Rand Paul responded to my email! Clearly this was not an automatic response and he is aware of the issue. Here is his response (my emphasis in bold):

September 26, 2012

Dear Mr. —,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.

During the 111th Congress, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-147). This legislation drastically expanded government involvement in the financial goings-on of Americans who live and work abroad. FATCA, the tax evasion provision in this bill, requires all foreign financial institutions (FFI) to provide a detailed report on American account holders to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) beginning in 2013, or be subjected to a 30 percent withholding tax on income from U.S. assets. American account holders with more than $50,000 who fail to file a report with the IRS would also be subject to a 30 percent withholding tax. As a newly elected member of the 112^th Congress, I did not participate in the debate of this law and would have voted against it if I had been.

Not only does FATCA allow the government to obtain a wide array of international banking records without evidence of such tax evasion, but the outrageous cost of compliance with this requirement has been estimated at $30 million per FFI. Rather than comply, many banks have refused to serve American clients and have begun shutting down their accounts. I have serious concerns with FATCA and that is why, along with my Republican colleagues, Senators Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Mike Lee (Utah), I wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner questioning the implementation of this onerous mandate.

I have long been a critic of government intrusion into the privacy rights of Americans. As a lead opponent of the May 2011 extension of the USA PATRIOT Act, which allows the federal government to engage in warrantless searches, I believe the right to privacy is critical to the preservation of other rights. We have to be very careful not to continue down the slippery slope that our current and previous Administrations has taken us.

Rest assured I am fully aware of the effect FATCA is having on Americans overseas and will continue to keep a close watch on this issue. As I represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States Senate, I will remain committed to defending the proper role of the federal government, as outlined by the Constitution, and defending the rights of all Americans citizens.

Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with me. Please do not hesitate to contact my office in the future regarding federal issues.

Sincerely,

Rand Paul, MD
United States Senator