Meehan On IRS: Americans Demand Answers And Accountability

Press Release

Congressman Patrick Meehan (PA-07), member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today announced his co-sponsorship of The Taxpayer Nondiscrimination and Protection Act. The Taxpayer Nondiscrimination and Protection Act act expressly prohibits IRS employees from discriminating against a group or organization based on its political speech and expression.

Today's action comes in the wake of disclosures by the Internal Revenue Service and the agency's independent Inspector General that the agency inappropriately targeted taxpayer groups based on their political beliefs. The IRS admitted conservative groups were inappropriately subjected to intense examination, including IRS requests for donor lists and other sensitive information.

"The tax man targeting Americans based on their political beliefs is an outrage," said Rep. Meehan. "It is so foreign to our principles of limited government and equal justice under law that it is hard to believe. This requires presidential leadership to ensure all is disclosed, those responsible are held accountable, and the necessary steps are taken to ensure this never happens again."

The Wall Street Journal today revealed that the IRS scrutiny of groups was much broader than originally revealed this weekend:

"The Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of conservative groups went beyond those with "tea party" or "patriot" in their names--as the agency admitted Friday--to also include ones worried about government spending, debt or taxes, and even ones that lobbied to "make America a better place to live," according to new details of a government probe. The investigation into the IRS's targeting of conservative groups has revealed that high-ranking IRS officials knew as early as 2011 of the practice."

Later this week, Rep. Meehan will join his colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew requesting additional information about the IRS' actions. The letter will ask Lew if the IRS has properly notified the affected conservative groups, what it did with donor lists improperly obtained, and what steps former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman had taken to investigate claims of abuse when he testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in March 2012 that there was "absolutely no targeting" of conservative groups by the IRS.

Meehan, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, applauded Committee Chairman Darrel Issa for announcing on Sunday that the committee will hold hearings on the IRS' abuse.

"This Administration owes the American people answers and accountability," said Rep. Meehan.

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