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HR 9495, the nonprofit-killer bill, per Michael Novick

This is a discussion of a Zoom interview recorded 2024-12-20 with Michael Novick, former interim general manager for KPFK, the second station in the Pacifica Radio Network, about HR 9495, which has been called the "nonprofit-killer bill, by its opponents. A 29:00 mm:ss podcast excerpted from the companion video will be posted here after it is released to the fortnightly "Media & Democracy" show[1] syndicated for the Pacifica Radio[2] Network of over 200 community radio stations.[3]
It is posted here to invite others to contribute other perspectives, subject to the Wikimedia rules of writing from a neutral point of view while citing credible sources[4] and treating others with respect.[5]

Michael Novick discussed HR 9495, the “Stop Terror Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act”, which passed the House November 21. Its opponents have called it the “nonprofit-killer” bill, because it would give the Secretary of Treasury the authority to designate any nonprofit as a suspected “Terrorist Supporting Organization" and remove their tax-exempt status unless they convince the Secretary of Treasury that they do not support terrorists.[6] Mother Jones reported, 'In the bill’s original iteration, it was popular among both Republicans and Democrats, who saw it as an appealing way to police Palestinian rights organizations after protests last year. An earlier version, in April, passed the House easily, with only 11 votes against the bill. It didn’t make it through the Senate ... One of those early no votes was Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who said on the House floor [November 21], “... This is a dangerous and an unconstitutional bill that would allow unchecked power to target nonprofit organizations as political enemies and shut them down without due process.”'[7]

Interview recorded 2024-12-20 with Michael Novick regarding HR 9495, called the nonprofit-killer bill, because it is allegedly designed to suppress dissent in the US.

Beth Gazley, Professor of Nonprofit Management and Policy at Indiana University,[8] said, "I believe that this is part of a strategy to preempt opposition to Republican policies and encourage self-censorship. It’s a way for the GOP to try to restrict what activists and nonprofit organizations can say or do. And, essentially, it’s a threat to political opponents of President-elect Donald Trump." On November 21, only 15 Democrats supported it and one Republican opposed it. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called the bill “a werewolf in sheep’s clothing." ... An earlier version of this legislation was introduced in December 2023 and passed in the House in April 2024. Based on the timing, it was widely interpreted as an attempt to quell widespread protests by students and other people who were expressing their solidarity with Palestinians and their objections to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. But this legislation could easily do far more than that, because it does not distinguish between foreign and domestic terrorism – whether it’s real or imagined.[9] Raskin further noted that “rendering support to terrorists is already a felony”,[10] and this bill could end all rights to due process.[9]

Michael Novick

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Novick has described himself as antiracist, antisexist, anti-imperialist, and anti-authoritarian. Between 2022 and November 2024, he was the interim general manager of KPFK,[11] the second station in the Pacifica Radio Network.[12]

Novick can be reached at antiracistaction_la@yahoo.com or changelinks2@gmail.com. The latter is for the Change Links community calendar.[13] "antiracist.org" is the website for Turning the Tide,[14] which Novick has been doing since 1988.

HR 9495

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HR 9495 says that "the term ‘terrorist supporting organization’ means any organization which is designated by the Secretary [of Treasury] as having provided, during the 3-year period ending on the date of such designation, material support or resources" to a designated terrorist organization. Before an organization can be so designated, the Secretary is required to mail a written notice of such impending designation and giving them 90 days to "demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary that such organization did not provide the material support or resources".[6]

Selected comments

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Novik noted that 9495 is not likely to pass the Senate this year,

Regarding Trump suing ABC and The Des Moines Register,[15] Novick said, "I think it's part and parcel of this whole attack on on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the whole thing about fake news. ... [T]his effort internationally and nationally to really control the free flow of information because they understand that an informed public is less likely to sit still for its own rights being violated. And certainly the other end of the freedom of speech is freedom of discourse and freedom of listening. If you can't hear any contrary views to those being expressed by the great leader, that's a violation of your rights, not just the rights of the speakers. And so I think ... that it is an attack on human rights and on people's ability to understand what's going on in the world and do something about it."

Graves asked Novick about Trump saying that Liz Cheney, a Republican who represented Wyoming in the US House, should be prosecuted and jailed for her role in a Trump impeachment proceeding during Trump's first term.[16] Novick replied,

Graves noted that in August he had interviewed Heidi Beirich,[20] co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of the Global Project Against Hate & Extremism (GPAHE).[21] She noted that recent National Defense Authorization Acts have included provisions that explicitly prohibited the Secretary of Defense from attempting to root violent extremists out of the Us. Military.[22]

Novick replied,

Novick continued,

The threat

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Internet company executives have knowingly increased political polarization and violence including the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, because doing otherwise might have reduced their profits. Documentation of this is summarized in other interviews regarding "Media & Democracy", available on Wikiversity under Category:Media reform to improve democracy.

Discussion

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[Interested readers are invite to comment here, subject to the Wikimedia rules of writing from a neutral point of view citing credible sources[4] and treating others with respect.[5]]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Media & Democracy, Director: Spencer Graves, Pacifica Radio, Wikidata Q127839818{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ Pacifica Radio, Wikidata Q2045587
  3. ↑ List of Pacifica Radio stations and affiliates, Wikidata Q6593294
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The rules of writing from a neutral point of view citing credible sources may not be enforced on other parts of Wikiversity. However, they can facilitate dialog between people with dramatically different beliefs
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wikiversity asks contributors to assume good faith, similar to Wikipedia. The rule in Wikinews is different: Contributors there are asked to "Don't assume things; be skeptical about everything." That's wise. However, we should still treat others with respect while being skeptical.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 US House (2024).
  7. ↑ Hurwitz (2024).
  8. ↑ Beth Gazley, Wikidata Q131542978
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gazley (2024).
  10. ↑ Raskin was quoted in Gazley (2024). In fact, "Providing material support for terrorism" is a felony under the USA Patriot Act of 2001 punishable by fines and imprisonment of up to 15 years or 20 years if human(s) convicted know(s) they were aiding an organization so classified by the US State Department and life in prison if the "death of a person" has resulted, and 'the term “person” means any individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property'. In Holder v. the Humanitarian Law Project (2010), the US Supreme Court ruled that teaching nonviolence to someone designated as a "terrorist" was "providing material support for terrorism". David D. Cole, attorney for the Humanitarian Law Project, said that under that ruling, even asking the State Department to explain why some individual or group was designated as a "terrorist" was similarly "providing material support", a major felony with penalties as just described.
  11. ↑ Novick (2022) noted that he began as interim general manager of KKFK in 2022. In this interview, he said he was no longer in that position.
  12. ↑ The Pacifica Radio Network includes stations owned by the Pacifica Foundation plus over 200 that are "affiliates".
  13. ↑ Turning the Tide, Los Angeles, Wikidata Q131544806
  14. ↑ Gold (2024).
  15. ↑ Mascaro (2024).
  16. ↑ Mufid Abdulqader was released 2024-12-12 after 16 years in federal prison. He was described as a "top fundraiser" and "leader" of the Holy Land Foundation
  17. ↑ Pacifica in Exile (2015).
  18. ↑ Alliance for Global Justice, Wikidata Q129502246
  19. ↑ Heidi Beirich, Wikidata Q128844587
  20. ↑ Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, Wikidata Q125952435
  21. ↑ Donnelly (2022).
  22. ↑ Axe (2024).
  23. ↑ Shetterly (2024).

Bibliography

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