[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6788]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              IRS TALKERS

  (Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is humbling for me 
every single day to walk onto this House floor knowing that I represent 
the former district held by Abraham Lincoln in central Illinois. In 
1863, during his Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln spoke of our 
democracy by saying that it is ``a government of the people, by the 
people, for the people.'' Yet what we have seen over the last 48 hours 
is nothing close to a government for the people.
  Does a government of the people target specific groups of 
individuals, especially groups that oppose the President's viewpoints? 
Does a government by the people obtain the phone records of reporters 
in what appears to be a violation of First Amendment rights? And does a 
government for the people refuse to accept responsibility and instead 
place blame wherever they can? The answer, of course, is no.
  Public trust in government is at an all-time low, and partisan 
actions by this administration will continue the deterioration of that 
trust. We have been called to Washington by our constituents to work 
together in a bipartisan fashion for the best interests of our country. 
So I ask that we put politics aside, Mr. Speaker, lead by example, and 
work together to keep the trust of the American public.

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