Faith and Freedom Coalition Urges Members of U.S. House of Representatives to Vote NO On H.R. 1

Washington, DC – Faith & Freedom Coalition Executive Director Tim Head issued a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives today urging them to vote against H.R. 1, legislation which would undermine the constitutionally protected free speech and association rights of every American.

H.R. 1 creates and then regulates a new overly broad and incredibly vague definition of political speech —namely, communications that “promote, attack, support, or oppose” federal candidates and elected officials. The legislation would also expand the definition of “coordination” under the law such that any discussion about public policy, at any time, could conceivably be deemed “coordinated” with a candidate for federal office and therefore a donation to the campaign. Non-profit organizations, including churches, would also be subject to politically motivated FEC investigations with the specter of criminal liability and fines for speaking on public issues.

“A vote in favor of H.R 1 is a vote to restrict free speech and association and to discourage political participation by ordinary Americans,” said Head. “This bill would undermine the constitutionally protected free speech and association rights of every American and have a chilling effect on political participation and would further empower unelected bureaucrats to target and harass faith-based organizations in order to silence them.”

The expansive “coordination” standards included in H.R. 1 are unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s decision in Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC, where the Court held that the FEC could not presume coordination, but had to prove it in order to regulate it.