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National Republican Congressional Committee

 
Wikipedia: National Republican Congressional Committee
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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives.

The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and Senate formed a "Congressional Committee". It supports the election of Republicans to the House through direct financial contributions to candidates and Republican Party organizations; technical and research assistance to Republican candidates and Party organizations; voter registration, education and turnout programs; and other Party-building activities. It is a registered 527 group, and its current slogan is "Building a Lasting Majority".

The NRCC is always chaired by a Republican member of the House, who may serve up to two consecutive terms. The current chair is Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas. Recent former chairmen include Rep. Bill Paxon (1994-98), Rep. Tom Davis (1998-2002), Rep. Tom Reynolds (2002-2006), who was seen as Paxon's protege and who represented his former district in Erie County, New York, and Rep. Tom Cole (2006-2008). It is governed by an Executive Committee of 11 members, which includes the party's Leader in the House ex-officio, and other members elected by the Republican Conference following a House election.

Contents

Fundraising

In 2000 and 2002, one-third of the Committee's $210.8 million raised was in soft money donations. As Congress considered prohibiting such donations, the Committee stepped up its efforts, holding record-breaking events featuring President George W. Bush.[1].

Especially after the ban, the NRCC's fundraising sources and techniques have been criticized. For the 2004 election cycle, its top three donors included two Indian tribal clients of Jack Abramoff. Others include gambling interests (also related to Abramoff).[2]

On September 21, 2006 Chairman Tom Reynolds met with lobbyists in Washington, D.C. to warn them to contribute only to Republicans and not to challengers from the Democratic Party because their donations would be tracked and they would lose favors among the Republican members of Congress.[1] Similar activities of the K Street Project occurred when Davis was head of the NRCC; the organization was fined by the Federal Election Commission for transferring funds between PACs for the same candidates in violation of contribution limits.[2]

Another fundraising and outreach technique between at least 2003 and 2006 was approaching small business leaders to inform them that they are to be recognized with a "National Leadership" Award, in return for a financial gift and the use of their names in a list of supporters. [3] [4][5] Science Friday host Ira Flatow and others report being approached in 2007 by the NRCC offering them such awards as "Congressional Order of Merit" (in exchange for adding their name to a list of NRCC members) [6] or "Honorary Chairman of the Business Advisory Council" for a fee between $200 and $500. [7]

The NRCC has also offered awards such as "Physician of the Year", "Businessman of the Year" and "Columnist of the Year" to thousands of individuals each year, asking for a donation of $1,250 for the award ceremony.[3][4][5][6]

In comparison to other groups, a larger number of donors to the NRCC do not declare an occupation or employer, making connections difficult; this may be due to the nature of its donor pool, which consists of more individuals than groups, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Automated phone calls

In 2006, just days before the November 7 midterm Congressional elections, there were numerous reports of a series of automated phone calls ("robocalls") being authorized by the NRCC, with the apparent intention to confuse and annoy the supporters of Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives.[7] The automated call would typically begin by saying, "Hello, I'm calling with information about ___" and naming the Democratic candidate. If the recipient hung up, the call would be repeated, often several times, thus leading voters to believe incorrectly that the Democratic campaign was harassing them.[8] The NRCC used the tactic in at least 53 competitive House races.[8]

In New Hampshire, the state attorney general's office requested that the NRCC end the robocalls, but many individuals in the state continued to report receiving them. New Hampshire News Article The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent the NRCC a cease-and-desist letter. The DCCC letter cited the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation requiring that a prerecorded telephone call must identify the responsible entity at the beginning of the message, and must include the entity's telephone number. Because the NRCC's calls did not name the NRCC at the beginning and did not provide a contact phone number, the DCCC charged the NRCC with "a pattern of willful noncompliance with FCC requirements". [8]

Allegations of embezzlement

On March 13, 2008 the NRCC stated that its former treasurer, Chris Ward, had apparently transferred "several hundred thousand dollars" in NRCC funds to "his personal and business bank accounts".[9] Ward had also served as treasurer for 83 Republican committees[10] and has done work for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.[11]

The exact amount involved is still not known. On June 6, 2008 the Department of Justice, in filing a civil forfeiture proceeding against Ward's house, alleged that Ward "made over $500,000 in unauthorized withdrawals" and that he used the money to make his mortgage payments and for home renovation.[12]

2008 Congressional elections

In 2008 the NRCC concentrated on trying to help incumbent Republicans win re-election. Even so, the committee had to make "triage"-type decisions about allocating its funds. In October 2008, it canceled several hundred thousand dollars worth of television advertising time slated for the re-election campaigns of Michele Bachmann, Marilyn Musgrave, and Tom Feeney, having concluded that they could not win. [13] The decision drew criticism from the conservative Family Research Council, which stated, "It appears that the NRCC is abandoning social conservative candidates and the issues for which they stand…."[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Traps are set for Dems". MSNBC. September 28, 2006. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14682621. Retrieved on 2008-05-17. 
  2. ^ "PARTY MISUSE OF SOFT MONEY TO PAY FOR ISSUE ADS RESULTS IN $280,000 CIVIL PENALTY". FEC. April 9, 2004. http://www.fec.gov/press/press2004/20040409murs.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-17. 
  3. ^ Ross, Brian (April 5, 2005). "Are Honors for Physicians the New Political Diploma Mill?". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=643826. Retrieved on 2009-07-11. 
  4. ^ Smith Amos, Denise (January 1, 2003). "Some awards come with a big price". The Cincinnati Enquirer. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/01/01/loc_amos01.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-11. 
  5. ^ Lease, Daryl (March 3, 2003). "You may already be a donor!". Sarasota Herald Tribune. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-22583586_ITM. Retrieved on 2009-07-11. 
  6. ^ Weisman, Jonathan (February 22, 2003). "House GOP Fundraisers Put a Price On Honor". The Washington Post: pp. A.01. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-22534575_ITM. Retrieved on 2009-07-11.  Washington Post archive
  7. ^ Babington, Charles; MacGillis, Alec (November 7, 2006), "It's a Candidate Calling. Again.", The Washington Post: A08, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110601103_pf.html 
  8. ^ a b Elliott, Philip (November 1, 2006), "How do you like those nasty telephone calls from the campaigns", The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/11/01/how_do_you_like_those_nasty_telephone_calls_from_the_campaigns/ 
  9. ^ National Republican Congressional Committee (March 13, 2008). "NRCC Chairman Cole Releases Statement and Update on Apparent Accounting Irregularities". Press release. http://www.nrcc.org/news/view_article.asp?id=1459. Retrieved on 2008-03-14. 
  10. ^ Kane, Paul (March 14, 2008), "NRCC Says Ex-Treasurer Diverted Up to $1 Million", The Washington Post: A01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031302841.html?hpid=topnews 
  11. ^ Silverstein, Ken (February 6, 2008), "NRCC Financial Scandal Looks Like an Inside Job", Harper's Magazine, http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002318 
  12. ^ "" Justice Dept: Ward took at least $500K in GOP campaign funds"". Yahoo! News. June 6, 2008. http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/16281. Retrieved on 2008-06-08. 
  13. ^ Cillizza, Chris (October 22, 2008), "House Republicans Bow to Political Reality", The Washington Post, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/10/house_republicans_bowing_to_po.html 
  14. ^ Allen, Jonathan (October 23, 2008). "Social Conservatives Aim Fire at GOP Campaign Committee". CQ Politics. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002978561. Retrieved on 2008-10-24. 

External links


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