Prodded by the Scientologists' paid lobbyists and its cadre of sympathetic entertainers, several lawmakers and the Clinton administration have criticized the German government for allegedly discriminating against Scientology practitioners. They even got their argument against Germany to the floor of the House of Representatives last November.
On another front, the organization and members of Congress have complained to the U.S. Trade Representatives Office that the Swedish government faile
d to protect Scientology copyrights. The trade office, an arm of the administration, cited the copyright problem in deciding to include
Sweden on its watch list of governments under review for possible trade agreement violations.
The lobbying push comes amid an ongoing criminal investigation into a suspicious death of one of its parishioners at Scientology's Clearwater headquarters -- the latest in a history of controversy involving the church. That history includes convictions of 11 Scientologists on charges stemming from break-ins of government offices in the 1970s.
Critics call Scientology a money-making cult, but the organization says it has reformed, and in the eyes of the IRS, it has. After a 40-year battle, the IRS dropped its tax dispute with Scientology and declared it a tax exempt religion in 1993.
Scientology has used lobbyists in Washington in the past, but in the years since the IRS ruling the organization has stepped up its lobbying effort. Records made pu
blic last week show that Religious Technology Center, a Scientology affiliate in Los Angeles, paid almost $725,000 to a Washington-based firm to lobby Cong
ress in 1997 and 1996. [/b]
