Press Conference by Representative Sensenbrenner Introducing the Religious Freedom Tax Repeal Act of 2012

Press Conference

Transcript of Congressman Sensenbrenner's Remarks at Today's Press Conference

"We will be introducing the Religious Freedom Tax Repeal Act of 2012. What this legislation will do is repeal the taxes that will be levied upon those religious institutions and those who have moral or religious objections in the private sector from having to pay for insurance under the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that violate their religious or moral views.

We've had an awful lot of debate on this subject since Obamacare was passed and since Secretary Sebelius announced her mandates sometime in the fall of last year.

What has not been discussed is the tax that is imposed upon those that fail to comply with that mandate, either through religious objections or moral grounds. Those taxes are severe, they are confiscatory. It is $100 per employee per day. So, a religious institution that, say, has a church and an elementary school beside it that employs fifty employees total, which include the administrative and maintenance personnel, ends up being taxed $36,500 per employee per year. Or the fifty-employee institution would have to pay a tax of $1,825,000 per year, every year.

This is a part of the Internal Revenue Code that was passed as a part of Obamacare, and for those who are interested in citing the section, it is Internal Revenue Code Section 4980D. Obviously, if these taxes are levied and they are enforced, there will be no religious-affiliated institutions left in this country. Religious-affiliated institutions, I think, have been one of the ways that there has been diversity provided in education, in healthcare, and in various types of social services in-relief services. I don't think they should be taxed out of business, and neither do my co-sponsors."

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