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October 12, 2004
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman
Senator Max Baucus, Ranking Member
U.S. Senate Committee on Finance
Washington, DC 20810-6200
Dear Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus,
Thank you for your letter of September 22, 2004, encouraging INDEPENDENT
SECTOR to convene an independent panel on the
non-profit sector to consider and recommend actions that will
strengthen good governance, ethical conduct and effective practice
of public charities and private foundations.
We appreciate your thoughtful comments about the diversity of this
important sector and the many good efforts around the country to
consider how best to encourage good practice and address the
wrongful actions of those who are exploiting charities’ tax-exempt
status and abusing the public trust. We applaud your desire to
engage in serious analysis and deliberation to construct appropriate
legislative remedies and enable good self-regulation.
To that end, we are proceeding with convening the
independent national panel on the non-profit sector that you have
called for and plan to engage a broad spectrum of leaders from
charities and foundations of all sizes, as well as technical, legal,
and financial experts to assist the panel in its work. As you have
requested, the panel will provide an initial report of its findings
and recommendations to the Finance Committee in February 2005, and a
final report in the spring of 2005. We expect the work of the Panel
to continue through the fall and will probably update our
recommendations to you at that time.
I have attached a list of the outstanding individuals who have
agreed to serve on the panel. We will provide other updates to your
staff as we proceed with this important effort.
Thank you for your interest and support for the work of this vital
sector. We look forward to working with you in the months ahead.
Sincerely,
Diana Aviv
President and CEO
INDEPENDENT
SECTOR
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Copyright ©
2004 Independent Sector. All Rights Reserved.
