Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 9495, the so-called Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act.

This legislation would grant the President-elect unilateral power to essentially shut down any tax-exempt organization based on any simple accusations of wrongdoing--let me repeat: a simple accusation of wrongdoing.

By granting the Treasury Secretary enormous power, the Secretary would have the authority to stifle any nonprofit organization that has provided ``material support'' to terrorists.

Granting this broad authority to investigate and strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status paves the way for weaponized action against targeted organizations based on their core missions and political beliefs.

Mind you, I do not support organizations giving material support for terrorists, but I am concerned about a simple accusation of wrongdoing leading to that happening.

To be sure, nonprofits are already prohibited from providing material support to terrorist groups, and this legislation is unnecessary and duplicative. I support full enforcement of existing law.

Under a new President-elect Donald Trump, this proposed law could be punitive. The notion of giving President-elect Trump the power to take away the tax-exempt status of nonprofits associated with his so-called political opponents is staggering. Yet, here we are.

President-elect Trump before and during his campaign made numerous comments regarding his supposed enemies. These so-called enemies include individuals, corporations, or organizations that have been critical of the former President's policies and comments during the past and present.

Let us consider the case of a reputable organization like the Japanese American Citizens League. This nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization, a 501(c)(3), has done immeasurable work on behalf of the community and even our Nation advocating for Japanese Americans and other marginalized communities, including arguing against the Muslim ban. As a proud Japanese American myself, I am in awe of the great contributions that this nonprofit has made.

Yet, with this legislation before us today, one can predict a scenario in which this group may be targeted for supporting Muslims should a Trump Muslim ban 2.0 come to fruition.

Every day in this country, nonprofits are doing incredible work. They touch a range of different policy areas and sectors, and with this bill, they are at significant risk.

As written, this bill risks allowing LGBTQ organizations to be vulnerable to attack solely due to their collaboration with human rights groups in hostile areas. Loss of tax exemption would mean that these organizations would be subject to corporate tax rates, increasing financial burdens and the likelihood of financial hardship. New tax liabilities would divert funds away from core missions and activities, therefore impeding the work of supporting initiatives and community outreach.

We all know well that the organizations here that could be implicated are going to be based on political repercussions. A chilling effect of revoking tax-exempt status could deter other organizations from speaking up, essentially curtailing free speech.

Current law dictates it is already a Federal crime for nonprofits to provide this support for these groups, so why are we here today? Granting the executive branch such extraordinary power based off of unilateral accusations paves the way for significant abuse.

This bill is a gift to President-elect Trump, wrapped in a bow right before the holidays, to seek vengeance on his so-called political opponents.

Organizations such as J Street and the ACLU have come out in strong opposition to this bill for good reasons. The potential change in tax- exempt status would not only impact the financial stability of countless nonprofit organizations.

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, the potential change in tax-exempt status would not only impact the financial stability of countless nonprofit organizations but would severely undermine the ability to carry out their core missions of advocating for civil rights and social justice.

Loss of funding and a reduction of capacity to serve communities threaten the survival and effectiveness of these nonprofits. We should be uplifting these organizations and not hindering their success.

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