[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3394-S3395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ABUSES OF POWER

  Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, I rise to speak out against the 
alarming reports that have recently surfaced by the IRS and the 
Department of Justice.
  As the Federal agency tasked with administering the U.S. Tax Code, 
the IRS has an extraordinary influence on the lives of all Americans, 
from all walks of life and all points of view. As citizens we have the 
absolute right to expect the IRS to be free from political influence, 
with taxpayers treated fairly and enforcement carried out in an 
unbiased manner. Unfortunately, in recent days we have learned our 
expectations are far adrift from reality.
  Last week the Internal Revenue Service acknowledged a history of 
targeting conservative politically active groups during their process 
of seeking tax-exempt status. This practice first involved flagging 
groups concerned about government spending and debt. Ironically, such 
targeting comes at a time when poll after poll indicates the Federal 
Government's out-of-control spending and our $17 trillion debt are top 
concerns for all Americans. I can tell my colleagues from my experience 
it is the top concern for Nebraskans.
  Despite these legitimate concerns and the patriotic desire of 
Americans to effect change in government, the IRS worked to impede 
these organizations with one of the bluntest instruments of government: 
regulatory abuse. The IRS demanded inordinate amounts of documents from 
these groups, including donor lists, which served to unfairly delay the 
tax-exempt certification of these well-intentioned groups.
  This news is alarming on multiple fronts. First and foremost, it is 
unacceptable that the IRS would blatantly target any of our fellow 
citizens, let alone groups of Americans whose views are at odds with 
their own. As the Washington Post noted in today's lead editorial: 
``Any unequal application of the law based on ideological viewpoint is 
unpardonable--toxic to the legitimacy of the government's vast law 
enforcement authority.'' I couldn't agree more.
  These activist groups were simply trying to exercise their First 
Amendment rights of peaceable assembly and free speech--the cornerstone 
of our democracy. Yet their reward for expressing concern about the 
direction our country is going was to be singled out in an attempt to 
prevent them from fully engaging in the democratic process.
  It has been reported that the targeting of these Americans--and 
muffling of their voices on the pressing issues facing our country--
began in 2010. What has happened since then? The passage of very 
consequential pieces of legislation, including ObamaCare and the Dodd-
Frank Financial Reform Act, multiple debates on how to address our 
Nation's dire fiscal situation, two national elections, including last 
fall's Presidential election.
  As alarming as the actions of the IRS are, I am even more troubled by 
the IRS trying to hide these actions. When an IRS official last week 
finally acknowledged and apologized for the targeting of conservative 
groups, it was more than 3 years after the practice is said to have 
begun. It was more than 1 year after the current Acting IRS 
Commissioner, Steven Miller, is reported to

[[Page S3395]]

have become aware of the targeting, but it doesn't stop with Mr. 
Miller.
  As the Washington Post noted: ``Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS's 
tax-exempt organization office, knew about the targeting in 2011; she 
seemed to say Friday that she learned about it from news reports last 
year.''
  These were not the malicious actions of a rogue agent or simply 
another example of government incompetence; instead, this was a clear, 
methodical abuse of government power to discriminate against whole 
groups of Americans simply because of their political beliefs.
  Despite their awareness of abuse, officials from the IRS failed time 
after time to disclose this targeting and little effort was made to end 
the practice. Even as recently as their admissions on Friday, the IRS 
continued to engage in coverups and half-truths. In fact, IRS officials 
seem to go out of their way to deny wrongdoing.
  In testimony last year before the House of Representatives, then-IRS 
Commissioner Douglas Shulman said there was ``absolutely no 
targeting.''
  After years of neglecting to inform Congress of this practice, the 
long overdue admission was the result of diligent lawmakers exercising 
oversight along with a soon-to-be released report from the Treasury 
Inspector General for Tax Administration.
  The time for muted outrage and limp apologies has passed. The 
American people deserve nothing less than absolute assurance that this 
practice will not happen again. Those who are responsible must be held 
accountable and removed from their positions. The policies that enabled 
this gross abuse of power must be changed immediately.
  It is also worth noting the IRS is one of the lead Federal agencies 
in charge of implementing ObamaCare. It does not appear the IRS is in 
any condition to implement this highly controversial law, particularly 
as public trust in this agency continues to plummet.
  Just yesterday we learned of another breach of public trust and 
another potential violation of our First Amendment freedom--the freedom 
of the press. Press reports indicate the Department of Justice secretly 
obtained extensive telephone records of reporters and editors for the 
Associated Press in what the head of the news organization called a 
``massive and unprecedented intrusion'' into how news organizations 
gather the news. According to the Associated Press's legal counsel, the 
records obtained included those from reporters working out of the House 
of Representatives press gallery.
  While it is unclear at this point how many reporters were targeted 
and why, the effect of this data gathering is clear: intimidation of 
the press and suppression of free speech.
  This is unacceptable. A free and unfettered press is vital to any 
democracy. Moreover, the scope of this information gathering is simply 
beyond the pale--and likely beyond precedent.
  The Attorney General and the President owe the American people 
answers, and they owe them now. These recent abuses of power by both 
the IRS and the Department of Justice are just the latest episodes of 
this executive branch's disturbing pattern of overstepping its lawful 
powers.
  We have seen this in the President's unconstitutional recess 
appointments. We have seen this in the EPA's disclosure of classified 
information of cattlemen to activist environmental groups. We have seen 
this in a lack of forthrightness with our government's response to the 
attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
  The result of this methodical government overreach has a powerful 
chilling effect on citizens. There is no place for that in a democracy. 
There is no place for that in the United States. The American people 
deserve a government that jealously guards the liberties of its 
citizens, not a government that tramples on our basic constitutional 
rights.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schatz). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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