On November 21, by a vote of 219-184, the House of Representatives, passed HR 9495, Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, dubbed by many as a “nonprofit killer.” The legislation would allow for the Secretary of the Treasury to designate any nonprofit organization as terrorist supporting, without the need to provide any evidence at all and with the consequence of stripping the organization’s 501c3 status. An earlier vote that required a 60% threshold for passage failed. But the November 21 vote, only requiring a simple majority, succeeded with bipartisan support. (See article in Breaking the Stories.)

This is a very dangerous bill, with an intended chilling effect. Likely designed with Palestinian solidarity groups as primary targets, it can be used against immigrant rights, climate justice, racial justice organizations, and religious ones as well. According to Nonprofit Vote, “HR 9495 would amount to a death sentence for nearly any nonprofit that found itself in the law’s crossfires.”

The bill now sits with the Senate, although it is reportedly unclear whether the current Democratic-controlled Senate will take it up. If not, it will certainly be taken up by the incoming Republican-controlled Senate. We need not wait until then, however, to advocate.

Contact your senators now. For easy access to their DC office phones, go here. Let them know how opposed you are to this bill. If you are doubting the imperative and efficacy of your advocacy, use this fact as inspiration: the first vote on HR 9495 had the support of 52 Democrats; only 15 voted ‘aye’ the second time round. That’s 15 too many, but 37 changed their vote. Our advocacy matters. Be sure to take action on this now.



This excerpt is from the UCCPIN December 2024 E-Newsletter. To view the full newsletter, click here: 
UCCPIN December 2024 E-Newsletter.