[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 145 (Monday, September 26, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 RESTRAINING EXCESSIVE SEIZURE OF PROPERTY THROUGH THE EXPLOITATION OF 
                    CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE TOOLS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DOUG COLLINS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 20, 2016

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
5523, the Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act. I am a proud cosponsor of 
this critically important bill because it addresses a major problem in 
current law--a problem that has directly affected at least one of my 
constituents in Northeast Georgia.
  In fact, this bill is named after that constituent: Andrew Clyde. 
Andrew is a good, hardworking man, who is unfortunately all too 
familiar with the issue we're talking about today. Andrew owns Clyde 
Armory in Athens, Georgia. This is a legal, successful, firearms 
business, but it was targeted by the IRS under civil asset forfeiture 
laws.
  Andrew is a combat veteran who grew this business in his community. 
He followed the law, paid his taxes on time, filed all the right 
paperwork--but that didn't stop several hundred thousand dollars from 
being seized from his business.
  I think Andrew summed it up best when he testified before the Ways 
and Means Committee about this same issue: ``I did not serve three 
combat tours in Iraq only to come home and be extorted.''
  What he doesn't say there--he was being extorted by his own 
government.
  In April of 2013, two IRS agents simply showed up at Clyde Armory, 
and served Andrew with a seizure warrant letting him know that his 
business bank account had been nearly drained. He was not aware of any 
laws he may have broken, unintentionally or not, and had practices in 
place to ensure his business was fully compliant with all laws.
  Over the course of a few months, the case wound up in federal court. 
After legal fees and the eventual surrender of $50,000 to the IRS to 
end the matter, nearly $150,000 had been carved out of the $950,000 
seizure.
  Despite the fact that Andrew is a law-abiding citizen, the government 
was able to swoop in in the middle of the night and take private 
property absent evidence of wrongdoing and due process. That is why I 
have worked so hard on this issue--to prevent this kind of federal 
intrusion of the worst form.
  H.R. 5523 would help to address this problem. It would prohibit the 
IRS from using civil asset forfeiture authority in structuring cases--
the type of case under which Andrew was targeted--unless it can 
demonstrate probable cause that the funds were connected to criminal 
activity. Under H.R. 5523, the IRS must also establish notice and post-
seizure review procedures for seizures based on structuring violations.
  This bill is a step in the right direction, and a step towards 
preventing future wrongful seizures like the one that happened to 
Andrew Clyde. I thank Congressman Roskam for introducing this important 
legislation on behalf of Andrew Clyde and other victims of wrongful 
civil asset forfeiture, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support 
its passage.

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