[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 171 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H6080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IRS FAILS TO SERVE AMERICANS HELD HOSTAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, over the past several years, 
there has been a sharp increase in hostile and adversarial nations 
kidnapping American citizens and holding them for ransom. While these 
Americans are being held hostage, the last thing that they and their 
families need is more bureaucratic red tape here at home.
  The fact that the IRS has been charging these hostages with late fees 
and penalizing them for failing to file their tax returns is yet 
another sign of the agency's failure to serve the American people.
  It is time for the House to pass the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax 
Penalties on American Hostages Act, which will address this issue and 
support these Americans during one of the most challenging times in 
their lives.
  An equally important component of this bill is that it would revoke 
the tax-exempt status of organizations that support terrorist groups 
like Hamas. No organization that supports terrorist groups should have 
tax shelters here in the United States.
  It is time to stand with our allies and Americans. We need to pass 
this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on 
H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American 
Hostages Act.


           Celebrating President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, 161 years ago today, 
President Abraham Lincoln stood before a group of soldiers, citizens, 
and elected officials to deliver the Gettysburg Address.
  His words offered a chance to reflect on the terrible cost that this 
battle had brought to Gettysburg, to the soldiers who had fought there, 
and to our Nation that was strained by years of a devastating Civil 
War.
  Here in Congress, I have the honor to represent Gettysburg and the 
Gettysburg National Military Park. Today, the park does incredible work 
to tell the story of Gettysburg and to preserve the memory of all those 
who fought during this historic battle.
  Please join me in remembering the words of President Lincoln: ``That 
this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that 
government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not 
perish from the Earth.''

                          ____________________