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LOBBYING REPORT |
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Section 5) - All Filers Are Required to Complete This Page
2. Address
Address1 | 42020 Village Center Plaza |
Address2 | Suite 120-200 |
City | Stone Ridge |
State | VA |
Zip Code | 20105 |
Country | USA |
3. Principal place of business (if different than line 2)
City | Chantilly |
State | VA |
Zip Code | 20152 |
Country | USA |
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5. Senate ID# 91650-12
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6. House ID# 368070000
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TYPE OF REPORT | 8. Year | 2015 |
Q1 (1/1 - 3/31) | Q2 (4/1 - 6/30) | Q3 (7/1 - 9/30) | Q4 (10/1 - 12/31) |
9. Check if this filing amends a previously filed version of this report
10. Check if this is a Termination Report | Termination Date |
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11. No Lobbying Issue Activity |
INCOME OR EXPENSES - YOU MUST complete either Line 12 or Line 13 | |||||||||
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12. Lobbying | 13. Organizations | ||||||||
INCOME relating to lobbying activities for this reporting period was: | EXPENSE relating to lobbying activities for this reporting period were: | ||||||||
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Provide a good faith estimate, rounded to the nearest $10,000, of all lobbying related income for the client (including all payments to the registrant by any other entity for lobbying activities on behalf of the client). | 14. REPORTING Check box to indicate expense accounting method. See instructions for description of options. | ||||||||
Method A.
Reporting amounts using LDA definitions only
Method B. Reporting amounts under section 6033(b)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code Method C. Reporting amounts under section 162(e) of the Internal Revenue Code |
Signature | Digitally Signed By: Greg Mitchell |
Date | 7/20/2015 11:49:01 PM |
LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.
15. General issue area code FOR
16. Specific lobbying issues
On behalf of 61 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of H.R. 1150, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2015. We must work to create a context where people can live with their deepest differences. The recent turmoil in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine-including the alarming spike in incidents of violence and persecution of Christians, Muslim communities, and other religious minorities-offers the latest examples of what happens if we do not. The purpose of the bill is to update the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) and improve the capacity of the U.S. government to advance religious freedom globally by giving the Administration and State Department new political tools to better counter violent extremism and sectarian violence, growing anti-Semitism and restriction on religious minorities (e.g., a tier system for IRF reports on countries of particular concern and a special watch list, annual actions on countries with severe IRF abuses, authority to sanction individuals responsible for committing severe violations of IRF or materially supporting terrorism or violent extremism, and the ability to designate non-state actors as part of the Country of Particular Concern list and a range of sanctions targeting individual members of such groups); expanding diplomatic training, counter-terrorism coordination, and foreign assistance efforts; and reauthorizing the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) through 2021. With the passage and implementation of H.R. 1150, a strengthened IRFA and a stronger IRF policy-as integrated into U.S. foreign policy and national security-the United States will send a clear and urgent message regarding the inherent dignity of every human being, as well as our common global security in the fight against persecution and religious extremism, and terrorism. Doing so is consistent with the best of our values, practically protecting our interests as a result.
On behalf of 81 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of H.R. 2037, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2015. Religious freedom is a principle upon which our country was founded, and protecting it is essential to promoting a more just and free world and also a significant factor of our national security and related global interests. This bill is best suited to advance freedom of religion or belief by, among other provisions, maintaining USCIRFs independence and non-partisan staff, which we believe will protect the Commissions structure and mandate established by Congress in the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). The most effective way to ensure the continuity of USCIRFs essential mandate to protect religious freedom worldwide is to pass HR 2037 before the Commissions current authorization expires on September 30, 2015.
On behalf of 54 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of the bipartisan, bicameral congressional letter sent to the President requesting that he move swiftly to fill the vacant post of Special Envoy for Religious Minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. The news headlines have been dominated recently with stories of almost unimaginable human suffering at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Religious minorities in these lands, among them the ancient Christian and Yezidi communities, have suffered grave injustices: displacement, forced conversion, kidnapping, rape and death. The Islamic State's murderous reach has extended beyond Iraq and Syria. Last summer Congress passed, with broad bipartisan support, legislation to create a Special Envoy for Religious Minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. The breadth of support for the legislation underscores the urgency of the perils facing these communities. In the seven months since the legislation became law discrimination, repression and outright violence against religious minorities has only escalated. We respectfully requested that the President swiftly fill the position. Doing so would signal to beleaguered communities in the Middle East, and beyond, that America stands with them.
