On the recordJune 3, 2015
Soon, we will vote to end funding for a government program that is, at best, unethical and, at worst, illegal. The program known as Operation Choke Point forces banks to discriminate against legitimate, legal businesses. Today, we know that banks are closing their customers' accounts under a directive by the U.S. Department of Justice. There is no appeals process. That is right; the enforcer of the law of the land is backing this potentially unlawful program. Hard-working American businessowners are having their livelihoods ripped out from under them by a law established by this administration, not by Congress. Operation Choke Point is another example of how the Obama administration has gone around Congress to create laws, rather than do their job to enforce the laws we already have on the books. As a businessowner myself, Operation Choke Point worries me greatly. Operation Choke Point is un-American. It is deceiving and simply wrong. It is time this Congress uses its power of the purse to rein in government overreach and restore government accountability. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to defund Operation Choke Point. In God we trust.
