National Service Reauthorization Act--Continued

Floor Speech

NATIONAL SERVICE REAUTHORIZATION ACT--Continued -- (Senate - March 25, 2009)

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AMENDMENT NO. 716 TO AMENDMENT NO. 687

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, President John F. Kennedy said:

The raising of extraordinarily large sums of money, given voluntarily and freely by millions of our fellow Americans, is a unique American tradition. ..... Philanthropy, charity, giving voluntarily and freely ..... call it what you like, but it is truly a jewel of an American tradition.

In 2007, Americans gave more than $300 billion to charitable causes, an amount equal to roughly 2 percent of the gross domestic product. The vast majority of those donations, roughly 75 percent, or about $229 billion, came from individuals who willingly gave their hard-earned dollars for causes greater than their own.

Studies have shown that Americans give far more to charity than the people of any other industrialized nation. In fact, relative to the size of our economy, Americans gave more than twice as much as the citizens of Great Britain and 10 times more than the citizens of France.

We should be proud of this tradition. Congress should continue to support the 70 percent of all American households that donate to charities to support a wide range of religious, educational, cultural, health care, and environmental goals. These charities provide invaluable public service to society's most vulnerable citizens during difficult economic times. In many cases, these services go above and beyond what any conceivable Government program could provide.

For years, Congress has provided incentives through the Internal Revenue Code to encourage charitable giving by allowing individuals to deduct income given to tax-exempt charities. Over time, 41 million American households have taken advantage of this deduction to give to the charities of their choice.

Unfortunately for these generous families and individuals, President Obama and his administration have proposed, as part of their budget outline, reducing the allowable deduction for charitable giving. According to one study, President Obama's proposal would reduce charitable donations by as much as $8 to $16 billion per year.

Particularly in a time when many charities are already struggling on account of the economic downturn, these entities do not need a change in the Tax Code that would further discourage charitable giving. These organizations that educate our children, care for the sick and the poor, and facilitate religious opportunities should not have to pay the price for additional spending on new Federal programs, as is proposed in the administration's budget.

Over the past several days, this proposal has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats, large companies and small companies, universities and churches, constituents and charities of all shapes and sizes. Therefore, I have offered an amendment to H.R. 1388, the national service bill, which is before the Senate right now, which would express the ``sense of the Senate that Congress should preserve the full income tax deduction for charitable contributions through the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and look for additional ways to encourage charitable giving rather than to discourage it.''

Americans have a proud tradition of voluntarily giving to those who are in need. Even in these tough economic times, when there is great temptation to save any earned income for better days, families and individuals continue to support our charities. I believe Congress should continue to support those who voluntarily make that sacrifice, and I hope my colleagues will, when this amendment comes up for a vote, support it.

I also point out that a Washington-based coalition of 600 different nonprofit groups opposes this measure and has characterized it as a further disincentive to giving in challenging economic times. It is hard enough, with the economy being in the condition it is these days, people and charitable organizations trying to rely heavily on volunteers and voluntary giving to make ends meet, but it makes it even more complicated when we put policies in place that discourage that.

I wouldn't suggest for a minute that anybody who makes a contribution to a charitable organization does that because of the tax treatment only, but I do believe there is an interaction between our tax policy and charitable giving, and that it definitely affects the amount of those gifts. So rather than dialing back the tax treatment we provide to those who make charitable contributions, in my view, we ought to be encouraging more of that. Certainly the administration's proposal, which would take away the favorable tax treatment for those above certain income categories, is going to cost those organizations who rely heavily upon charitable giving an enormous amount of additional dollars they would receive.

I hope my colleagues would find their way to support my amendment and express the sense of the Senate that we ought not be going down that path, that we ought to retain the current tax treatment that we have for charitable giving, particularly in a time when the economy is struggling and many people, many organizations that rely on that type of giving, are struggling to make ends meet.

I ask that my colleagues, as they consider this particular issue, in light of the underlying bill that does make available new monies for government programs, also give consideration to all of those charitable organizations out there and all of those individuals across this country who, out of the goodness of their hearts, have contributed mightily to make the good causes that are served by these charities move forward.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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