[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 119 (Friday, July 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              THE ISTOOK, McINTOSH, AND ERHLICH AMENDMENT

  (Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in 
favor of efforts to reform our grant-making process--specifically, the 
Istook, McIntosh, and Ehrlich legislation.
  I join my colleagues in believing that we engage in a dangerous 
enterprise when Government selectively subsidizes particular interests 
and lobbying organizations. It raises a question about the fundamental 
integrity and impartiality of Government.
  What this legislation addresses is the fact that certain groups have 
simultaneously enjoyed the advantages of exemption from tax payments 
and the statutory right to spend an unlimited amount on lobbying 
Congress. This is wrong and has led to a mistrust of Government by the 
American people.
  Ordinary citizens do not enjoy all of these benefits simultaneously 
and this kind of preferential treatment can only serve to maximize the 
influence and power of certain privileged lobbying groups at the 
expense of the people we were elected to serve. In my view, 
organizations should have to choose between being tax-exempt, self-
interested lobbying organizations or administrators of Federal grants.


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