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    05.06.2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter v4

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    The letter expresses concerns about recent reports that the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation has received over $12 million from the Tides Foundation, an organization that supports anti-business groups. It requests information on why the Foundation accepted these funds, how they have been used, and whether members and donors are aware of this funding from an organization opposed to the Chamber's mission.

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    05.06.2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter v4

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    The letter expresses concerns about recent reports that the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation has received over $12 million from the Tides Foundation, an organization that supports anti-business groups. It requests information on why the Foundation accepted these funds, how they have been used, and whether members and donors are aware of this funding from an organization opposed to the Chamber's mission.

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    05.06.2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter v4[2]

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    05.06.2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter v4[2]

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    The letter expresses concerns about recent reports that the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation has received over $12 million from the Tides Foundation, an organization that supports anti-business groups. It requests information on why the Foundation accepted these funds, how they have been used, and whether members and donors are aware of this funding from an organization opposed to the Chamber's mission.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    22K views3 pages

    05.06.2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter v4

    Uploaded by

    Breitbart News
    The letter expresses concerns about recent reports that the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation has received over $12 million from the Tides Foundation, an organization that supports anti-business groups. It requests information on why the Foundation accepted these funds, how they have been used, and whether members and donors are aware of this funding from an organization opposed to the Chamber's mission.

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    You are on page 1of 3

    May 6, 2024

    Suzanne P. Clark
    President and CEO
    U.S. Chamber of Commerce
    1615 H Street, NW
    Washington, D.C. 20062

    Carolyn Cawley
    President
    U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
    1615 H Street, NW
    Washington, D.C. 20062

    Dear Ms. Clark and Ms. Cawley:

    Throughout the 118th Congress, the Committee on Ways and Means has been
    investigating the growth of the tax-exempt sector established under Section 501(c) of the Internal
    Revenue Code. In April 2023, the Committee held a hearing on tax-exempt hospitals and the
    community benefit standard. 1 In August 2023, the Committee published an open letter requesting
    information on tax-exempt organizations focused on potential violations of rules regarding
    political activities, inappropriate use of charitable funds, and concerns about foreign sources of
    funding.2 In December 2023, the Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing on the
    growth of the tax-exempt sector and its impact on the American political system. 3

    These activities helped inform the Committee about the functioning of the sector and
    raised numerous concerns about activities of tax-exempt organizations like yours. Specifically,
    we are concerned about recent public reporting regarding the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
    Foundation (USCCF). The USCCF is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) and the U.S. Chamber
    of Commerce (USCC) is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(6). The public reports at issue indicate

    1
    H. Comm. on Ways and Means, Hearing on Tax-Exempt Hospitals and the Community Benefit Standard (Apr. 2,
    2023), https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/hearing-on-tax-exempt-hospitals-and-the-community-benefit-
    standard/.
    2
    H. Comm. on Ways and Means, Request for Information: Understanding and Examining the Political Activities of
    Tax-Exempt Organizations under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (Aug. 14, 2023), https://gop-
    waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/UPDATED-RFI-on-501c3-and-c4-Activities-
    FINAL.docx87.pdf.
    3
    H. Comm. On Ways and Means, Oversight Subcommittee Hearing: The Growth of the Tax-Exempt Sector and the
    Impact on the American Political Landscape (Dec. 13, 2023), https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/oversight-
    subcommittee-hearing-on-growth-of-the-tax-exempt-sector-and-the-impact-on-the-american-political-landscape/.
    Letter to The Honorable Daniel Werfel
    May 6, 2024
    Page 2
    that the USCCF has received over $12 million in funding from the Tides Foundation, a left-
    leaning organization that partners with and sponsors groups that advocate for policies that would
    harm the American business community. 4 Contrary to the USCC’s stated mission of improving
    lives “by advancing American business” and advocating “for policies that help businesses create
    jobs and grow our economy,” it seems odd that the foundation would accept funding from a
    group like the Tides Foundation, which is so focused on activities that seem counter to USCC’s
    mission.5 Furthermore, these reports raise concerns about how the USCC and USCCF are using
    their tax-exempt status.

