Rep. Matt Gaetz is calling on Congress to end the tax-exempt status of the NFL's business office in the wake of controversy over players and team owners kneeling during the national anthem.

Gaetz, Northwest Florida's Republican congressman, took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday and said players have a constitutional right to free speech, but Americans shouldn't subsidize a sport whose players act unpatriotically.

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"When people kneel during our national anthem, they don't simply indict the issue with which they have some particular grievance," said Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. "They indict our country, our service members, our first-responders, our founding fathers and the principles that made this country great."

Gaetz's office also announced in a press release that he has become the lead sponsor of the Pro Sports Act, a bill that removes the tax-exempt status of the NFL's League Office, which was created in 1966.

Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced the bill in January, but it has been without a lead sponsor since Chaffetz resigned from Congress in June.

The tax exemption only applies to the NFL's central office. The NFL voluntarily relinquished its tax-exempt status in 2015. Individual teams pay taxes on their profits.

Gaetz said he wanted to make the voluntary relinqueshment permanent under the tax code.

"We must close this loophole in the tax code, and end taxpayer subsidies for professional athletics," Gaetz said in the release. "If players want to protest, they have that right — but they should do it on their own time, and on their own dime."