“It just plays into the strategy. It is another avenue that people here try to maximize what they want to do in Washington,” the lobbyist said. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were “smart political players” for taking part.
Muriel Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, said the donations have helped pay for internships, fellowships and scholarships for black students.
Craig Holman, of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, said charitable contributions are part of a lobbying strategy to “curry favor with lawmakers.”
But there is little appetite for limiting the donations, he said, because many of the recipients are worthy causes.
Freddie donated $25,000 and Fannie gave another $5,000 to Hope Street Kids, a charity started by Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) to perform and promote research into childhood cancers.
Pryce’s 9-year-old daughter, Caroline Pryce Walker, died of cancer in 1999.
The money helped sponsor the Caroline Golf and Tennis Invitational on June 9. Cynthia Duncan, executive director of Hope Street Kids, said proceeds from the event enabled the charity to award $740,000 for childhood cancer research studies to institutions across the country.
Duncan said the charity benefits from the donations of hundreds of foundations and from corporate and individual gifts. But corporate donations are already down and the absence of Fannie and Freddie could make it even more difficult to raise corporate contributions.
Sometimes lawmakers say they aren’t even aware a donation was made on their behalf.
One charitable contribution Freddie Mac made was on behalf of Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who was one of the main influences behind the recent housing reform bill.
The $5,000 contribution was given to the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation in Frank’s honor. But the Massachusetts Democrat’s office was not aware of the contribution and said it did not solicit it.
“The contribution is completely divorced from us. Until you brought it to our attention, we had no knowledge of it,” said Steven Adamske, a spokesman for Frank.
Frank spoke before a dinner held by the foundation this past April. He was given an award for his work in garnering congressional support for reparations being given to Japanese-Americans who were interned at prison camps during World War II.
Fannie and Freddie also gave $10,000 and $15,000, respectively, to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that focuses on African-American issues.
The money provided “general support” for the center’s annual dinner celebration, said Betty Anne Williams, a spokeswoman for the center. Clyburn was honored at the event, triggering the requirement that Fannie and Freddie disclose the donation to Congress.
So far this year, Freddie has been the more generous contributor to charities and other groups. It made $408,000 in contributions. Fannie Mae, in comparison, donated around $75,000 in “honorary expenses” to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in honor of House Judiciary Chairman Conyers.
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