[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 166 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5931-H5937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STOP TERROR-FINANCING AND TAX PENALTIES ON AMERICAN HOSTAGES ACT
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 9495) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
postpone tax deadlines and reimburse paid late fees for United States
nationals who are unlawfully or wrongfully detained or held hostage
abroad, to terminate the tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting
organizations, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 9495
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Terror-Financing and
Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act''.
SEC. 2. POSTPONEMENT OF TAX DEADLINES FOR HOSTAGES AND
INDIVIDUALS WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD.
(a) In General.--Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 is amended by inserting after section 7510 the following
new section:
``SEC. 7511. TIME FOR PERFORMING CERTAIN ACTS POSTPONED FOR
HOSTAGES AND INDIVIDUALS WRONGFULLY DETAINED
ABROAD.
``(a) Time To Be Disregarded.--
``(1) In general.--The period during which an applicable
individual was unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, or
held hostage abroad, shall be disregarded in determining,
under the internal revenue laws, in respect of any tax
liability of such individual--
``(A) whether any of the acts described in section
7508(a)(1) were performed within the time prescribed thereof
(determined without regard to extension under any other
provision of this subtitle for periods after the initial date
(as determined by the Secretary) on
[[Page H5932]]
which such individual was unlawfully or wrongfully detained
abroad or held hostage abroad),
``(B) the amount of any interest, penalty, additional
amount, or addition to the tax for periods after such date,
and
``(C) the amount of any credit or refund.
``(2) Application to spouse.--The provisions of paragraph
(1) shall apply to the spouse of any individual entitled to
the benefits of such paragraph.
``(b) Applicable Individual.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term
`applicable individual' means any individual who is--
``(A) a United States national unlawfully or wrongfully
detained abroad, as determined under section 302 of the
Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking
Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741), or
``(B) a United States national taken hostage abroad, as
determined pursuant to the findings of the Hostage Recovery
Fusion Cell (as described in section 304 of the Robert
Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability
Act (22 U.S.C. 1741b)).
``(2) Information provided to treasury.--For purposes of
identifying individuals described in paragraph (1), not later
than January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter--
``(A) the Secretary of State shall provide the Secretary
with a list of the individuals described in paragraph (1)(A),
as well as any other information necessary to identify such
individuals, and
``(B) the Attorney General, acting through the Hostage
Recovery Fusion Cell, shall provide the Secretary with a list
of the individuals described in paragraph (1)(B), as well as
any other information necessary to identify such individuals.
``(c) Special Rule for Overpayments.--
``(1) In general.--Subsection (a) shall not apply for
purposes of determining the amount of interest on any
overpayment of tax.
``(2) Special rules.--If an individual is entitled to the
benefits of subsection (a) with respect to any return and
such return is timely filed (determined after the application
of such subsection), subsections (b)(3) and (e) of section
6611 shall not apply.
``(d) Modification of Treasury Databases and Information
Systems.--The Secretary shall ensure that databases and
information systems of the Department of the Treasury are
updated as necessary to ensure that statute expiration dates,
interest and penalty accrual, and collection activities are
suspended consistent with the application of subsection (a).
``(e) Refund and Abatement of Penalties and Fines Imposed
Prior to Identification as Applicable Individual.--In the
case of any applicable individual--
``(1) for whom any interest, penalty, additional amount, or
addition to the tax in respect to any tax liability for any
taxable year ending during the period described in subsection
(a)(1) was assessed or collected, and
``(2) who was, subsequent to such assessment or collection,
determined to be an individual described in subparagraph (A)
or (B) of subsection (b)(1),
the Secretary shall abate any such assessment and refund any
amount collected to such applicable individual in the same
manner as any refund of an overpayment of tax under section
6402.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 7510 the
following new item:
``Sec. 7511. Time for performing certain acts postponed for hostages
and individuals wrongfully detained abroad.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND FINES PAID BY
ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.
