Press Statement on the 527 Bill

Washington, D.C. - Following the unfortunate passage of the highly contested 527 legislation (H.R. 513) that will dramatically reduce First Amendment protections of political speech, David Keating, Executive Director of the Club for Growth, the nation's leading free-market advocacy organization with over 35,000 members, made the following statement: bq. "Passage of this Republican-sponsored legislation is nothing more than an outrageous assault on the First Amendment. The House Republicans may think they have made a wise political move, but subverting the Constitution in an attempt to make political gains is inexcusable and will shut down a crucial way to support the policies they profess to endorse. bq. "Legislators aren't satisfied with their ability to control who votes for them through their partisan gerrymanders, but now want to control who says how much and when about their performance in office. bq. "Clearly, this is just a first step in completely shutting down any praise or criticism of Congress. If politicians have the power to do this to 527s, they also have the power to regulate speech by any other nonprofit group or business association."