Prohibiting the Use of Funds By Internal Revenue Service to Target Citizens of the United States
Floor Speech
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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from South Dakota.
Yesterday marked the deadline for all Americans to file their 2015 taxes, and Americans from all walks of life disclosed some of their most private information and handed over their hard-earned dollars to the government.
With this in mind, last week I was proud to introduce legislation prohibiting the use of funds by the IRS to target citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights. Americans have seen Federal agencies abuse their power, and the IRS is one of the worst offenders.
The IRS has specifically targeted conservative groups simply for being conservative. This is a direct violation of the First Amendment.
My bill preserves the integrity of the First Amendment by ensuring its protections are never compromised by unelected Federal bureaucrats.
Specifically, H.R. 4903 protects Americans by prohibiting use of funds by the IRS and its rogue bureaucrats to carry out government abuse on citizens for exercising their constitutional rights. I can think of nothing more despicable than persecution for beliefs.
Tax day is stressful enough with the Tax Code we have in place. The IRS has no business in striking fear into the hearts of Americans for expressing their strongly held beliefs and convictions.
The Constitution is the law of the land, whether the IRS likes it or not. We must hold the IRS and its unelected bureaucrats accountable, especially because they have overstepped their constitutional bounds before, as my colleague pointed out. My colleague on the other side may dispute our legislation, but they can't dispute the facts, Mr. Speaker.
My colleagues serving on the Oversight and Government Reform committee and the Ways and Means Committee have been investigating the IRS' unlawful targeting of conservative groups since 2012. They were dogged in their pursuit of justice for every American's fundamental right, the freedom of speech.
The investigation revealed that, as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, democratic leadership pressured IRS bureaucrats to fix the problem by taking an aggressive stance against political speech by tax-exempt entities.
My colleagues also found clear evidence and testimony that the Tea Party and other conservative organizations were targeted for enhanced scrutiny because their organizations' names reflected their conservative beliefs.
For 27 months, from February 2010 until May 2012, the IRS systematically targeted conservative tax-exempt applicants for additional scrutiny and delay. This is an egregious violation of the First Amendment rights of all Americans.
The leader of this scheme was Lois Lerner, an IRS official at the time, as was mentioned.
In April 2010, a sensitive case report on the targeted Tea Party groups is shared with Lerner, when she first learned of a spike in Tea Party applications.
In June and July of 2011, Lerner is briefed that employees are using such terms as ``Tea Party,'' ``patriots,'' ``9/12 Project,'' ``government spending,'' ``government debt,'' ``taxes,'' and ``make America a better place to live'' to flag applications.
Lerner, after learning about such terms, tells the Cincinnati office to revise its guidelines for flagging applications. The guidance is expanded to include ``organizations involved with political lobbying or advocacy for exemption under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4).''
Also, Lois Lerner's hard drive supposedly crashed that June, erasing 2 years worth of emails. How convenient was that?
In March 2012, Darrell Issa, then-chairman of the Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform, expressed concern to the IRS inspector general that Tea Party groups were being targeted by the IRS. Doug Shulman, IRS Commissioner at the time, vehemently denied on the record to Congress that the agency was targeting conservative groups.
In May 2013, Lois Lerner testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. She proclaimed her innocence before invoking her Fifth Amendment right and refusing to answer questions from lawmakers. For 2 more years, the IRS circumvented Congress' investigations.
Lois Lerner, time and time again, refused to cooperate with Congress in its investigation of targeting conservative groups and, instead, hid behind the Fifth Amendment.
Before I was elected to Congress, my colleagues in the House of Representatives rightly voted to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for her refusal to cooperate with ongoing investigations into the agency's special targeting of groups with ``Tea Party'' or ``patriot'' in their names that were seeking tax-exempt status.
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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, a decision to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress was not taken lightly. Not surprisingly, the Obama administration's Department of Justice unilaterally decided not to prosecute Lois Lerner for her unlawful actions.
However, Congress vowed to continue to find answers and hold the IRS accountable for its actions. This is why I stand before you today. I refuse to allow another American to be persecuted and targeted by IRS bureaucrats for expressing their First Amendment rights, no matter their beliefs.
The House holds the power of the purse. As such, it is within our authority to gut the IRS where it hurts the most: their use of hard- earned tax dollars.
H.R. 4903 prohibits the IRS from using funds made available by any law to target citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights.
Today I urge my colleagues to stand with me to ensure that the IRS no longer oversteps its authority and supports the God-given constitutional rights of every American. No American should fear persecution from the government for expressing his or her strongly held beliefs and conviction.
Please join me in supporting H.R. 4903.
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