Announcing 527 Fairness Act

ANNOUNCING 527 FAIRNESS ACT -- (House of Representatives - April 12, 2005)

(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, the summer of 2004 will be remembered for many years in American politics.

Groups organized on the left and the right under what was known as section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code and spent more than $300 million to support candidates, while the two major political parties and the Nation's most respected labor unions, associations, businesses, and constitutional groups watched in silence from the sidelines.

In response to this summer of 527s, some in Washington will bring measures to rein in the 527 groups with greater government control and regulation, and that is certainly their right.

The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wynn), a Democratic Congressman, and I have taken a different approach in introducing the 527 Fairness Act in the 109th Congress.
The 527 Fairness Act seeks to restore basic fairness to the political process for political parties and 501(c) organizations instead of attempting further regulation on political speech. More freedom is always the answer of the difficulties and challenges and the politics of a free society.

While this liberty may be a bit more chaotic and inconvenient for some in the political class, as Thomas Jefferson said, ``I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.''

I join the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wynn), my colleague, in urging cosponsorship and swift passage of the 527 Fairness Act.

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