Barletta Applauds "Stop Government Abuse" Legislation Passage

Press Release

WASHINGTON-- Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today praised the House passage of a series of bills designed to control runaway government overreach and inefficiency, a package known as "Stop Government Abuse" legislation. The bills, two of which were cosponsored by Barletta, range from controlling spending on federally-funded conferences to authorizing the termination of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees who use their jobs for political purposes.

"Sadly, the confidence the American people have in their government has eroded over time, and a significant contributor to that is the reality that government often goes too far, meddles in their lives and wields too much power," Rep. Barletta said. "These bills are a step in the right direction, and stress what we should all hold dear: that the government works for the people, and not the other way around."

Rep. Barletta is the cosponsor of H.R. 2579, the Government Employee Accountability Act, which authorizes agencies to use unpaid leave for employees under investigation. He also cosponsored H.R. 2565, the Stop Targeting Our Politics (STOP) IRS Act, which adds political targeting of taxpayers to the list of reasons IRS employees can be dismissed.

"There is no more powerful federal agency -- and none more feared -- than the IRS," Rep. Barletta said. "It has been chilling to learn about all of the abuses that have taken place at the IRS, including specifically targeting certain groups applying for tax exempt status which had conservative "buzzwords' in their names. This bill sends a clear message that this kind of behavior is unacceptable."

The entire "Stop Government Abuse" package includes:

- H.R. 313, Government Spending Accountability Act -- limiting and requiring agency-head approval for federally funded conferences

- H.R. 1660, Government Customer Service Improvement Act -- requiring agencies to adopt customer service standards that impact personnel reviews

- H.R. 2565, Stop Targeting Our Politics IRS Act -- authorizing terminating IRS employees who use official action for political purposes

- H.R. 2769, Stop Playing on Citizen's Cash Act -- moratorium on IRS conferences until IRS IG recommendations are implemented

- H.R. 2768, The Taxpayer Bill of Rights -- enumerating the rights people have when dealing with the IRS

Stop Government Abuse Act(H.R. 2879) incorporated the following:

- H.R. 1541, Common Sense in Compensation Act -- limiting bonus compensation for senior managers in federal agencies

- H.R. 2579, Government Employee Accountability Act-- authorizing agencies to use unpaid leave for employees under investigation

- H.R. 2711, Citizen Empowerment Act -- affirmative notification of right to record interactions with federal agencies

"What we're doing here is helping people have greater confidence in government -- and less to fear," Barletta said.

The bills will now head to the Senate for its consideration.

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