WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 19, 2004 -- An alliance of five national organizations supporting the rights of nonprofit organizations today called for congressional hearings on the need to limit soft money contributions to "527" independent political committees. The complete statement follows. nonprofitadvocacy.org Calls for Congressional Hearings on Need for 527 Bill Legislation introduced September 22 by Senators Feingold, Lieberman and McCain brings the debate over soft money and independent political committees from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to the Congress. This is a positive step, since Congress has both the authority to act on an area of unsettled law and the ability to conduct fact-finding proceedings to determine the need for it. However, the proposed "527 Reform Act of 2004" brings the same problematic issues that faced the FEC to Congress. For example, will charities, educational and advocacy organizations that are concerned with issues, not candidates, be impacted? The answer is not clear from the language in the bill. In addition, the bill:

• Does not define how the "major purpose" of an organization is determined;
• Does not define what constitutes a public communication that "promotes, supports, attacks or opposes" a federal candidate;
• Does not clearly exempt 501(c) organizations, despite the sponsors stated intention to do so; and
• Does not differentiate between groups controlled by citizens and those controlled by corporations, political parties or candidate campaigns.

We support campaign finance reform, and believe a strong, active and informed nonprofit sector is one of the best antidotes to the corrupting influence of money in politics. We cannot support legislation that in any way weakens the voice of citizens in public policy debates. Therefore, we call on Congress to hold hearings to determine the need to extend regulation of soft money beyond political parties and candidate campaigns, as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 did, and where independent political committees do pose a threat of corruption, to find ways to prevent it without silencing citizens speaking through nonprofits. ### For text or a summary of the bill, more information and background, go to nonprofitadvocacy.org. nonprofitadvocacy.org is comprised of the following five 501(c)(3) organizations, listed here with their organizational contacts:

• Alliance for Justice: Liz Towne, 202/822-6070
• Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest: Liz Baumgarten, 202/387-5048
• National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy: Rick Cohen, 202/387-9177
• National Council of Nonprofit Associations: Sheri Brady, 202/962-0322
• OMB Watch: Kay Guinane, 202/234-8494