Wednesday and according to CQ ($$), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has postponed plans to brief reporters on the bill, originally planned for today (Oct.5).

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Senate Hearing on Protect America Act and FISA Changes

Sep 26, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled, "Strengthening FISA: Does the Protect America Act Protect Americans' Civil Liberties and Enhance Security?" During the hearing Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell testified and generally spoke very carefully in response to proposals to change legislation, as he did last week before House committees.

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Holy Land Jury Deliberates When Aid is Support for Terrorism

On Sept. 20, a Texas jury began deliberations on criminal charges of supporting terrorism brought against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and five of its leaders, nearly six years after the charity was shut down and its assets seized by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The two-month long trial was the first opportunity the charity had to hear the evidence against it and present evidence in its own defense. The government did not claim HLF provided direct support of Hamas or a terrorist group.

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Hearings On the Protect America Act

Sep 19, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

A series of hearings are now underway intended to examine and create legislative changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in light of the Protect America Act (S.1927) that was rushed through Congress and signed into law in Aug. Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled, "Warrantless Surveillance and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: The Role of Checks and Balances in Protecting Americans' Privacy Rights," to follow up on part one held Sept. 5.

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Interview with Salam Al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council on Muslim American Charities

Sep 12, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy addressed the effects of September 11 on Muslim charities in an interview with Salam Al-Marayati, the executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Charity is especially important during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins tonight (Sept.12) at sundown. According to the interview Treasury has not had an open dialogue with Muslim charities for two or three years. Despite continued government suspicion of Muslim charities people will not stop donating to charity, but the donations will be made through informal outlets.

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Chiquita Officials Will Not Face Criminal Charges

Sep 12, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Justice Department will not criminally charge former top executive and other former high-ranking officers of Chiquita Brands International over the company's payments to a Colombian organization on the State Department's list of terrorist groups. After the company pleaded guilty, three of its officers were under investigation for authorizing and approving the payments after federal prosecutors warned them that it was violating the nation's anti-terrorism laws.

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USAID Temporarily Delays Implementation of Partner Vetting System

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has agreed to temporarily delay implementation of a new database, called the Partner Vetting System (PVS), that would "[ensure] that neither USAID funds nor USAID-funded activities inadvertently or otherwise provide support to entities or individuals associated with terrorism." Under the plan, initially announced on July 17, all nonprofits that apply for grants, contracts or other financial partnership with USAID would have to provide the government with highly detailed personal information about employees, executives, trustees, subcontractors and others associated with the organization. On July 20, USAID also proposed to exempt portions of the PVS database from the Privacy Act. USAID is accepting comment on the Privacy Act exemption until Sept. 18. Charities are actively objecting to this burdensome and unwarranted program in which thousands of nonprofit workers would have to be screened. USAID is moving forward with a pilot program for aid recipients working in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip before expanding it globally as first intended.

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Tell Congress to Reconsider the Protect America Act!

Sep 7, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The unauthorized illegal wiretapping of nonprofits, amongst others, has already been made known and now, that authority has been expanded. We are calling on you to urge Congress to act now and revisit the temporary fix to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that passed in August. The Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), S. 1927, gives the government the power to wiretap anyone, including U.S. citizens, without any court approval as long as the "target" of the surveillance is located outside the U.S.

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