Peter Roskam: “Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Speaker, I want to make one other point to echo something Chairman Ryan said as it relates to…”

“Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Speaker, I want to make one other point to echo something Chairman Ryan said as it relates to civil society, and it is an important thing to think about. There is the Federal Government here, and there is the individual here. The only thing that sort of comes in between as a buffer--there are a couple of things. One is family. I think that is a very important buffer. The other buffer is civil society. It is a restraining influence, the capability of individual, family, and civil society to push back. So we are on the floor today, and we have been interacting with John Lewis, our friend from Georgia, who has a reputation that is unbelievable, and it is an honor and a privilege to serve with him. Why? Because of the work that he did in the civil rights movement. It is an inspiration. But can you imagine what it would have been like if a bureaucrat at the time had said, Well, I am just going to send one of these kind of letters to the donors of the NAACP or any of these organizations? Can you imagine what happens? Here is my second point. A letter like this? What does it do? It has a chilling effect, doesn't it? All of a sudden you have donors who say, I don't know, I don't know. This is going to be a taxable event. Well, maybe I am not going to give. Or I am going to end up on some list, I don't know. Or I am going to find my name in the paper in this way, and I don't want my name in the paper. Whatever it happens to be.…”