    According to the Tides Foundation’s website, they work with “foundations who share our
    vision” and help their foundation partners “[c]ollaborate with like-minded funders to fuel social
    movements and transform policy.”6 The Tides Foundation says that their vision is “that a just and
    equitable future can exist only when communities who have been historically denied power have
    the social, political, and economic power they need to create it.” 7

    The Tides Foundation partners with and sponsors several anti-business organizations that
    seem to directly contradict the USCC’s stated mission. One example of an anti-business Tides
    Foundation supported project is the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR).8
    In December 2023, ICAR published a report titled Building a Rights-Based Economy: A
    Corporate Accountability Agenda.9 In this report, ICAR said “[t]ransnational corporations with
    intentionally complex, opaque supply chains are able to conceal systematic wage theft, forced
    labor, and attacks against human rights defenders” and “companies that pay little to nothing in
    federal income taxes go on to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying for their
    interests.”10

    Does USCC share the vision of the Tides Foundation? If not, why would USCC accept
    funds from a group so opposed to its mission?11 Or perhaps the better question is why would the
    Tides Foundation think that this donation would advance its interests?

    4
    Matthew Boyle, Exclusive – Tax Documents: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Turns to Soros-Funded
    Groups and Democrats to Keep Dwindling Operations Alive, BREITBART (March 25, 2024),
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/25/exclusive-tax-documents-chamber-commerce-foundation-turns-
    soros-funded-groups-democrats-keep-dwindling-operations-alive/.
    5
    Chamber of Commerce, (2022), Return of organization exempt from income tax [Form 990]. Retrieved from
    https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530045720/202333179349309013/full.
    6
    Tides Foundation, Foundation Giving, WWW.TIDES.ORG, https://www.tides.org/partners/foundations/ (last visited
    Apr. 8. 2024).
    7
    Tides Foundation, Our Vision & Mission, WWW.TIDES.ORG, https://www.tides.org/partners/ (last visited Apr. 8.
    2024).
    8
    Tides Foundation, Tides Partners, WWW.TIDES.ORG, https://www.tides.org/about/mission/ (last visited Apr. 8.
    2024).
    9
    Jackie Lewis, et al., Building a Rights-Based Economy: A Corporate Accountability Agenda, International
    Corporate Accountability Roundtable (Dec. 2023), https://icar.ngo/wp-
    content/uploads/2023/12/ICAR_CorporateAccountabilityReport_v4.pdf.
    10
    Id.
    11
    Chamber of Commerce, (2022), Return of organization exempt from income tax [Form 990]. Retrieved from
    https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530045720/202333179349309013/full.
    Letter to The Honorable Daniel Werfel
    May 6, 2024
    Page 3
    These reports are concerning because the Committee is evaluating whether tax-exempt
    organizations like USCC and USCCF are operating for the exempt purposes that allowed them to
    obtain tax-exempt status. Additionally, the Committee is concerned about whether donors to, and
    members of, organizations like yours have sufficient awareness of how their money is being
    spent.

    Given the Committee’s oversight on tax-exempt organizations throughout the 118th


    Congress, and concerns raised by recent public reporting, we request answers to the following
    questions no later than 5 p.m. on May 20, 2024.

    1. As a tax-exempt organization with the stated mission of advocating “for policies that help
    businesses create jobs and grow our economy” that has a related foundation, what exactly
    are taxpayers getting in return for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s tax-
    exempt status?

    2. Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Foundation accepting funds from the Tides
    Foundation, an organization that seems to sponsor and partner with openly anti-business
    organizations?

    3. What have the funds received from the Tides Foundation been used for?

    4. Are your members and donors aware that the organization is funded, in part, by the Tides
    Foundation?

    5. Do you share the vision of the Tides Foundation? If not, why did you accept funds from
    the organization? Do you know why they donated to USCC?

    Thank you in advance for your time and responses. If you have any questions, please
    contact the Ways and Means Majority Committee staff at (202) 225–3625.

    Sincerely,

    __________________________
    Jason Smith
    Chairman
    Committee on Ways and Means

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