Press Releases

Congresswoman Gwen Moore Votes No on H.R. 9495

“As I said previously when this bill come to the House floor, no one opposes the provisions of this legislation to provide relief for tax deadlines or penalties for Americans being held hostage or illegally detained overseas. However, I have heard serious concerns that portions of this legislation would give overbroad authority that could be weaponized by any Administration to target disfavored groups.

The Senate has already passed stand-alone legislation to provide tax relief for Americans held hostage, and a bill focused solely on that effort would likely pass the House in a unanimous vote, which would have my support.

However, a provision in this bill (Section 4) has raised serious concerns that it would be used to target disfavored groups or to penalize the exercise of First Amendment rights.  And when this bill first came to the House floor, it came under a procedure that both limited debate and provided no chance to amend the bill to address these well-founded concerns.

I hoped, at the time, that we could work to fix those changes moving forward.  However, the bill has now come back before the House without any changes. And once again, under a process that blocks amendments despite my entreaties to the Rules Committee to allow votes on amendments, including ones that would improve or remove Section 4 altogether. As a result of a lack of any serious efforts to address these flaws, I voted NO. 

Let me be clear: combating terrorism and ensuring proper oversight of tax benefits, whether for individuals, nonprofits, or corporations should be bipartisan priorities.  However, without any opportunity to fix this bill upon its reconsideration in the House, I voted NO.”