[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1857-H1858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ANNOUNCING 527 FAIRNESS ACT

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, the summer of 2004 will be remembered for 
many years in American politics.
  Groups organized on the left and the right under what was known as 
section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code and spent more than $300 
million to support candidates, while the two major political parties 
and the Nation's most respected labor unions, associations, businesses, 
and constitutional groups watched in silence from the sidelines.
  In response to this summer of 527s, some in Washington will bring 
measures to rein in the 527 groups with greater government control and 
regulation, and that is certainly their right.
  The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wynn), a Democratic Congressman,

[[Page H1858]]

and I have taken a different approach in introducing the 527 Fairness 
Act in the 109th Congress.
  The 527 Fairness Act seeks to restore basic fairness to the political 
process for political parties and 501(c) organizations instead of 
attempting further regulation on political speech. More freedom is 
always the answer of the difficulties and challenges and the politics 
of a free society.
  While this liberty may be a bit more chaotic and inconvenient for 
some in the political class, as Thomas Jefferson said, ``I would rather 
be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those 
attending too small a degree of it.''
  I join the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wynn), my colleague, in 
urging cosponsorship and swift passage of the 527 Fairness Act.

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