On behalf of 27 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of H.R. 624, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights countability Act. The passage of H.R. 624 will demonstrate Americas commitment to protecting human rights-including religious freedom-worldwide. It will also send a strong message to the worlds worst human rights violators. It is a powerful tool to sanction and publicly name foreign individuals who commit gross violations-including extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and prolonged, arbitrary detention, or significant corruption-of internationally recognized human rights and freedoms in other countries. Religious freedom is written into the bill as the first example of a human right and freedom to be prioritized during implementation. The bill globalizes the Russia-specific Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 6156), part of what became Public Law 112-208, which passed the House 365-43 and the Senate 92-4. It requires and authorizes the President to:
Impose sanctions in the form of visa bans or revocations, and U.S. property transaction freezes, on foreign persons who he/she determines have committed gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and/or significant corruption in foreign countries;
Publicly report the names of the persons he/she has sanctioned, and the sanctions applied (if the President classifies the name of an individual, he/she must still publicly report the country of citizenship);
Respond in writing to written requests from the Chair and Ranking Member of an appropriate Congressional committee about foreign perpetrators who meet the criteria for sanctioning, no later than 120 days after receiving such requests; and
Consider credible information from other countries and nongovernmental organizations.
On behalf of 16 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of legislation that will permanently extend the Special Immigrant Non-Minister portion of the Religious Worker Visa Program (RWVP). Unless Congress acts by September 30, 2015, the RWVP will expire, leaving religious denominations and organizations with no way to bring in, where necessary, permanent religious workers to staff their religious institutions and attend the urgent needs of the communities they serve. The Special Immigrant Non-Minister portion of the RWVP became law in 1990. Originally enacted with a sunset provision, it has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support in Congress and has been reauthorized seven times since then. Under this important program, a maximum of 5,000 visas each year are available for religious workers employed by a broad range of religious denominations and organizations. Religious communities throughout the United States that participate in the program have found these visas vital to carrying out their work. Some religious workers provide critical services in areas including religious education and care for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, immigrants, refugees, the homeless and hungry, abused and neglected children, and families at risk. Others work in areas as diverse as performing missionary work, designing and building temples, producing religious publications, sustaining prison ministries, and training health care professionals to provide religiously appropriate health care.
On behalf of 28 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts to urge the United States government to engage leaders of the Kazakhstan government and express deep concerns about the 2011 Law on Religious Activity and Religious Associations in light of the recent Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on his Mission to Kazakhstan. Certain provisions of the 2011 Religion Law are inconsistent with both Kazakhstans Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Special Rapporteur made several substantive, reasonable and fair recommendations to bring the Constitution and Kazakh law fully into line with Article 18 of the ICCPR and other relevant international human rights standards. The U.S. government could urge the Kazakh government to make these changes to the law.
On behalf of 15 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts to urge the United States Government to call for the release of the Bahrain 13, and to support all Bahrainis rights to Freedom of Religion by pressing the Bahraini Government to investigate the allegations of degrading treatment of the Bahrain 13 and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Called attention to the continued detention and mistreatment of the Bahrain 13, a group of the most prominent Bahraini leaders arrested for peacefully protesting the Bahrainis government violation of its citizens human rights and religious freedoms. The Bahrain 13 includes prominent peaceful activists, human rights defenders, religious and political leaders, many of whom are also religious clerics. The Bahrain 13 are representative of the systemic crisis of religious discrimination in Bahrain, particularly at Jaw Prison. Their religious identity proves to be a vulnerability in the eyes of Jaw Prison guards who use it to degrade and humiliate them. Prison guards have committed multiple acts of religious persecution against the Bahrain 13, including shaving the heads and beards of the Shia Clerics and disrupting certain aspects of Shia prayer rituals.
17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None
U.S. SENATE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, State - Dept of (DOS), White House Office
18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area
First Name | Last Name | Suffix | Covered Official Position (if applicable) | New |
Greg |
Mitchell |
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19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None
Information Update Page - Complete ONLY where registration information has changed.
20. Client new address
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21. Client new principal place of business (if different than line 20)
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22. New General description of client’s business or activities
LOBBYIST UPDATE
23. Name of each previously reported individual who is no longer expected to act as a lobbyist for the client
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ISSUE UPDATE
24. General lobbying issue that no longer pertains
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AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS
25. Add the following affiliated organization(s)
Internet Address:
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26. Name of each previously reported organization that is no longer affiliated with the registrant or client
1 | 2 | 3 |
FOREIGN ENTITIES
27. Add the following foreign entities:
Name | Address |
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Amount of contribution for lobbying activities | Ownership percentage in client | ||||||||||
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28. Name of each previously reported foreign entity that no longer owns, or controls, or is affiliated with the registrant, client or affiliated organization
1 | 3 | 5 |
2 | 4 | 6 |