1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide relief for U.S. nationals unlawfully detained or held hostage abroad. However, aspects of the bill raise concerns about due process and overreach. The provisions allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to unilaterally designate organizations as "terrorist supporting" without sufficient evidence or appeals process is troubling. This could unfairly target lawful organizations and chill free speech. Furthermore, terminating tax-exempt status based on such designations undermines constitutionally-protected rights. While supporting American hostages is a worthy goal, this legislation contains problematic measures that could enable abuse of power and infringe on civil liberties. Therefore, I urge you to oppose this bill unless amended to include robust due process protections and narrowly define "material support" to prevent overreach. American values of freedom and justice should not be compromised.