MEDILL NEWS SERVICE > Power Trips: Congress hits the road

Religious group sponsors travel to Reformation Ohio event
By TARA MCLAUGHLIN
MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON -- When Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., went on a one-day trip to speak in Columbus, Ohio, he and aide William Moore didn't have to spend time in airports waiting for connecting flights.

Instead, on Oct. 14, 2005, the two boarded a private plane leased and operated by World Harvest Church. They reported the total cost of their travel as $7,240 - the equivalent of two first-class tickets, the formula allowed under House travel rules. The trip was paid for by the Center for Moral Clarity, an offshoot of the 12,000-member World Harvest Church, based in Columbus.

Paying for travel is a legal way for groups, including nonprofit religious organizations, to get the attention of lawmakers and possibly gain support for their causes. Trips may also give politicians a platform to promote legislation.

Jones' pet issue is H.R. 235, a short amendment to the Internal Revenue Service regulations that would effectively allow religious leaders to support candidates for elected office. Currently, members of the clergy can support candidates on their own but not in their capacity as leaders of tax-exempt religious organizations. The bill has been introduced several times without success, but Jones plans to reintroduce a version of it in the 110th Congress, his spokeswoman, Kathleen Joyce, said in an e-mail.

The legislation had the enthusiastic support of Rod Parsley, pastor of the World Harvest Church and president of the Center for Moral Clarity, as he introduced Jones at the Oct. 14 launch of Parsley's new venture -- Reformation Ohio.

"He is the sponsor of the Houses of Worship Freedom of Speech Restoration Act in the United States Congress, which would restore to every pastor, every cleric, every bishop and every priest in the United States of America their First Amendment rights, which were infringed upon in 1954," Parsley said according to a recording of the event made by Marley Greiner, a reporter for alternative news outlet, the Columbus Free Press.

The presence of Jones and a few other Republican politicians before the crowd of about 1,000 in front of the Ohio Statehouse provided some high-profile support for Reformation Ohio. The organization's mission includes saving 100,000 souls and registering 400,000 voters.

"Freedom without religion is dangerous and unstable," Jones said according to the recording. "God, please help this reformation effort in Ohio, and then, God, help us bring it across the nation."

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., was also there courtesy of the Center for Moral Clarity. The center paid $620 for transportation and about $650 for lodging, according to a database of congressional travel records compiled by Medill News Service. Republican State Sen. Jim Jordan of Ohio also offered words of support.

But the guest who may have garnered some unwanted attention was Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor of Ohio.

While the Center for Moral Clarity states on its Web site that it abides by IRS regulations prohibiting churches from supporting candidates (regulations that Jones' bill would change), some say that Blackwell's presence at the launch of Reformation Ohio crossed the line.

In January and April of 2006, coalitions of religious leaders filed IRS complaints against the World Harvest Church and its affiliated Center for Moral Clarity and Reformation Ohio along with another Ohio church for allegedly supporting Blackwell's bid for governor.

Blackwell was the sole gubernatorial candidate to appear at last year's launch of Reformation Ohio. It was one of several appearances cited in the complaint filed by the religious leaders.

"The complaints filed by that consortium of liberal ministers against World Harvest Church, the Center for Moral Clarity and Reformation Ohio are baseless and without merit," according to a written statement from the church provided by its spokesman. "Contrary to media reports, at their inception these entities were organized according to IRS guidelines, and have consistently operated in full compliance with federal tax law."

When asked if the IRS was investigating the claims, the response was that "these matters are private in accordance with IRS rules and we choose not to discuss them publicly."

"Religious groups seek to influence lawmakers the same as any other group does," said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life, a nonpartisan organization in Washington. "Lobby them, mobilize members of the religious community to vote or call Congress, or use a media strategy."

But trips paid for by tax-exempt religious groups may be a thing of the past. Proposed ethics reforms could make gifts of travel for members of Congress and their staff more transparent or eliminate them altogether.

"This is actually going to be fought out in the ethics rules when Congress comes back," said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog in Washington. "You have to ask, does [a tax-exempt organization] do any lobbying. … It should not be paying for trips because these trips provide an opportunity to have one-on-one face time. Other people don't get that chance."

The World Harvest Church statement said no one except crew was on the plane with Jones and Moore. "At no time during Congressman Jones' visit to Columbus on Oct. 14 did World Harvest Church, CMC or Reformation Ohio lobby him on any issue."

Jones' spokeswoman, Joyce, declined to comment when asked why Jones took a private jet instead of a commercial flight when the trip, according to Joyce, was planned in advance.

But the church's statement said that the plane is used when commercial flights "would be more time-consuming or otherwise impractical."

Under some proposed changes to House of Representatives travel rules, members would be required to report who traveled with them or with a member of their staff. Members also might be required to pay charter rates for flights on private planes. Currently members are asked only to pay or report a gift in an amount equivalent to first class tickets. Privately sponsored travel may be eliminated entirely.

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