David Skaggs: “this afternoon a hearing will be conducted that will be eerily reminiscent of the era of the House Un-American…”

“this afternoon a hearing will be conducted that will be eerily reminiscent of the era of the House Un-American Activities Committee. The Committee on Government Reform will hold hearings on a proposal that would, believe it or not, regulate political expression in this country, the so-called McIntosh-Istook-Ehrlich proposal. If anybody has any doubt that this is a calculated effort to intimidate many groups and individuals from full participation in American political life, then imagine the chilling effect of receiving the following demand for information from the chairman of a congressional committee: ``In the past five years, has your organization engaged in political advocacy as defined in the attached legislation? If so, provide a description of the type of advocacy and an estimate of the expenditures on each such activity.'' The idea that any Member of this House would dare--would dare--to call on free citizens of this Nation to account for their constitutionally protected activities should offend every one of us. It constitutes an outrageous abuse of authority.”