[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REGULATION OF POLITICAL EXPRESSION

  (Mr. SKAGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon a hearing will be conducted 
that will be eerily reminiscent of the era of the House Un-American 
Activities Committee. The Committee on Government Reform will hold 
hearings on a proposal that would, believe it or not, regulate 
political expression in this country, the so-called McIntosh-Istook-
Ehrlich proposal.
  If anybody has any doubt that this is a calculated effort to 
intimidate many groups and individuals from full participation in 
American political life, then imagine the chilling effect of receiving 
the following demand for information from the chairman of a 
congressional committee: ``In the past five years, has your 
organization engaged in political advocacy as defined in the attached 
legislation? If so, provide a description of the type of advocacy and 
an estimate of the expenditures on each such activity.''
  The idea that any Member of this House would dare--would dare--to 
call on free citizens of this Nation to account for their 
constitutionally protected activities should offend every one of us. It 
constitutes an outrageous abuse of authority.

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