1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

The bill H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, contains provisions that would give the Treasury Department broad authority to designate non-profit organizations as "terrorist supporting organizations." This designation process lacks proper due process and judicial oversight. Granting such unilateral power to the executive branch to effectively shut down civil society groups raises significant civil liberties concerns. I urge you to oppose this bill unless it is amended to remove the sections allowing the Treasury to label non-profits as "terrorist supporting organizations" without robust legal protections and layers of review. Nonprofits play a vital role in our democracy, and any attempt to restrict their operations based on vague allegations must have strong safeguards against potential abuse. Protecting constitutional rights should be the highest priority when considering such an expansion of executive authority over civil society groups.