(a) In General.--Section 7511 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as added by section 2, is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
``(f) Refund and Abatement of Penalties and Fines Paid by
Eligible Individuals With Respect to Periods Prior to Date of
Enactment of This Section.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Establishment.--Not later than January 1, 2025, the
Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of State and
the Attorney General) shall establish a program to allow any
eligible individual (or the spouse or any dependent (as
defined in section 152) of such individual) to apply for a
refund or an abatement of any amount described in paragraph
(2) (including interest) to the extent such amount was
attributable to the applicable period.
``(B) Identification of individuals.--Not later than
January 1, 2025, the Secretary of State and the Attorney
General, acting through the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (as
described in section 304 of the Robert Levinson Hostage
Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C.
1741b)), shall--
``(i) compile a list, based on such information as is
available, of individuals who were applicable individuals
during the applicable period, and
``(ii) provide the list described in clause (i) to the
Secretary.
``(C) Notice.--For purposes of carrying out the program
described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary (in consultation
with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General) shall,
with respect to any individual identified under subparagraph
(B), provide notice to such individual--
``(i) in the case of an individual who has been released on
or before the date of enactment of this subsection, not later
than 90 days after the date of enactment of this subsection,
or
``(ii) in the case of an individual who is released after
the date of enactment of this subsection, not later than 90
days after the date on which such individual is released,
that such individual may be eligible for a refund or an
abatement of any amount described in paragraph (2) pursuant
to the program described in subparagraph (A).
``(D) Authorization.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), in the case of
any refund described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
issue such refund to the eligible individual in the same
manner as any refund of an overpayment of tax.
``(ii) Extension of limitation on time for refund.--With
respect to any refund under subparagraph (A)--
``(I) the 3-year period of limitation prescribed by section
6511(a) shall be extended until the end of the 1-year period
beginning on the date that the notice described in
subparagraph (C) is provided to the eligible individual, and
``(II) any limitation under section 6511(b)(2) shall not
apply.
``(2) Eligible individual.--For purposes of this
subsection, the term `eligible individual' means any
applicable individual who, for any taxable year ending during
the applicable period, paid or incurred any interest,
penalty, additional amount, or addition to the tax in respect
to any tax liability for such year of such individual based
on a determination that an act described in section
7508(a)(1) which was not performed by the time prescribed
therefor (without regard to any extensions).
``(3) Applicable period.--For purposes of this subsection,
the term `applicable period' means the period--
``(A) beginning on January 1, 2021, and
``(B) ending on the date of enactment of this
subsection.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
shall apply to taxable years ending on or before the date of
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS OF TERRORIST
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 501(p) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(8) Application to terrorist supporting organizations.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of this subsection, in the
case of any terrorist supporting organization--
``(i) such organization (and the designation of such
organization under subparagraph (B)) shall be treated as
described in paragraph (2), and
``(ii) the period of suspension described in paragraph (3)
with respect to such organization shall be treated as
beginning on the date that the Secretary designates such
organization under subparagraph (B) and ending on the date
that the Secretary rescinds such designation under
subparagraph (D).
``(B) Terrorist supporting organization.--For purposes of
this paragraph, the term `terrorist supporting organization'
means any organization which is designated by the Secretary
as having provided, during the 3-year period ending on the
date of such designation, material support or resources
(within the meaning of section 2339B of title 18, United
States Code) to an organization described in paragraph (2)
(determined after the application of this paragraph to such
organization) in excess of a de minimis amount.
``(C) Designation procedure.--
``(i) Notice requirement.--Prior to designating any
organization as a terrorist supporting organization under
subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall mail to the most recent
mailing address provided by such organization on the
organization's annual return or notice under section 6033 (or
subsequent form indicating a change of address) a written
notice which includes--
``(I) a statement that the Secretary will designate such
organization as a terrorist supporting organization unless
the organization satisfies the requirements of subclause (I)
or (II) of clause (ii),
``(II) the name of the organization or organizations with
respect to which the Secretary has determined such
organization provided material support or sources as
described in subparagraph (B), and
``(III) a description of such material support or resources
to the extent consistent with national security and law
enforcement interests.
