The Public Record
Peter Roskam is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 6th congressional district from 2007 to 2019. During his time in Congress, Roskam served on several key committees, including the Ways and Means Committee, where he focused on tax reform and healthcare issues. He was known for his advocacy of conservative fiscal policies and played a role in the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I want to tell you briefly about the Roskam amendment, which requires the President to provide Congress with a comprehensive report on Iran's usage of commercial aircraft for military and…
We need to make it more uncomfortable to do business with state sponsors of terror.
The problem is there is a tax liability that is attached to that. That is not great.
I am very concerned about some news that has come to my attention and to the attention of the House recently, and that is that there is an iconic American aviation company--that is, the Boeing Company--that that has entered into…
There is a level of anxiety that is out there in our public life today because people look at Congress and they say nothing is happening.
So just in closing, I think that there is an opportunity here, and you heard it from both sides of the aisle.
Your responses basically said they are undocumented aliens. They are paying taxes. That is in everybody's interest to have them pay the taxes they owe.
I think implicit is the recognition that it would have been ridiculous over a period of time to have hundreds of refunds going to a single account.
I am proud to sponsor that legislation, this legislation, with Congressman Lewis, the Taxpayer Protection Act of 2016.
This notion of academic freedom, and freedom of speech on college campuses is really something to celebrate.
We have to protect that, because you can imagine how this can become so debilitating.
Your right to free speech, whether I agree with what you say or whether I don't agree with what you say, that is the beauty of who we are, as Americans.
Isn't it stunning that you have to come, Mr. Zuckerman and Mr. Atkins, to Congress?
But education requires that students learn both to challenge others' ideas, and how to form and defend their own.
We represent the people. In my district, 705,687 Americans sent me here--or at least a portion of them--to represent them.
I think Congress should get back to focusing on the needs of the people back home, and not the special interests here in Washington, D.C.
For students to form their consciences correctly, they have to be exposed to a wide variety of competing ideas.
Let's get something straight: Section 501(c)(3) does not require schools to prohibit student political activity on campus.
When colleges and universities suppress speech, however, we have to question whether that educational mission is really being fulfilled.
But is this bargain truly benefitting the American taxpayers or the students, when colleges suppress speech on campus?
Every single year American taxpayers give colleges and universities billions of dollars worth of tax breaks.
Welcome to the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, our hearing on protecting the free exchange of ideas on college campuses.
Politicians like Peter Roskam
