Recommending That the House Find Lois G. Lerner in Contempt of Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, if this is a precedent, it is a bad precedent. It is a dangerous precedent. It is a precedent that we ought not to make. ``Read the
Constitution,'' I heard over and over and over again. I have read probably the opinions of 25 lawyers whom I respect from many great institutions in this country, none of whom, as I am sure the ranking member has pointed out, none of whom believe that the precedent supports this action.

Mr. Speaker, what a waste of the people's time for Congress to spend this week on politics and not policy. We are about to vote on a resolution that is really a partisan, political message. Everyone here agrees--everyone--that the IRS should never target anyone based on anything other than what they owe in taxes, not their political beliefs or any other traits other than their liability and their opportunities to pay their fair share to the United States of America.

In fact, during an exhaustive investigation into the IRS, Chairman Issa's committee interviewed 39 witnesses, analyzed more than 530,000 pages, and could not find the conspiracy they were looking for--that they always look for, that they always allege. Fourteen million dollars of taxpayer money has already been spent on this investigation, and all that was found was that which we already knew: that the division led by Ms. Lerner suffered from fundamental administrative and managerial shortcomings that bore no connection to politics or to partisanship.

Independent legal experts have concluded that Chairman Issa's efforts to hold Ms. Lerner in contempt of Congress is constitutionally deficient. But this resolution before us today is, of course, not meant to generate policy. It is meant to generate headlines. Republicans, once again, are showing that they are more interested in partisan, election-year gimmicks than working in a bipartisan way to tackle our country's most pressing challenges. We ought to turn to the important matters of creating jobs, raising the minimum wage, and restoring emergency unemployment for those who are struggling to find work--issues the American people overwhelmingly support and want their Congress to address.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to give this partisan resolution the vote it deserves and defeat it so that we can turn to the people's business.

In closing, let me say this, Mr. Speaker. There are 435 of us in this body.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues, do not think about party on this vote. Think about precedent. Think about this institution. Think about the Constitution of the United States of America. And if you haven't read, read some of the legal opinions that say you have to establish a predicate before you can tell an American that they will be held criminally liable if they don't respond to your questions.

That is what this issue is about. It is not about party, it is not about any of us, but about the constitutional protections that every American deserves and ought to be given.

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