The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today thanked Americans who sent over 6,000 messages to their U.S. Senators calling on them not to advance passage of a bill aimed at shutting down pro-Palestinian nonprofit organizations by empowering a single official at the Treasury Department to strip away their tax status without due process or justification.
The bill is still under consideration in the Senate and could advance at a later date, but attempts this week to attach the bill as an amendment to the FAA reauthorization legislation failed. (S.Amdt.2012 to S.Amdt.1911). The FAA reauthorization act, passed yesterday, did so without this harmful amendment.
To continue to urge your U.S. Senators to oppose this nonprofit killing legislation, continue to take part in CAIR’s action alert!
SEE: Criticizing Israel? Nonprofits Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Without Due Process (The Intercept)
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Department Director Robert McCaw said,
“We thank the thousands of Americans and other civil rights groups for their pivotal role in stopping this bill from passing the Senate this week, but the fight is far from over. We encourage everyone to continue vocally opposing this dangerous, Orwellian bill aimed at silencing nonprofits that support Palestinian human rights. Empowering a single official at the Treasury Department to circumvent the criminal justice system, declare any nonprofit organization ‘terrorist-supporting’, and strip aware its non-profit status without due process would be incredibly dangerous for every charitable organization. No matter where you stand on any social, political or international issue, every American should oppose legislation that endangers civil liberties under the guise of national security.”
Background:
This week Senator Cornyn sought to attach to the annual FAA Authorization Act an amendment advancing the U.S. House-adopted H.R. 6408, which would grant the Secretary of the Treasury expansive powers to terminate the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based solely on a subjective declaration that they support terrorism. Relatedly, Sen. Cornyn has introduced a stand-alone companion bill (S. 4136).
The motivation behind this legislation stems from unfounded allegations that certain Palestinian and Jewish nonprofit and student-led advocacy groups, critical of the Israeli government and supportive of Palestinian human rights, are linked to designated foreign terrorist organizations. On Monday, CAIR, and 135 other nonprofits and civil rights groups sent a joint letter to the Senate warning this proposed act lacks adequate accountability measures and would lead to potential misuse, especially given the current political polarization in the U.S. government.
Since the U.S. House’s adoption of this act, this marks the first victory in opposing this dangerous and Orwellian legislation. However, CAIR warns that this legislation will most likely come up again for a vote, either as a stand-alone bill or as an amendment to another spending package, including the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that will be deliberated this summer and fall.
To continue to urge your U.S. Senators to oppose this nonprofit killing legislation, continue to take part in CAIR’s action alert!
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com