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Overview:

America 21 Stated Purpose: Educate, engage, and mobilize Christians to influence national policy at every level. Tax Status: 501(c)(4) Political Orientation: Republican Profile: America 21's chairwoman, former Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R-Idaho), has said her group aims to help America turn back to God by encouraging "moral leadership from our churches" to be heard "in the halls of Congress and across this nation." Chenoweth-Hage has cast the group in the tradition of Lutheran minister Peter Muhlenberg, who issued a call from his pulpit in 1776 that led 300 men in his congregation to join the American Revolution.1 According to its Web site, America 21 relied in 2002 on a "Muhlenberg Brigade" of pastors who encouraged their parishioners to vote.2 But the group's actual activities in 2002 went well beyond contacting its members, and the issues it discussed were secular. America 21 sent direct mail in at least 18 federal contests in 2002.3 In one example, America 21 praised Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) for voting to strengthen Social Security, improve Medicare and repeal the "death tax."4 A professor from Mississippi State University concluded that direct mail sent by America 21 was "very similar" to mailings sent by three organizations that have received money from the pharmaceutical industry -- 60 Plus, the Seniors Coalition and the United Seniors Association.5 In the Colorado 7th District congressional contest between Republican Bob Beauprez and Democrat Mike Feeley, America 21, 60 Plus and the Seniors Coalition sent out direct mail pieces that identically misspelled the Republican's name identically as "Beuprez." The mailers had similar or identical type faces, and each promoted Beauprez's support for a Medicare prescription drug benefit. The professor who reported on the Colorado mailings characterized America 21 as among the "known shills for the pharmaceutical industry."6 It appears that a single individual or organization invested heavily in America 21 in 2002. Before 2002, America 21 did not garner the $25,000 in annual revenue that would have necessitated filing a 990 form.7 In 2002, the group reported $3.7 million in revenue. Of that, all but $64,651 was from a single source, according to a redacted copy of the group's report to the IRS. When contacted, America 21 declined to confirm that the contribution came from a single organization or individual. Despite its significant direct mail effort in the run-up to the 2002 elections, America 21 reported zero political expenditures in its 2002 filing to the IRS.8 America 21 formed a 527 organization, Margin of Victory, in October 2002 that planned "to promote the election to office of candidates who will uphold the values and morality that traditionally formed the nation's bedrock."9 But Margin of Victory raised no money during the 2002 campaign season, the group's president told Public Citizen.10 The group has filed no forms with the IRS since then, indicating that it has still raised no money.11 1   America 21 Web site. (Available at www.america21.us. Accessed on May 20, 2004.) 2   America 21 Web site. (Available at www.america21.us. Accessed on May 20, 2004.) 3   Public Citizen's analysis of data contained in the New Stealth PACs database. Data collected from groups' Web sites and annual tax forms, press reports, academic papers on activities of independent political groups and interviews by Public Citizen research staff. 4   David Breaux, "The 2002 Mississippi Third Congressional District Race," as quoted in "The Last Hurrah? Soft Money and Issue Advocacy in the 2002 Congressional Elections," edited by David E. Magleby and J. Quin Monson, 2003. 5   David Breaux, "The 2002 Mississippi Third Congressional District Race," as quoted in "The Last Hurrah? Soft Money and Issue Advocacy in the 2002 Congressional Elections," edited by David E. Magleby and J. Quin Monson, 2003. 6   Daniel Smith, "Distorted by Outside Money: National Parties and the Race for Colorado's Seventh Congressional District," in "The Last Hurrah? Soft Money and Issue Advocacy in the 2002 Congressional Elections," edited by David E. Magelby and J. Quin Monson, 2003. 7   America 21 President Tom Smith, conversation with Public Citizen Senior Researcher Taylor Lincoln, April 9, 2004. 8   America 21 990 form, 2002. 9   "Rep. Chenoweth-Hage, America 21 Launch Margin of Victory Project," America 21 press release, Oct 14, 2002. (Available at www.america21.org. Accessed on May 20, 2004.) 10   America 21 President Tom Smith, conversation with Public Citizen Senior Researcher Taylor Lincoln, April 9, 2004. 11   IRS Web Site, Political Organiztions Section. (Available at www.irs.gov/charities/political/index.html. Accessed on June 24, 2004.)