David Skaggs: “Mr. Chairman, this is no trivial matter. Contrary to the representations made by the proponents of this, it will require…”

“Mr. Chairman, this is no trivial matter. Contrary to the representations made by the proponents of this, it will require all affected organizations, large and small, charitable and for-profit, to set up a new system of recordkeeping in order to be able to make that good faith estimate, because without accounting for the time and money spent by both paid and volunteer staff, things that now are not covered by any Federal requirement, they will not be able to make that report, however simply it may be. I again ask my colleagues, why in the world is it the business of the U.S. Government to require a private university getting an NSF grant to report to us, to Washington, about their efforts to work with the local country commissioners over a matter involving transportation in their area? Why is it of concern to Washington if a veterans' group that happens to be getting a job training grant wants to lobby their State legislature for a veterans' cemetery? Why should we require them to keep track of those activities and report to us? This amendment would create a paperwork burden, tons of redtape in addition to filing the report that would be required, again, because these organizations would have to account for the time spent by their employees and volunteers beyond what is now required under the Internal Revenue Code. It will bring tens of thousands of businesses, charities, and schools under new reporting requirements.”