Part2 US Sen Finance Panel Probes Fannie,Freddie Foundations
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GSEs Support Lesser-Known Charities
Tax records also show that both foundations as well as their corporate parents also donate to lesser-known charities that are closely tied to members of Congress, like the Faith & Politics Institute and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute - which are both 501(c)(3)s under the tax code.
The adoption institute, which boasts roughly 200 members from the House and Senate, including DeLay, is co-chaired by Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Mary Landrieu, D-La., who both sit on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls federal spending.
Tax records show that the Freddie Mac Foundation has been a top funder of the institutes, providing more than 37%, or $350,000, of CCAI's nearly $940,000 of cash revenue in 2003, according to the most recent filings available. Freddie's foundation provided more than two-thirds of the institute's funding in 2002, donating $205,000 of the charity's $296,772 of revenue that year, tax records showed.
The CCAI sponsors an annual "Angels in Adoption" awards gala in Washington, D.C. It also organizes congressional briefings, leadership training programs and educational trips in the U.S. and abroad to inform "members of Congress and their staff about current domestic and international adoption-related matters," according to its Web site. It was a founding partner, along with the Freddie Mac Foundation and others, of National Adoption Day in 2000.
Freddie Mac is listed as a "founding and premier sponsor" on the institute's Web site. Target Corp. (TGT) is the only other premier sponsor that also donated at least $100,000 to the institute's Angels in Adoption gala in 2005 for that sponsorship designation. As premier contributors, Freddie and Target got to participate in the dinner as event presenters, received premier seating for 18 guests, an invitation to a VIP reception, the opportunity to sit with a VIP as well as formal recognition in the program and Web site, according to the institute's Web site.
Freddie Mac spokesman Doug Duvall said, "As with many corporations, we contribute to a variety of organizations and we comply with all applicable disclosure requirements." He said "for over 15 years, the Freddie Mac Foundation has funded nonprofits that help at-risk children and families."
Freddie and Fannie also regularly contribute to the Faith & Politics Institute, which was established by lawmakers and congressional staff in 1991 to "nurture political leaders by providing opportunities for spiritual reflection and engagement with the historical potential of religious values to heal the wounds that divide our nation and our world," the group's Web site says.
The institute sponsors weekly meetings, regular civil rights pilgrimages and spiritual retreats across the country for lawmakers, their spouses, children, congressional staff and sometimes lobbyists.
Freddie Mac's David Lynch, senior director of government relations, who attended the civil rights pilgrimage to Birmingham, Ala. last March said: "Nothing short of having lived the experience can substitute for making this trip...I found the experience to be emotional on a level I don't think I expected," according to the institute's Web site.
Lynch was honored at the institute's 13th Annual Congressional Reception last July along with Freddie's top lobbyist Tim McBride, Fannie lobbyist Rick Maurano and other "major corporate funders" that included lobbyists from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), General Motors Corp. (GM) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), to name a few.
Congressional spouses Amey Upton, wife of Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Eulada P. Watt, wife of Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C., sit on the board along with other current and former lawmakers. Upton is a high-ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, while Watt chairs the Congressional Black Caucus and is a high-ranking Democrat on the House panel that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both representatives sit on the institute's Congressional Advisory Council along with 24 other Senate and House lawmakers.
Executive Director Sara Fritz said the group is rethinking its travel policy in light of the Abramoff scandal. Lawmakers, who have always had to make a small contribution for their trips, will now have to pay their full costs. Lobbyists, who were allowed to attend the pilgrimages, won't be invited to the next two scheduled in April as the institute considers new travel and sponsorship rules for lobbyists, Fritz said.
"Even though these aren't junkets, we do understand that people right now are very aware of not wanting to do something that looks untoward," Fritz said.
The Senate Finance Committee, in the meantime, plans to scrutinize Fannie's and Freddie's contributions to such charities and the involvement of their lobbyists in privately funded travel with members of Congress, the senior Republican committee aide said. No hearings have been set yet.
-By Dawn Kopecki, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; Dawn.Kopecki@dowjones.com |
