April 18, 2011 Letter from Six Congressmen to U.S. Inspector General

This is a letter from six U.S. Congressmen to Inspector General Eric Thorson. They write: “Over the past two years, [HSUS] has conducted substantial political activities within Missouri that brought into question its tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status.”

The Congressmen argue that lobbying is a “substantial” part of HSUS’s operations, noting that “HSUS’s own Financial Operations Report for 2009, attached as Exhibit C, shows that it spent $26,264,166 for ‘Advocacy and public policy,’ which is over 28% of its total non-overhead expenditures.”

The Congressmen signing the letter are: Don Young (R-AK), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Sam Graves (R-MO), and Billy Long (R-MO).