Gwen Moore: “Mr. Speaker, we hear all the time about the high-profile civil cases involving sexual abuse. I am thinking about the…”

“Mr. Speaker, we hear all the time about the high-profile civil cases involving sexual abuse. I am thinking about the accounts of trusted gymnast physicians abusing star athletes and the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and many of his associates. We even hear about sexual assault that occurs within our own body, and we have to address that problem. Let's just take a moment to acknowledge that all sexual abuse does not make the headlines. Every time a survivor comes forward, it takes extraordinary courage in the face of personal risk, scrutiny, and cost. The Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act takes a belt-and-suspenders approach to ensure that settlement payments, whether arising from a court judgment, private arbitration or mediation, that are made on account of sexual abuse are not subject to taxation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House to support this effort to make the tax code better serve all survivors who receive settlements after prevailing against their abusers by not saddling them with a tax bill or having to fight the IRS. We need to get this fix passed into law.”