Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 9495, the so-called Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. This legislation would grant the President-elect unilateral power to essentially shut down any tax-exempt organization based on any simple accusations of wrongdoing--let me repeat: a simple accusation of wrongdoing. By granting the Treasury Secretary enormous power, the Secretary would have the authority to stifle any nonprofit organization that has provided ``material support'' to terrorists. Granting this broad authority to investigate and strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status paves the way for weaponized action against targeted organizations based on their core missions and political beliefs. Mind you, I do not support organizations giving material support for terrorists, but I am concerned about a simple accusation of wrongdoing leading to that happening. To be sure, nonprofits are already prohibited from providing material support to terrorist groups, and this legislation is unnecessary and duplicative. I support full enforcement of existing law. Under a new President-elect Donald Trump, this proposed law could be punitive. The notion of giving President-elect Trump the power to take away the tax-exempt status of nonprofits associated with his so-called political opponents is staggering. Yet, here we are. President-elect Trump before and during his campaign made numerous comments regarding his supposed enemies.…”