1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Hi, I’m a constituent from Santa Monica (90405) and a member of Indivisible Westside Los Angeles. I writing with deep concern about H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, and the provisions it includes from H.R. 6408. Without any evidence as to the need for this legislation, H.R. 6408 authorizes broad and easily abused new powers for the executive branch. It grants the Secretary of the Treasury virtually unfettered discretion to designate a U.S. nonprofit as a “terrorist supporting organization” and to strip it of its tax-exempt status if the Secretary finds that the nonprofit has provided material support to a terrorist group, even if the “support” is not intentional or connected to actual violence. The potential for abuse under H.R. 6408 is immense as the executive branch would be handed a tool it could use to curb free speech, censor nonprofit media outlets, target political opponents, and punish disfavored groups across the political spectrum. The lack of guardrails creates the potential for future administrations to weaponize these powers against groups on both ends of the ideological spectrum. Even if they may never be designated as “terrorist-supporting,” let alone charged with a crime, nonprofits will curtail their activities as a precaution in order to avoid stigmatizing and financially devastating punishments. For these reasons, I strongly urge you to oppose the inclusion of H.R. 6408 in H.R. 9495.