Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill, which would give Donald Trump, and any future President, unfettered power to punish civil society groups, news outlets, hospitals, and universities with zero due process.
This bill is an authoritarian play by Republicans to expand the sweeping powers of the executive branch, to go after political enemies, and to stifle political dissent. It allows Republicans to empower Donald Trump to go after enemies at will, to put hospitals that provide reproductive care to women out of business, to label environmental advocates as ecoterrorists, to target humanitarian organizations or the foundations that support them, to punish news organizations and think tanks that put out research or policies that contradict Donald Trump, and to obliterate civil liberties groups who seek to protect those very liberties from authoritarianism.
Mr. Speaker, Americans want checks and balances, not a blank check for a President to label anyone as a terrorist.
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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, Americans want checks and balances, not a blank check for any President to label anyone as a terrorist without evidence.
Providing material support to terrorist groups is already a crime and can be criminally prosecuted, but this bill removes all due process protections.
That is exactly why the same bill failed on the House floor last week, but instead of moving on and taking on the real economic issues that are facing Americans today or working simply to fund the government, Republicans are fixated on giving unchecked powers to the Trump administration.
Weaponizing the government is the foundation of Trump's Project 2025. It is step one of Trump's project in action.
With this bill, the only guardrail against authoritarian abuse toward any voice of dissent to his agenda will be Trump's imagination.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on abusive, unchecked Presidential powers. I did last week, and I will this week, and at any other time it comes up.
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