ACLU Cheers House Vote Blocking H.R. 9495

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives blocked H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, 256-145. Because the House of Representatives was attempting to move the bill on suspension it required a two-thirds majority in order to pass. This legislation would have granted the Secretary of Treasury the unilateral power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization — including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups — by stripping them of their tax-exempt status based on an unilateral accusation of wrongdoing.

Last month, the ACLU and a diverse array of over 130 other tax-exempt organizations — including human rights, reproductive health, and immigrants’ rights groups — wrote to Congress urging them to vote no.

The following is a statement from Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU:

“The freedom to dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, and now is not the time to grant the executive branch new powers to investigate and functionally shut down and silence its critics. Tonight enough members of the House voted to block giving the executive branch new broad and easily abused powers. This is only the first such battle we expect to see in the coming years, and we will continue to remain vigilant in working to ensure that the authority of the executive branch is appropriately limited.”