Aug. 8, 2008 – 11:28 a.m.
Chevron gave $1.2 million to an education program in Africa and South America that has a congressman on its board.
Wal-Mart Stores gave $200,000 to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation for a dinner honoring three lawmakers.
Coca-Cola Co., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Anheuser-Busch Companies each chipped in six-figure contributions to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
These are among the charitable contributions that companies that lobby Congress are now required to report under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (PL110-81), the lobbying overhaul approved last year. The first reports covering the first six months of 2008 were due July 30.
For years, lawmakers have channeled honoraria for speeches to charities and then reported the money on their personal financial-disclosure forms. But these new lobbying disclosure forms greatly expand the documentation of sometimes major charitable contributions linked to lawmakers. The top 20 transactions each reached into six figures.
“The point is that it provides another avenue for a special interest to gain favor with powerful politicians,” Meredith McGehee, policy director for The Campaign Legal Center, said of the expenditures.
Businesses and trade groups dispute the notion they are trying to buy influence, but voice concern about criminal penalties for failing to fill out the forms. While they bristle at the requirement, they are reporting all costs for events where a lawmaker was honored.
For example, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors honored Senate Republican Leader
“This is insanity. It is grossly overreacting on the part of the Hill,” said Jade West, senior vice president for government relations for the wholesaler-distributors. “What it’ll do is make sure that none of us downtown gives awards anymore. Nobody will take them anymore.”
Other groups reporting dinner honors included:
• The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights spent $240,000 on its annual dinner, which honored Rep.
• Wal-Mart contributed $200,000 to the cancer foundation’s spring fundraiser March 14 at the National Building Museum. Sen.
• The American Medical Association gave Harkin and House Majority Leader
• Pfizer Inc. gave Research! America $100,000 for a dinner March 18 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium that honored Sen.
Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, echoed others in saying that reporting the entire cost of its annual dinner was a precaution.
“God knows, this is a trial run for all of us on this disclosure,” she said. “We are learning as we go.”
E.R. Anderson, a regional spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said her company promotes health care while distributing $300 million a year in charity. If there is an opportunity at the dinner, Anderson said, a staffer might bend a lawmaker’s ear about some pending issue such as funding cancer screening or health clinics.
“If we have the chance to do education, we do,” Anderson said. “We make contributions to these causes because these are causes we believe in.”
Lawmakers uniformly deny feeling beholden to the organizations for honoring them or sponsoring the dinners.
“He does not feel as though he ‘owes’ either organization for the honors,” said Jennifer Mullin, Harkin’s spokeswoman.
“Absolutely not,” said Stacy Farnen Bernards, Hoyer’s spokeswoman.
The contributions total millions of dollars. But totaling precise figures is difficult because a company might report a single contribution to a dinner honoring three lawmakers three times, thereby tripling the total. The Wal-Mart contribution shows up twice, for instance.
The guidance issued by the House clerk and Senate secretary on July 16 described situations that now require reporting. One scenario described a company paying the sponsors for a dinner that honors a lawmaker. Another cited an industry group holding a fundraiser at which a lawmaker is honored.
In this reporting period, AstraZeneca gave $245,000 to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and $115,000 to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Inc.
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation also got $285,000 from Coca-Cola and $150,000 from Anheuser-Busch. Spokeswomen for both companies praised the educational opportunity.
AstraZeneca said its priorities mesh with those of the caucuses for promoting prevention programs and diversity in clinical trials while reducing health-care disparities.
“By supporting their foundations, we are building relations with these influential members and institutions in Congress and at the same time supporting programs that they run,” said company spokesman Tony Jewell.
Scott Gunderson Rosa, communications director for the Hispanic institute, which has its own nonprofit board, said fundraising pays for fellowships, internships and scholarships to develop “the next generation of Latino leaders.”
Rep.
“While CHC members are of course pleased that many companies share the goals of creating an educated and civically active Hispanic community, by no means do we feel beholden in any sense to their business interests,” Baca said.
The biggest donation came from Chevron, which distributes more than $100 million a year to charities. Chevron gave $1.2 million on May 14 to the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, which it has supported since 2003 for bringing televisions and educational videos to Nigeria, Angola, South Africa and Venezuela.
Chevron listed Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., as an honoree because he is a member of the partnership’s board.
“This was not made on behalf or at the behest of the representative,” said Kurt Glaubitz, a Chevron spokesman. “We have a direct contract with the Discovery Channel.”
He said there were no expectation of favors from Payne in exchange. “Absolutely not,” Glaubitz said.
Alex Knott contributed to this story.