1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I am extremely concerned by the H.R.9495 - Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. The incendiary title is masking a very concerning proposal: to enable the treasury to strip nonprofit organizations of their status with no real process. This could easily be abused to strip nonprofits of free speech protections or to punish nonprofits whose actions are not supported by the administration. 'Supporting terrorism' is an extremely vague justification - we already have laws in place prohibiting the financing of terror activities. What this bill would do is hinder nonprofits' ability to function. What if the President decided that providing abortions was terrorism against the unborn? How would an institution like Planned Parenthood be able to fight back against this kind of decision if they were no longer allowed to accept donations? What if the President decided that anyone in Palestine must be a terrorist? Could World Central Kitchen continue to provide food not just in Palestine, but to millions of vulnerable people around the world? This bill is an extreme overreach. Combining it with an act to postpone tax deadlines for Americans detained abroad is a tactic to try to make anyone rightfully concerned about this overreach look as if they don't care about American hostages. It's deceptive and dishonest. Please do everything you can to block this bill. Thank you for your service to this country.