The Office of Personnel Management has issued guidelines for
the 2005 application for the Combined Federal Campaign through
which organizations may receive employee payroll contributions.
Organizations must certify that they do not “knowingly employ
individuals or contribute funds to individuals or organizations
who appear on government lists of persons or entities
associated with terrorist activities or support, or whose
assets are otherwise blocked by the Department of the
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control,” as required
under executive order 13224, said OPM.
It said following that order, Treasury blocked assets from
going to three charities allegedly tied to terrorist
entities, and following inquires from Arab-American and
Muslim organizations OPM developed the guidance that is
also intended to block funds to organizations allegedly
tied to illegal money laundering.
A number of organizations receiving funds through the
campaign have filed for an injunction to stop OPM from
requiring them to certify that none of their employees
are on classified lists of names compiled by agencies
with security responsibilities — both because of the
difficulty implementing the policy and because many
believe it is illegal or a violation of the privacy of
their clients and employees.
