[House Report 113-525]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress  }                                           {    Report
  2d Session    }        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES           {   113-525

=======================================================================
 
  DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY TO TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE OF 
     REPRESENTATIVES COPIES OF ANY EMAILS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE 
  DEPARTMENT THAT WERE TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM THE EMAIL ACCOUNT(S) OF 
FORMER INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS DIVISION DIRECTOR 
            LOIS LERNER BETWEEN JANUARY 2009 AND APRIL 2011

                                _______
                                

   July 17, 2014.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Camp, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                       [To accompany H. Res. 647]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 647) directing the Secretary of the 
Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives copies of 
any emails in the possession of the Department that were 
transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal 
Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois 
Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011, having considered 
the same, report unfavorably thereon without amendment and 
recommend that the resolution not be agreed to.

                       I. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND


                         A. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    H. Res. 647 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to 
transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any emails 
in the possession of the Treasury Department that were 
transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) Exempt Organizations Division Director 
Lois Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011.

                 B. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H. Res. 647 was introduced by Rep. Steve Stockman on June 
25, 2014. H. Res. 647 is a resolution of inquiry, which is a 
method by which the House can obtain factual information from 
the Executive Branch. Under clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, a Committee of referral must 
act on such a resolution of inquiry within 14 legislative days 
of its introduction, or a privileged motion to discharge the 
Committee will be in order.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\See Rules of the House of Representatives, Rule XIII, clause 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On May 10, 2013, former IRS Exempt Organizations Division 
Director Lois Lerner admitted the IRS had targeted conservative 
groups applying for tax-exempt status. On May 14, 2013, the 
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released an 
audit report detailing the targeting. Also on May 14, 2013, the 
Committee wrote a bipartisan letter to the IRS requesting 
documents related to the targeting.
    The Committee's subsequent investigation yielded evidence 
of wrongdoing that led the Committee on April 9, 2014 to refer 
Ms. Lerner to the Department of Justice for possible criminal 
acts. Because of the likelihood of additional evidence of 
wrongdoing, the Committee demanded that the IRS produce all of 
Ms. Lerner's emails during the period of the targeting. In May 
2014, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen promised the Committee the 
IRS would produce all Lois Lerner emails.
    However, on June 13, 2014, the IRS sent the Chairman and 
Ranking Member of the Committee a courtesy copy of a letter to 
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member 
Orrin Hatch, the attachments of which disclosed that many of 
Ms. Lerner's emails had been lost due to a ``hard drive 
crash.'' The two-page letter itself made no mention of the data 
loss, but within the 25 pages of attachments, the IRS admitted 
that for the period January 2009 through April 2011, ``[a]ny of 
Ms. Lerner's email that was only stored on that computer's hard 
drive would have been lost when the hard drive crashed and 
could not be recovered.''\2\ According to the June 2014 letter 
and a briefing subsequently received by staff, emails between 
Ms. Lerner and persons outside of the IRS for this period were 
also lost to the IRS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Letter from Leonard Oursler, Director of Legislative Affairs, 
IRS to Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Hatch of June 13, 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In light of the fact the IRS was unable to produce the full 
scope of Ms. Lerner's emails, the Committee on June 16, 2014, 
sent document requests to both President Obama and Treasury 
Secretary Lew seeking all communications between Lois Lerner 
and any persons within the Executive Office of the President 
and the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), respectively, 
for the period between January 1, 2009 and May 1, 2011.
    On June 18, 2014, the White House responded to the 
Committee's request with responsive documents and claimed that 
the White House learned of problems with Ms. Lerner's emails 
from Treasury in April, months before the IRS informed 
Congress.\3\ Likewise, on June 20, 2014, the Treasury 
Department responded to the Committee's request with responsive 
documents and a cover letter that said the IRS had informed 
Treasury of problems locating Ms. Emails prior to 2011.\4\ 
Treasury produced a second batch of documents on June 23, 
2014.\5\ As the Committee has already obtained the documents 
sought by the resolution, H. Res. 647 is not necessary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Letter from W. Neil Eggleston, White House Counsel to Chairman 
Camp of June 18, 2014.
    \4\Letter from Alastair M. Fitzpayne, Assistant Secretary for 
Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury to Chairman Camp of 
June 20, 2014.
    \5\Letter from Alastair M. Fitzpayne, Assistant Secretary for 
Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury to Chairman Camp of 
June 23, 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Committee will continue to conduct thorough oversight 
over the IRS's treatment of tax-exempt groups.

                         C. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Background

    On June 25, 2014, Rep. Steve Stockman introduced H. Res. 
647. The resolution was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means.

Committee action

    On July 10, 2014, the Committee met in open session and, by 
voice vote, ordered H. Res. 647 unfavorably reported to the 
House of Representatives.

Committee hearings

    The Committee held no hearings on H. Res. 647.

                      II. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

    H. Res. 647 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to 
transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any emails 
in the possession of the Treasury Department that were 
transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal 
Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois 
Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011.

                      III. VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the following statements are made 
concerning the votes of the Committee on Ways and Means in its 
consideration of the bill, H. Res. 647.
    The resolution, H. Res. 647 was ordered unfavorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by voice vote (with a 
quorum being present).

                     IV. BUDGET EFFECTS OF THE BILL


               A. COMMITTEE ESTIMATE OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS

    Clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable.

B. STATEMENT REGARDING NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES BUDGET 
                               AUTHORITY

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable.

      C. COST ESTIMATE PREPARED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

    Clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because the Congressional 
Budget Office did not provide a cost estimate for the 
resolution.

   V. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED UNDER THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF 
                            REPRESENTATIVES


          A. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

        B. STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    Clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable, as the resolution does not 
authorize funding.

                   C. DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    In compliance with clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, no provision of the resolution 
establishes or reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government 
known to be duplicative of another Federal program, a program 
that was included in any report from the Government 
Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of 
Public Law 111-139, or a program related to a program 
identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance.

                 D. DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULE MAKINGS

    In accordance with clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, H. Res. 647 does not direct any 
rule making within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 551.

              E. INFORMATION RELATING TO UNFUNDED MANDATES

    In accordance with section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Act 
of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-4), the resolution does not impose a 
Federal mandate.

                F. APPLICABILITY OF HOUSE RULE XXI(5)(B)

    Clause 5(b) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives provides, in part, that ``A bill or joint 
resolution, amendment, or conference report carrying a Federal 
income tax rate increase may not be considered as passed or 
agreed to unless so determined by a vote of not less than 
three-fifths of the Members voting, a quorum being present.'' 
The Committee has carefully reviewed the resolution and states 
that the resolution does not involve any Federal income tax 
rate increases within the meaning of the rule.

  G. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS AND LIMITED TARIFF 
                                BENEFITS

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the resolution does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits within the meaning of the rule.

              H. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, H. Res. 647 would not make any 
changes to existing law.

                                  