``(ii) Opportunity to cure.--In the case of any notice
provided to an organization under clause (i), the Secretary
shall, at the close of the 90-day period beginning on the
date that such notice was sent, designate such organization
as a terrorist supporting organization under subparagraph (B)
if (and only if) such organization has not (during such
period)--
``(I) demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary
that such organization did not
[[Page H5933]]
provide the material support or resources referred to in
subparagraph (B), or
``(II) made reasonable efforts to have such support or
resources returned to such organization and certified in
writing to the Secretary that such organization will not
provide any further support or resources to organizations
described in paragraph (2).
A certification under subclause (II) shall not be treated as
valid if the organization making such certification has
provided any other such certification during the preceding 5
years.
``(D) Rescission.--The Secretary shall rescind a
designation under subparagraph (B) if (and only if)--
``(i) the Secretary determines that such designation was
erroneous,
``(ii) after the Secretary receives a written certification
from an organization that such organization did not receive
the notice described in subparagraph (C)(i)--
``(I) the Secretary determines that it is reasonable to
believe that such organization did not receive such notice,
and
``(II) such organization satisfies the requirements of
subclause (I) or (II) of subparagraph (C)(ii) (determined
after taking into account the last sentence thereof), or
``(iii) the Secretary determines, with respect to all
organizations to which the material support or resources
referred to in subparagraph (B) were provided, the periods of
suspension under paragraph (3) have ended.
A certification described in the matter preceding subclause
(I) of clause (II) shall not be treated as valid if the
organization making such certification has provided any other
such certification during the preceding 5 years.
``(E) Administrative review by internal revenue service
independent office of appeals.--In the case of the
designation of an organization by the Secretary as a
terrorist supporting organization under subparagraph (B), a
dispute regarding such designation shall be subject to
resolution by the Internal Revenue Service Independent Office
of Appeals under section 7803(e) in the same manner as if
such designation were made by the Internal Revenue Service
and paragraph (5) of this subsection did not apply.
``(F) Jurisdiction of united states courts.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (5), the United States district
courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to review a final
determination with respect to an organization's designation
as a terrorist supporting organization under subparagraph
(B). In the case of any such determination which was based on
classified information (as defined in section 1(a) of the
Classified Information Procedures Act), such information may
be submitted to the reviewing court ex parte and in camera.
For purposes of this subparagraph, a determination with
respect to an organization's designation as a terrorist
supporting organization shall not fail to be treated as a
final determination merely because such organization fails to
utilize the dispute resolution process of the Internal
Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals provided under
subparagraph (E).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
shall apply to designations made after the date of the
enactment of this Act in taxable years ending after such
date.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and insert extraneous material on this bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 9495, brought forward
by Representatives Tenney, Kustoff, and Schneider of the Ways and Means
Committee, as well as Representative Titus of Nevada.
This bill is about stopping the abuse of the tax code by
organizations that support terrorism and ensuring that those who are
held against their will by foreign governments or terrorists don't
suffer further from tax penalties when they return home to America.
In the wake of Hamas' brutal attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, we
have discovered material support for terrorist organizations like Hamas
right here in the United States, much of which has been funded by tax-
exempt organizations receiving money from American taxpayers.
Tax-exempt status must be denied to any entity found to have provided
material support to a terrorist organization. We must starve the
aggressors of the resources they need to commit more atrocities.
At the same time, Hamas is still holding hostages in Gaza, including
American citizens, kidnapped by the terrorist organization on October 7
of last year. We must honor the struggle of these victims.
Unfortunately, they are made to suffer unintentionally due to aspects
of our tax code.
When those who are wrongfully detained around the world--whether by
terrorists or by governments--finally return to America, they could be
subjected to tax bills, including penalties and interest on taxes that
went unpaid during their captivity.
H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American
Hostages Act, is the much-needed solution to both of these problems.
Under this legislation, the IRS will be given the tools it needs to
ensure that American citizens held hostage or wrongfully detained and
their families do not incur penalties for late tax payments while in
captivity. American victims and their families already went through a
nightmare. Tax penalties just add to the harm.
This legislation would also close the IRS loophole that terrorist
organizations have exploited for years. It builds on the committee's
antiterror financing efforts by prohibiting organizations from
maintaining tax-exempt status if they are found to have provided
material support or resources to a terrorist or terrorist-supporting
organization within a 3-year period.
