Culberson Amendment Protects Churches from IRS Bullying

Press Release

The House Appropriations Committee today approved an amendment offered by Congressman John Culberson (TX-07) that will protect churches from being bullied by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and left-wing activists whenever a church engages in educational political activity. Culberson's amendment was adopted during a mark-up of the Financial Services and General Government Oversight Appropriations Bill for FY 2016.

"I represent the two largest churches in the country, and one of them had their tax exempt status threatened for simply handing out voter registration cards," said Congressman Culberson. "My amendment puts procedural safeguards in place to ensure that only the IRS Commissioner can threaten the tax exempt status of a church, and then only after notifying the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee 30 days prior to taking any action. My amendment will protect the freedom of speech for ministers and churches and will ensure that only those who truly violate the law will have their tax exempt status threatened."

While current law prohibits tax exempt organizations from advocating for or against a particular candidate, churches and religious organizations can distribute voter registration cards and educate parishioners on where each of the candidates stand on issues important to the church. Despite this fact, the tax exempt status of many churches is regularly threatened by special interest groups.

Culberson's amendment puts in place procedures so that only the IRS Commissioner, who is approved by the Senate, can revoke the tax exempt status of a church. The language is narrowly drafted so that it only applies to churches and other religious organizations. It has no effect on other non-profit organizations.

"I agree with Thomas Jefferson who often said the 'law has no jurisdiction over the mind of man.' The First Amendment protects all of us from government censorship, and it is especially important that we protect the First Amendment rights of churches from intimidation by the IRS or the City of Houston or any other level of government," said Congressman Culberson.

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