[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 22 (Monday, February 8, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   A BILL TO EXCLUDE FROM GROSS INCOME REWARDS RECEIVED BY REASON OF 
   PROVIDING INFORMATION LEADING TO THE CONVICTION OF A CRIME TO THE 
     EXTENT THAT THE REWARD IS USED TO COMPENSATE VICTIMS OF CRIME

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                           HON. AMO HOUGHTON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 8, 1999

  Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleague from New 
York, Mr. McNulty, as well as a number of other colleagues, in 
introducing a new bill to effectively exempt from taxation the proceeds 
of the Federal government's reward of $1 million paid to Mr. David 
Kaczynski for information leading to the conviction of the Unabomber.
  We introduced a similar bill late last session, which was passed by 
the Senate but, due to procedural and content changes, was not 
considered in the House before adjournment. We believe we have 
addressed the content concerns of the proposal and are reintroducing a 
more general bill to be considered through the regular legislative 
process.
  As you may remember, in the fall of 1995 Mr. David Kaczynski provided 
invaluable assistance to the FBI. As a result of Mr. Kaczynski placing 
the health and safety of American citizens ahead of family loyalty, 
Federal authorities were able to apprehend his brother Theodore, the 
infamous Unabomber.
  The Federal Government had offered a $1 million reward for 
information leading to the conviction of the Unabomber. Not wanting to 
profit personally from the tragedy caused by a deeply troubled member 
of their family, David Kaczynski and his wife pledged to distribute the 
net proceeds, after taxes and attorneys' fees, to his brother 
Theodore's victims and their families. However, because this income was 
considered taxable they were only able to direct $534,150 to a 
community based foundation to be used to benefit the victims of violent 
crime. If this reward had been tax-exempt, David and his wife would 
have had approximately $200,000 more to distribute.
  Accordingly, we are reintroducing the bill today, which would permit 
the full reward to be tax-exempt and allow the amount, otherwise used 
to pay taxes, to ultimately benefit the victims and their families. We 
invite our colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and assist us in 
closing this chapter of the Unabomber saga and bring some sense of 
justice to the Unabomber's victims and their families.

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