This issue is devastating. Let me provide two examples. One U.S.-
based tax-exempt organization hired a so-called journalist in Gaza, who
was a member of Hamas and was literally holding Israelis taken hostage
on October 7 in his own home. He was paid using tax-exempt funds. He
was paid using tax-exempt funds. That organization is still operating
as a tax-exempt organization here in the U.S. today. Even though the
Ways and Means Committee has called for the revocation of their status,
the IRS Commissioner has yet to do anything.
Another tax-exempt organization based in the U.S. financially
sponsored and funded a foreign group that was just designated by
Treasury as a sham charity and a funder of terrorism. The IRS once
again has yet to revoke the sponsor's tax-exempt status.
This legislation is needed. It received overwhelming bipartisan
support in the Ways and Means Committee. I look forward to seeing H.R.
9495 receive even more bipartisan support here on the House floor
today.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes Donald Trump to recklessly impose a
death penalty on any nonprofit in America that happens to be on his
enemies list. With this bill, he can destroy the very life of civil
society in this country, one group after another. Even though the group
involved that he targets as a ``terrorist-supporting'' group has not
violated a single law, even though the group or the public have not
been presented with a shred of evidence for doing this, without
offering any specific explanation or reason as to why the life is being
taken out of this civil society group, and without providing a day in
court, a hearing, and without any meaningful right of appeal, no matter
how capricious, no matter how unjustified Trump's action may be.
H.R. 9495 is a repackaged version of legislation that was originally
filed months ago, with good intentions, including that of some of my
Democratic colleagues.
With Trump's election, the conditions have changed. The dangers of
granting additional power to him are far outweighed by any benefits
from this bill. This is the same Trump who vowed to be ``dictator on
day one'' and has declared the greatest danger our country faces today
is ``the enemy within.''
This bill is now opposed by a growing number of civil society groups,
over 120 groups--the ACLU, the Brennan Center for Justice, the NAACP,
Planned Parenthood, the Center for American Progress, the American
Federation of Teachers--a list that goes on and on--including the
Freedom of the Press Foundation.
[[Page H5934]]
This legislation is done in the name of stopping financial support
for terrorism. All of us support stopping terrorism. Like everyone
here, I have done that, and I have previously voted for this very
language not once but twice, though the last time it came before our
committee, I voiced the very same concerns about the lack of due
process that I voice today.
Since none of the deficiencies of this bill have been corrected and
no amendment is offered today, we must reject it.
If he is on a march to make America Fascist, we do not need to supply
Donald Trump with any additional weapons to accomplish his ill purpose.
Our freedoms will not be destroyed in one great blow. No, it will be a
thousand cuts over the term of this administration, undermining our
liberties one after another.
To those who say that this bill only applies to groups that are
supporting terrorism, consider how very expansive that term can be,
both at home and abroad. The foreign tyrants who Donald Trump so much
admires have imprisoned journalists, academics, and rights activists by
claiming that they are supporters of terrorism.
State and Federal elected officials in this country have called for
terrorism investigations or prosecution of major news outlets. Trump
himself has criticized and labeled any racist activist as terrorist.
Some have mischaracterized environmental groups as ecoterrorists. Under
this bill, Trump's list of targets would only be limited by his
imagination. There are not any guardrails in the bill.
For example, if Trump claimed that Democrats, myself included, who
didn't clap enough for him in this Chamber when he gave his first State
of the Union were traitors, that we were treasonous, we could be
targeted. He could target organizations that assist refugees for
harboring terrorists.
Planned Parenthood or a hospital could be targeted for the alleged
terror of abortion. An environmental group could be mislabeled as an
ecoterrorist. A private university that permits too many anti-Trump
demonstrations could be targeted. A disability rights group that is
objecting to Trump's interference with the Affordable Care Act could be
targeted.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself an additional 2 minutes.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, a shelter offering housing to LGBTQ youth
could be targeted. A Vietnam Veterans of America group that previously
declared Trump's attacks on Gold Star families disgraceful and un-
American could be targeted.
