Congresswoman Gwen Moore Statement on H.R. 9495
“No one detained or held hostage abroad should come home to face a tax penalty or fine, potentially amounting to thousands of dollars, because they are unable to make tax payments during such a terrible ordeal. Or worry about tax deadlines. That’s the last thing these Americans should have to worry about.
I am pleased to support that provision.
This legislation also includes a provision that would empower the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit organization that the Treasury designates as a ‘terrorist supporting organization’ if they are found to provide material support or resources to a terrorist organization.
I am curious as to why this measure has been attached to this noncontroversial bill since it already passed the House as a stand-alone bill (H.R. 6408) several months ago.
This proposal builds on existing restrictions preventing designated terrorist organizations from benefiting from tax-exempt status. I am aware that the due process procedures and review for terrorist supporting organizations would be significantly different under this proposal than they are for existing processes to designate terrorist organizations. This has raised concerns among some that the proposal provides insufficient due process safeguards against erroneous designations and would negatively impact the work of nonprofit groups working to provide humanitarian and other relief in some of the most dangerous places in the world.
That said, this proposal includes an opportunity for organizations to rebut a designation and affected organizations may seek judicial review of any final designation. And I support efforts to strengthen due process and other provisions in this bill moving forward to ensure that this proposal could not be weaponized by this or any other Administration to target nonprofit groups simply because they disagree with them.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore
“This legislation also includes a provision that would empower the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit organization that the Treasury designates as a ‘terrorist supporting organization’
“I am curious as to why this measure has been attached to this noncontroversial bill”
“That said, this proposal includes an opportunity for organizations to rebut a designation and affected organizations may seek judicial review of any final designation. And I support efforts to strengthen due process and other provisions in this bill moving forward to ensure that this proposal could not be weaponized by this or any other Administration to target nonprofit groups simply because they disagree with them”.
Gwen knows why they attached this to the bill, it is a common tactic, Attach something bad to a perfectly good thing so it passes. As far as the “opportunity for organizations to … seek judicial review”, cmon give me a break. I have no faith that the Justice sysrem will be impartial anymore. This bill will allow the Treasury to define, without any proof, any organization they deem fit as a “terrorist” organization. You have to ask “Why would they be doing this now”? Because the next Administration wants the chance to clamp down on any dissent.
We didn’t get to a second Trump administration by chance. It took a weak ineffectual Democratic “opposition” party to get us here. It could get very, very ugly.
Now she is saying that this was already voted upon, but she did not vote on HR 6408. Now was her first chance to vote for this horrible MAGA bill and she jumped on it. I immediately emailed Congressperson Moore to let her know that she has received my last vote for her.
For any one interested 52 Democrats, including Gwen Moore, voted for this garbage. It fell short of the two thirds majority needed to fast track this, but certainly this issue will be revisited in the next Congress.
(some quotes lifted from another article)…
“If you’re looking for a handy list of Democrats who have no **cking clue what is about to hit and need their spines stiffened ASAP, this is a good place to start,” wrote Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the advocacy group Indivisible.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who vocally opposed the legislation, wrote that “these 52 Democrats voted to give Trump the power to shut down any nonprofit he wants.” “The NAACP, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, no organization would be safe,” Tlaib added. “Shameful.”
Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-97), a Palestinian American, echoed that sentiment following Tuesday’s vote and condemned the legislation’s 52 Democratic supporters.
“Every single Democrat who voted for this is not taking the threat of Trump remotely seriously and should be disqualified from any leadership positions moving forward,” Romman wrote on social media. “This is no longer business as usual. To agree to give him this kind of power is beyond egregious.”
Like other readers, I am appalled that Rep. Moore voted for this toxic, dangerous proposal. Her mealy-mouthed explanation is disengenuous- she voted along with some of the most conservative Dems. Like Andrew, I’m done voting for Rep. Moore. I wrote in Hind Rajab, whose murder she condoned by her silence. Shameful.
I am disappointed that Rep. Moore voted for this legislation due to the possibility that non Terrorist organizations (such as media organizations) might be labelled as such by the Trump administration. Unfortunately, we are at a point where we cannot trust any Republican administration or supporter to do the right thing. In a different world, this would not even be an issue or concern.
We do not want to cut off our nose to spite our face. I will continue to support Rep. Moore as I see her support and do the things I agree with well over 90% of the time.
It is not possible for any politician to do the “right” thing 100% of the time, in the minds of every person being represented by them. Please consider the challenges they are faced with on a daily basis. There is no way to be perfect, just to do the best they can in these trying times, and I believe she does that.
I actually like the idea of letting the IRS go harder after fake charities. I despise the right-wing organizations that use “charity” to hide their donors and dodge taxes.
But we know that’s NOT why Republicans are trying to push this through. It is total abuse of power to allow the Trump IRS to try to harrass groups they don’t like out of existence (like how JD Vance owner Peter Thiel bankrupted Gawker with frivolous lawsuits).
Rep. Moore should know better. The fact that she doesn’t, and that she is concentrating on (generally Islamic) terrorism as her cover is a sign that she’s got serious DC Brain after 20+ years in Congress.