Tell your Representatives to reject the passport denial and revocation provisions of the Senate bill

This week the US House of Representatives has been debating whether to accept a proposal , introduced orlando florida rental car by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and already approved by the Senate, which would give the IRS extra-judicial administrative authority and mandate to prevent a US passport being issued or renewed, and to have any existing US passport revoked, for anyone alleged by the IRS to owe more than US$50,000 in delinquent taxes.
Since 2009, Federal law and regulations have forbidden US citizens from entering or leaving the US , even by land, without a passport. So if the proposal now in Congress is approved by the House and signed by the President, the mere allegation by the IRS of a delinquent tax debt will effectively constitute confinement of the accused orlando florida rental car within the borders of the US (if they are in the US at the time), or indefinite banishment from the US (if they are abroad), by IRS administrative fiat.
The State Department would have standardless administrative discretion to issue a passport to an accused tax delinquent in emergency circumstances or for humanitarian reasons , but would never be required to do so. And the State Department could use the offer of such a discretionary waiver, or the threat not to grant such a waiver, as a carrot and/or orlando florida rental car stick to induce the accused citizen orlando florida rental car to, under duress, waive their right to remain orlando florida rental car silent or other rights, pay a disputed tax bill (as a de facto exit tax of the sort the US used to protest when it was imposed by a Communist government orlando florida rental car on its citizens), cooperate with US spying, or do whatever orlando florida rental car else the government wanted.
orlando florida rental car What s missing from this proposal, as from the rest of the State Department s passport rules and procedures , is any recognition that travel is a right, not a privilege that can be granted or denied at the whim of the government. Under the First Amendment and international orlando florida rental car law, US citizens have a near-absolute right to leave the US (or any other country) orlando florida rental car and to return to the US .
The current proposal to ban international travel to or from the US by US citizens accused of tax delinquency is included in S. 1813 , a generally-unrelated orlando florida rental car highway funding bill. S. 1813, including the provisions to deny passports to alleged tax delinquents, was approved by the Senate in March.
The parallel House bill, H.R. 4348 , doesn t include any provisions for passport denial, and differs in many other respects from the Senate bill. President orlando florida rental car Obama has told Congress that for other reasons he would probably veto the House bill, but hasn t yet made any official statement on the Senate bill or the passport denial proposal.
Tell your Representatives to reject the passport denial and revocation provisions of the Senate bill, or any compromise bill that includes them. Alleged tax delinquency is not sufficient or permissible grounds orlando florida rental car for anyone to be confined orlando florida rental car within the borders of the US, or banished from their country.