Other possible targets might be think tanks that don't happen to
think the way Trump wanted, groups fighting Christian nationalism, or
simply any tax-exempt group not viewed as sufficiently pro-MAGA.
Now, let's talk about the two examples that the chairman just
referred to. He thinks the IRS Commissioner has not acted swiftly
enough, and it sounds like perhaps he is right. Well, who do you think
appointed the IRS Commissioner? His name is Donald J. Trump.
The defect is not in the law as it exists today, but on the question
of whether or not there is being proper administration of the law that
exists today that can deal with terrorism.
If the real purpose of this bill, as well, were simply to postpone
tax filing deadlines for the very small number of Americans who have
been detained hostage, as wrong as that is, our approving right now the
bill that has lingered here, as Republicans shelved it for 6 months,
that the Senate approved to do that, to provide them that protection,
we could put that bill on the President's desk right now.
The very fact that the Republicans used this claim of helping
hostages is a subterfuge because what it is really about is empowering
Trump to do more harm. They are, in essence, holding the hostages
hostage once again.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would remind Members to refrain
from engaging in personalities toward the President-elect.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, may the record also reflect the
truth and the facts. The IRS Commissioner, Mr. Werfel, was appointed by
President Biden, not President Trump. Let's get the facts straight.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman
from New York (Ms. Tenney).
Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Stop Terror-Financing
and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, H.R. 9495.
The intent of this bill is simple, no American who has suffered the
injustice of wrongful detention or hostage taking by our adversaries
should return home to face penalties and interest from their own
government.
Under current tax law, individuals who have been held against their
will can be subject to late tax payment penalties and interest after
returning home from captivity. Not only does this defy common sense, it
defies compassion. This is an obvious flaw, and it only worsens the
trauma of individuals and families who have already faced extraordinary
challenges.
In addition to righting this egregious wrong, the bill revokes the
tax-exempt status for organizations found to be supporting these
terrorist groups; by the way, an initiative that passed unanimously in
the House Ways and Means Committee.
Contrary to what some of my colleagues across the aisle believe, the
American people do not want hard-earned tax dollars to be funneled to
terrorist organizations. Numerous House Ways and Means Committee
investigations have uncovered evidence that groups like Samidoun, for
example, are actively laundering funds through nonprofit organizations
to terrorist organizations.
{time} 1745
This comes at an important time as last month marked 1 year since
Hamas' brutal attack on Israel, with many hostages currently being
wrongfully detained at the hands of designated terrorist groups like
Hamas.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act
would ensure that American hostages, wrongful detainees, and their
families are not further burdened with tax penalties and interest for
circumstances beyond their control.
While I am thankful that we are taking a pivotal step today to
correct this injustice, we must continue to fight to secure the release
of Americans being illegally held abroad like my constituent, Ryan
Corbett, a wonderful husband and father from Dansville, New York, who
remains wrongfully detained by the Taliban.
Ryan Corbett has been wrongfully detained by the Taliban for 825
days, being held in a 9- by 9-foot basement cell without regular access
to a bathroom, sunlight, or medical care. Ryan's health is
deteriorating quickly, and the situation is dire.
I urge President Biden and Secretary Blinken to do everything in
their power to bring Ryan home and reunite him with his amazing wife,
Anna, and their three beautiful children, Ketsia, Miriam, and Caleb.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Jason Smith, Speaker Mike Johnson,
and Leader Steve Scalise for bringing this important bill to the
floor. I also note that this bill passed unanimously out of the House
Committee on Ways and Means, including with the support of Ranking
Member Richie Neal.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the Stop Terror-Financing
and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act to send a clear message that
we stand by our fellow citizens who have endured unthinkable
consequences abroad.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to tell the
chairman he is absolutely right. I stand corrected concerning the IRS
Commissioner. That is the only thing I stand corrected on, and I would
be glad to join him in a further appeal to the current Commissioner if
the facts are as you say because none of us want to see a dollar,
profit or nonprofit, going to terrorism.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Beyer).
Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I also stand in opposition to H.R. 9495,
which would provide this administration and any future administration
with sweeping, unilateral authority to designate nonprofits as terror-
supporting organizations and strip them of their tax-exempt status with
no due process and
[[Page H5935]]
without sufficient evidence. The authorities provided in this bill are
unnecessary and extremely dangerous if they ever fall into the wrong
hands.
This legislation would do nothing to improve our ability to combat
terrorism because there are already numerous legal mechanisms that
effectively monitor and penalize nonprofits that provide support to
terrorist organizations. No one in this esteemed body wants any
nonprofits to direct even $1 to a terrorist organization, and it is
inappropriate to suggest otherwise.
In the hands of responsible government, the powers provided in this
bill are redundant and duplicative. However, history is uncertain.
Democracies, even ours, can wax and wane. Sometimes we have great
Presidents, and sometimes we do not.
Under the leadership of an unscrupulous or authoritarian President,
it is not hard to imagine how that administration could use the powers
in this bill to hinder or dismantle organizations they don't like.
Remember, there would be no due process, no right of appeal, no right
to see the evidence against them, no path to cure.
It is deeply unfortunate this bill was combined with commonsense
legislation--led by my friends, Representatives Dina Titus and Claudia
Tenney, and me--that would have allowed the IRS to waive or postpone
fines and fees on taxpayers who have been unlawfully detained or held
hostage overseas and not been able to pay their taxes on time. I was
pleased to see that piece of legislation unanimously pass the Senate
earlier this year. However, its pairing with these deeply controversial
provisions in H.R. 9495 risks those provisions ever becoming law.
Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R.
9495, and I hope that we can find a path forward to provide desperately
needed relief for Americans who have been wrongfully detained overseas.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for Mr. Beyer.
The bill the gentleman has is the same one that the Senate passed 6
months ago. Has the gentleman been given any reason why the
Republicans, if they are so eager to help the hostages, have held that
bill instead of bringing it up to us to consider and getting it on the
President's desk right now, this week?
Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Beyer) to answer my question.
Mr. BEYER. I have never been given that reason, no.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for responding, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand what is
controversial about an organization losing their tax-exempt status if
they are funding terrorism. I don't see how that is controversial, but
apparently, the prior speakers believe it is controversial.
It is crystal clear. This legislation has passed out of the House
with overwhelming support in the past. The Senate has been holding it
up. The Democrat-controlled Senate has been holding it up. But guess
what. In a couple of months, it won't be the Democrat-controlled
Senate.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Takano).
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 9495,
the so-called Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American
Hostages Act.
This legislation would grant the President-elect unilateral power to
essentially shut down any tax-exempt organization based on any simple
accusations of wrongdoing--let me repeat: a simple accusation of
wrongdoing.
By granting the Treasury Secretary enormous power, the Secretary
would have the authority to stifle any nonprofit organization that has
provided ``material support'' to terrorists.
Granting this broad authority to investigate and strip nonprofits of
their tax-exempt status paves the way for weaponized action against
targeted organizations based on their core missions and political
beliefs.
Mind you, I do not support organizations giving material support for
terrorists, but I am concerned about a simple accusation of wrongdoing
leading to that happening.
To be sure, nonprofits are already prohibited from providing material
support to terrorist groups, and this legislation is unnecessary and
duplicative. I support full enforcement of existing law.
Under a new President-elect Donald Trump, this proposed law could be
punitive. The notion of giving President-elect Trump the power to take
away the tax-exempt status of nonprofits associated with his so-called
political opponents is staggering. Yet, here we are.
President-elect Trump before and during his campaign made numerous
comments regarding his supposed enemies. These so-called enemies
include individuals, corporations, or organizations that have been
critical of the former President's policies and comments during the
past and present.
Let us consider the case of a reputable organization like the
Japanese American Citizens League. This nonprofit, tax-exempt
charitable organization, a 501(c)(3), has done immeasurable work on
behalf of the community and even our Nation advocating for Japanese
Americans and other marginalized communities, including arguing against
the Muslim ban. As a proud Japanese American myself, I am in awe of the
great contributions that this nonprofit has made.
Yet, with this legislation before us today, one can predict a
scenario in which this group may be targeted for supporting Muslims
should a Trump Muslim ban 2.0 come to fruition.
