Ante Up: VA Congressman Takes Buffett Up on His Contribution Pledge

Remember when Time reported this about Warren Buffett:

Last fall, Senator Mitch McConnell said that if Buffett were feeling “guilty” about paying too little in taxes, he should “send in a check.” The jab was in response to Buffett’s August 2011 New York Times op-ed, which made hay of the fact that our tax system is so unbalanced, Buffett (worth about $45 billion) pays a lower tax rate than his secretary

… he’s willing to take them up on it…

Buffett has pledged to match 1 for 1 all such voluntary contributions made by Republican members of Congress. “And I’ll even go 3 for 1 for McConnell,” he says. That could be quite a bill if McConnell takes the challenge; after all, the Senator is worth at least $10 million. As Buffett put it to me, “I’m not worried.”

Apparently, Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA) was curious to see if the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathoway was serious about his pledge.

Business Insider reports:

Warren Buffett has written his first check to the U.S. Treasury since announcing his pledge to match Republican donations to pay down the national debt a week ago.

Carol Loomis, Fortune's senior editor-at-large and long-time friend of Buffett's, reports that the Omaha investor received a letter from Congressman Scott Rigell of Virginia.

In it, Rigell details the $49,000 he had donated to Treasury in total in 2011 and 2012 and asks Buffett to match both (full letter is below).

Buffett agreed.

Below you will find both the congressman’s letter and Buffett’s response:

Congressman Rigell's Letter to Buffett

Buffett's response to Rep. Rigell

Read the Fortune story here