Walter B. Jones: “If this was 1953, we would not be debating this issue because it would not be an issue. The churches in this country had…”

“If this was 1953, we would not be debating this issue because it would not be an issue. The churches in this country had the freedom to talk about the issues of the day, whether they be political issues or nonpolitical issues. There was no restriction from the beginning of the churches in this country. There was never a restriction until Lyndon Johnson put an amendment on a revenue bill going through the Senate with no debate, and Mr. Johnson was opposed to the H.L. Hunt family, who were working against his reelection, and they had established two 501(c)(3)s, and so Mr. Johnson put an amendment on without any debate that said if an organization is a 501(c)(3), they may not have political speech. Let me tell my colleagues that most of the experts, and I am certainly not an expert, most of the experts have said in analyzing this issue, and it has been analyzed by many researchers through the years; that probably Lyndon Johnson did not mean to stifle the churches or synagogues in this country.”