Every day in this country, nonprofits are doing incredible work. They
touch a range of different policy areas and sectors, and with this
bill, they are at significant risk.
As written, this bill risks allowing LGBTQ organizations to be
vulnerable to attack solely due to their collaboration with human
rights groups in hostile areas. Loss of tax exemption would mean that
these organizations would be subject to corporate tax rates, increasing
financial burdens and the likelihood of financial hardship. New tax
liabilities would divert funds away from core missions and activities,
therefore impeding the work of supporting initiatives and community
outreach.
We all know well that the organizations here that could be implicated
are going to be based on political repercussions. A chilling effect of
revoking tax-exempt status could deter other organizations from
speaking up, essentially curtailing free speech.
Current law dictates it is already a Federal crime for nonprofits to
provide this support for these groups, so why are we here today?
Granting the executive branch such extraordinary power based off of
unilateral accusations paves the way for significant abuse.
This bill is a gift to President-elect Trump, wrapped in a bow right
before the holidays, to seek vengeance on his so-called political
opponents.
Organizations such as J Street and the ACLU have come out in strong
opposition to this bill for good reasons. The potential change in tax-
exempt status would not only impact the financial stability of
countless nonprofit organizations.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the
gentleman from California.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, the potential change in tax-exempt status
would not only impact the financial stability of countless nonprofit
organizations but would severely undermine the ability to carry out
their core missions of advocating for civil rights and social justice.
Loss of funding and a reduction of capacity to serve communities
threaten the survival and effectiveness of these nonprofits. We should
be uplifting these organizations and not hindering their success.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I will say it once again: It is
pretty clear this bill gives the IRS the authority it needs to revoke
tax-exempt status for organizations that provide material support for
terrorism. That is it. The tax-exempt organizations that aren't
providing material support for terrorism have nothing to fear.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
[[Page H5936]]
Mr. Speaker, the ability to demand that no dollars flow from America
to any terrorist organization has been long recognized in the law as it
exists today. In fact, the chairman has conceded that when he says his
complaint is that the IRS has not moved fast enough under existing law.
This is not a question of inadequate law. It is against the law today
to provide support to a terrorist organization, be it exempt or
nonexempt. The question here is whether we should change the law to
eliminate the right to know the evidence to that effect.
Is it just the chairman's claim that something is a terrorist
organization? If it is a terrorist organization, why not present the
evidence? Why not provide an opportunity for a hearing for that
evidence to be tested? Why not provide a meaningful right of appeal?
None of these safeguards are there, and they are lacking for a
reason. The desire is to be able to weaponize the Treasury with regard
to these organizations and to do as has happened under one tyrant after
another in another country to claim that the opponents are terrorists,
a term that is expansive.
Unchecked authority to revoke the nonprofit status of such groups
without cause or due process risks Trump truly weaponizing the Treasury
Department and destroying civil society organizations across this
country.
As David Thompson with the National Council of Nonprofits has said,
by violating basic due process rights, this bill ``bodes ill . . .
without input from the charitable sector.''
As civil society groups have stated, over 120 of them: ``The
executive branch could use this authority to target its political
opponents and use the fear of crippling legal fees, the stigma of
designation, and donors fleeing controversy to stifle dissent and chill
speech and advocacy.''
It is not just the denial of tax status; it is the threat of denial.
It is the use of intimidation, at which our President-elect is an
expert, to let this be an intimidation of one group after another--a
church, a social organization that has nothing to do with terrorism but
can be characterized as such by him.
That is all it takes. Mr. Speaker, if Trump calls you a terrorist,
just as he called me a traitor for not clapping long enough for him,
that is all it takes under this bill. You have no hearing. You have no
evidence. You have no true appeal rights. The supposed administrative
provisions, administrative safeguards of this bill, are a total sham.
Mr. Speaker, after you are found guilty and denied your taxpayer
status, then you can complain about it. It is based on the principle
that you are guilty before proven innocent. The process there provides
no protection whatsoever.
{time} 1800
With regard to helping the hostages, let's be very clear about that.
