[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13940-13941]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             SECRETARY LEW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Garrett) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GARRETT. Mr. Speaker, prominently featured on the White House Web 
site, President Obama issued the following memorandum to all heads of 
executive departments and agencies:

       My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented 
     level of openness in government. We will work together to 
     ensure the public trust and establish a system of 
     transparency, public participation, and collaboration. 
     Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency 
     and effectiveness in government.

  Unfortunately, despite once serving as the White House Chief of 
Staff, Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew apparently never got that memo.
  On June 7, shortly after the news broke that the Internal Revenue 
Service engaged in the reprehensible practice of targeting 
conservative-leaning political groups, I sent a letter to Secretary Lew 
with a handful of questions relating to his time served as White House 
chief of staff. Specifically I asked:
  First, when was the first time Secretary Lew, as chief of staff, 
became aware of the IRS's targeting of tax-exempt groups, including 
rumors or media reports of targeting, independent of his knowledge of 
the IG's investigation?
  Second, given that IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman made numerous 
trips to the White House between October 2009 and December 2012, I 
asked Secretary Lew, again as chief of staff, if he attended any 
meetings with Shulman.
  Next I asked if anything was discussed relating to the IRS 
investigation concerning conservative-leaning organizations and their 
tax-exempt status.
  Finally, I asked if Secretary Lew, as chief of staff, was involved in 
any or had any knowledge of rumors of conservative groups that were 
being targeted or of media reports highlighting the IG investigation 
relating to the targeting or any IRS personnel involved in potentially 
inappropriate targeting of conservative groups.

                              {time}  1015

  Well, my letters went unanswered week after week after week. So I 
sent numerous emails and made phone calls to the Treasury Department, 
requesting a reply to my letter. Finally, finally a letter came. 
Unfortunately, rather than simply answering my questions and putting to 
bed any appearance of impropriety, Lew chose to not answer any of my 
direct questions.
  Now 3\1/2\ months have passed since I asked those very simple and 
direct questions. I still cannot get an answer from him. So I'm here 
today to encourage you to join me in the fight to get answers from 
Secretary Lew.
  You see, the President's memo was very clear--his government is to be 
the most transparent in the history of this great Nation. Well, then, 
we have to bring Secretary Lew up to speed on that memo.
  Jack Lew served as chief of staff to the President while some of the 
most egregious, reprehensible behavior ever displayed by the IRS took 
place. The American people have the right to know what he knows about 
the IRS scandal, when he knew it, and what involvement he had, as chief 
of staff, with personnel at the IRS.

[[Page 13941]]

  It is essential to the functioning of a representative government 
that the citizens--the voters who are represented--have confidence in 
the integrity of the system. If they don't, the government won't be 
trusted. Government must earn that trust. That means that the men and 
women who manage the day-to-day affairs, such as him, must be 
trustworthy people. And to maintain that confidence, the public--the 
men and the women must avoid even the appearance of impropriety. It is 
that principle that judges adhere to when they recuse themselves from 
cases where it may appear that they would have an interest in the 
outcome.
  The public must be assured that the outcomes generated by the men and 
women in Washington are not influenced by the conflicting interests. 
Otherwise, the system--whether it's corrupt or not--will have the taint 
of corruption; and that's just as bad.
  The President was right to emphasize transparency, and it is 
essential to the proper functioning of a representative government. 
It's up to the citizens and their representatives to demand that 
transparency and the propriety that it maintains.
  So again, I ask my colleagues and you, the American public, to join 
me in demanding the openness that President Obama promised. And to 
Secretary Lew, I am still waiting for those answers.

                          ____________________