AARP Offers Detailed Response to Republicans’
Questioning of Non-Profit Tax Status
GOP trio on House Ways and Means see ‘conflict
between AARP’s drive for profits, the best interests of its members’ -
see video response
May 11, 2011 – It was no April Fool’s joke when
AARP leaders went before the House Ways and Means subcommittees on
health and oversight last April 1 to respond to charges by Republican
leaders of the committees that there is a “conflict between AARP’s drive
for profits, the best interests of its members and the organization’s
tax-exempt status." It was the beginning of a detailed response by AARP
to the allegations.
The report detailing the changes was released by
House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee chairman Rep. Charles
Boustany (R-La.) and health subcommittee chairman Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.),
along with Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.).
The hearing was held April 1 to review the report
and discuss AARP's organizational structure and finances. The investigative report
is titled, "Behind
the Veil: The AARP America Doesn’t Know.”
Since then, AARP has established a web site to
further respond and let people know more about its operation -
www.aarp.org/CheckForYourself
At issue, says AARP is “does the nonprofit
organization’s business model conflict with its advocacy, education and
service commitment to people older than 50?”
“Most of the questions raised by the report have
already have been asked and answered by previous Congresses,” says AARP
President Lee Hammond.
“Because we respect the role of Congress in these
inquiries, AARP again cooperated with the requests for information and
provided hundreds of pages of documents to be responsive.
“AARP is proud of the work it does on behalf of its
millions of members and all people 50+, and we want people to be able to
judge for themselves whether the report’s inferences are accurate, since
AARP disagrees with the conclusions.
“Therefore, we have posted our annual reports, Form
990s and other public filings, as well as charts on AARP’s revenues and
expenditures on our website at
www.aarp.org/CheckForYourself.
"In addition, we’ve included the information that
AARP voluntarily sent to Congressional staff at their request over the
last several months.
“Finally, AARP is most disturbed by the accusation
that our support of any legislation would be done with revenue in mind.
AARP has long-maintained that we would gladly forgo revenue in exchange
for lifetime health and financial security for all older Americans. We
have been conducting ourselves in pursuit of that mission for more than
50 years with the same focus on affecting both public policy officials
and the private marketplace to achieve our social welfare goals.
“AARP is confident that upon review the public will
agree that our organization operates with the utmost integrity and
responsibility. We look forward to answering any further questions about
AARP’s work on behalf of the 50+ population that the subcommittees may
have at their announced hearing on April 1.”
Among the links to more of AARP’s response that are
found at the website are the following.
● Reps. Boustany, Herger and Reichert
sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service calling for an
investigation into the organization's tax-exempt status.
Here is AARP's response.
● AARP reports - and releases - every year where
our revenues come from and how we use them to help everyone age with
dignity and purpose; however, we recognize, there were still some
questions. The longer, publicly available, official IRS form 990s are
available
by clicking here.
