Political Quotes

“It is not too often I come to the floor to oppose an amendment, especially at this late hour; but when I was sworn in as a Member of Congress, I took an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution. I have grave concerns that this amendment is unconstitutional. The U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits the Federal Government from enacting what are known as bills of attainder. A bill of attainder is a law that legislatively determines guilt and inflicts punishment upon an identifiable individual without provision of the protections of a judicial trial. Courts use two main criteria to determine whether legislation is a bill of attainder: one, whether specific individuals are affected; and, two, whether legislation inflicts punishment. Clearly, the specific prong is met here: this amendment punitively targets a specific individual--the IRS Commissioner. The Supreme Court has held that targeting specific employees for reduction in pay is punishment. Specifically, in United States v. Lovett, the Supreme Court held that a provision in an appropriations bill which cut off the pay of certain named government employees was punishment and struck down that provision as unconstitutional. Under this precedent, punitively targeting the IRS Commissioner in an appropriations law by reducing his pay is an unconstitutional act. Some might claim that because the IRS Commissioner is appointed, the precedent is somehow not applicable.…”