[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              FREE SPEECH

  (Mrs. MILLER of Michigan asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the First Amendment of our 
Constitution is first because nothing is more important to secure 
liberty and freedom of speech and freedom of the press than our First 
Amendment.
  There are currently two scandals that put into question the 
President's commitment to this sacred freedom, with the Justice 
Department secretly obtaining phone records of reporters at the 
Associated Press and Fox News, and the IRS targeting certain groups 
because of their political beliefs.
  Yesterday, the Ways and Means Committee held a hearing with the 
victims of the IRS abuse, and we learned that IRS officials not only 
asked many inappropriate questions to members of these groups, like 
what books they read or what was in their prayers, but also tried to 
tell free Americans who they could not protest against, and even 
illegally released private tax records to groups with opposing 
viewpoints.
  Freedom of speech and freedom of the press should never be in 
question in this Nation, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we can all agree that 
units of the Federal Government should never use their powers to punish 
Americans simply because of their ideas. This House will get to the 
bottom of this issue by following the facts. These free people, our 
great patriots, deserve no less.

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