Phil Roe, Holding the IRS Accountable

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Holding the IRS Accountable  Last May, a senior Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official, Lois Lerner, acknowledged that the IRS had engaged in inappropriate targeting of the tax-exempt applications from conservative-leaning organizations. Her acknowledgement was an attempt to explain the results of an audit requested by House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the OGR Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, and was the first time the public became aware of this scandalous behavior. After the IRS scandal became public, I joined a number of my colleagues in writing to Attorney General Eric Holder calling on him to name a special counsel, instead of officials in his own department, to investigate the IRS. Likewise, I joined a number of my colleagues in writing to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to ask how we ensure this behavior is never is allowed to occur again. Congressional investigations of the IRS—led by the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform—are still ongoing. But because of House Republicans' efforts, we now know that 100 percent of applications dated between May 2010 and May 2012 from Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status were put under IRS review, compared to only 30 percent of progressive groups. Additionally, the IRS has admitted to inappropriate targeting of conservative groups to see if they were violating their tax exempt status. The fact that any government agency would specifically target a certain group because of their political beliefs is disturbing, unacceptable and unfair. While the House of Representatives continued its investigation into these wrongdoings, the IRS moved forward with a complete overhaul of the 501(c)(4) classification in the tax code, which governs certain non-profits. These groups are currently permitted, under tight restrictions, to participate in the political process—just as they have been doing for decades. While there is no partisan affiliation to the portion of the tax code groups organize under, the fact is many of the groups targeted unfairly by the IRS are organized under this section of the tax code. The new rules proposed by the IRS would redefine events such as candidate forums, get out the vote efforts and voter registration drives as political activity. In contrast, these same activities would not be considered political for 501(c)(3) groups or unions. In essence, there is serious concern the IRS and the Administration is trying to accomplish through regulation the kind of targeting that President Obama himself called outrageous. In response to these proposed rules, tens of thousands of Americans formally weighed in with formal comments—the majority of which expressed opposition to this change. Conservative and liberal groups alike are concerned with how these rules will impact their ability to operate. Like many folks around the country, I am concerned these rules will set a dangerous precedent of restricting free speech. This week the House took steps to address this unfair attempt to silence the American people by passing H.R. 3865, the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014. I am proud to support H.R. 3865, introduced by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), which will prohibit the IRS from finalizing these rules for one year, until all the comments submitted during the public comment period have been reviewed and Congress has time to finish their investigation into the IRS targeting scandal. Please rest assured I will continue to monitor the progress of these investigations and fight to ensure that the no government agency can bully any group, regardless of their political party preference. Feel free to contact my office if we can be of assistance to you or your family. Our contact information can be found on our website, www.roe.house.gov. CONNECT WITH US E-News Sign-up Forward to a Friend Contact Phil Washington, DC Office 407 Cannon House Office Bldg Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-6356 Fax: (202) 225-5714 Kingsport Office PO Box 1728 Kingsport, TN 37662 Phone: (423) 247-8161 Fax: (423) 247-0119 Morristown Office 1609 College Park Drive, Suite 4 Morristown, TN 37813 Phone: (423) 254-1400 Fax: (423) 254-1403

John Hames