For 6 months, we have had in this House the opportunity to pass a
Senate bill that is word for word a bill that is pending here in the
House to help the hostages. Why has that not been done?
The very fact that there is such great interest in the hostages today
and such total insensitivity over the last 6 months to do anything
about them tells you that there is an ulterior motive here, that the
goal is not about helping perhaps a dozen hostage victims' families who
have gone through hell. It is not about that. It is about placing one
civil society group after another on the line under a new President to
use unlimited discretion to attack his political foes.
We have an opportunity tonight to either advance the cause of fascism
or to push back against it. We have statements not from Democrats but
from those who worked closest with President Trump raising concern,
causing my concern about giving him any additional power.
After he called the press the enemy of the people, there is concern
about the impact on the press. So many of our journalist organizations
now at the local level are nonprofit organizations. To lose their tax-
exempt status is to destroy freedom of the press.
We know with regard to President-elect Trump, that his appointee,
General Mark Milley, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
a decorated hero and patriot, referred to Mr. Trump as fascist to the
core, that his former Chief of Staff, the longest serving Chief of
Staff, one of those best people in the world that he told us he would
bring to Washington, said he is certainly an authoritarian, admires
people who are dictators. He has said that.
Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the time remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bost). The gentleman has 2\1/4\ minutes
remaining.
Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward
the President-elect.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, the former Chief of Staff said he is
certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators, so he
certainly falls into the general definition of fascism.
Kelly also said that our President-elect has said that Hitler did
some good things. I don't want those kinds of good things done here in
America. I want people that disagree with me, as much as the chairman
does tonight, from across this country to have the opportunity to have
their say. I think that a vibrant, diverse, civil society and freedom
of the press here is vital to the future of American democracy, and I
don't want to see it snuffed out by one new figure. Let us not tonight
give a wannabe tyrant the tool of tyranny.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President-elect, including by
making references to other sources that would have been out of order if
spoken in the Member's own words.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
In response to the prior speaker's comments of the Senate hostage
bill that was passed earlier, we had the IRS and we had the Joint
Committee on Taxation that said there were flaws in how it was drafted.
This bill fixes those flaws, according to what the IRS said and the
Joint Committee on Taxation.
Also, the prior speaker is also a member of the Ways and Means
Committee, and he knows that according to the Constitution, all revenue
measures originate in the House of Representatives. That bill is a
revenue measure that originated in the Senate. That is why we are doing
this legislation, in order to get it accomplished to follow a very
important document called the U.S. Constitution.
There is something terribly wrong when organizations that support
terrorism can abuse the tax code here in the United States but American
citizens who are victimized by bad actors abroad can be subjected to
tax penalties when they return home to America. There is something
terribly wrong when a so-called journalist in Gaza, who had been hired
by a tax-exempt organization in the U.S., holds Israelis taken hostage
in his own home for months.
There is something wrong when the U.S.-based, nonprofit sponsor of a
designated sham charity and funder of terrorism still has not had its
tax-exempt status revoked. There is something terribly wrong when
families, who have already gone through a nightmare, face tax penalties
when they get home.
H.R. 9495 is the answer. It received overwhelming bipartisan support
in the Ways and Means Committee. I look forward to even more bipartisan
support here on the House floor today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Rep.
Tenney's H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on
American Hostages Act, which will address a profound injustice faced by
Americans who return home after being wrongfully detained abroad.
As Co-Chair of the Hostage Task Force in the House alongside my
friend Haley Stevens of Michigan, I have seen the unimaginable stress
and hardships these Americans and their families face while being
detained firsthand.
The last thing they should have to worry about when they return home
is a notice from their own government telling them that they now face
penalties and fines for missing tax deadlines because of circumstances
entirely beyond their control.
This bill fixes that irksome issue and sends a clear message:
That the U.S. government stands by its citizens when they are put
through these unthinkable circumstances.
With this measure, we are standing up for Americans who have already
been through so much.
[[Page H5937]]
I am proud to see this commonsense measure come to the floor for
consideration, and I urge my colleagues to support it so we can ensure
these Americans have the relief they desperately deserve.
And, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her leadership on this
critical need.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 9495, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
____________________