Boehner Column: Americans Deserve Answers & Accountability
Statement
Today, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) released the following column:
"Americans need common-sense solutions to help create jobs, and they need accountability from their government. In the House of Representatives, we're working to deliver both.
"With millions of Americans still struggling to find work, our top priority is jobs, and putting in place policies that create sustained economic growth and job creation. We cannot allow sluggish growth to become the new normal.
"That's why, on May 16th, the House voted for the third time in three years to fully repeal and defund the president's health care law. Not only is the law raising costs, it's reducing access to quality care and making it harder for small businesses to hire.
"Some critics suggest this is a waste of time. But the president has signed into law seven different bills that repealed or defunded parts of the health care law. Full repeal is needed so we can clear the way for patient-centered reforms that lower costs and protect jobs.
"As we press ahead with a jobs agenda that also includes pro-growth tax reform and an "all of the above' energy strategy, recent events underscore the importance of the House's other major responsibility: oversight.
"Our committees are working to get to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi, and -- thanks to the leadership of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and others -- they insisted on the scrutiny that helped bring the IRS abuses to light.
"The details are chilling. Media reports and testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee shows the IRS targeted conservative groups with demands for everything from the content of their prayers, to printouts of Facebook posts and lists of books they had read. The agency even used its immense powers to single out individuals, including the former leader of the Cincinnati Tea Party.
"The IRS has blamed these outrageous actions on a few rogue agents, but reports now indicate officials in Washington kept quiet for months. Clearly, many more questions remain to be answered -- especially as the IRS takes on expanded powers as the chief enforcers of ObamaCare.
"These events remind us that public service requires humility. Everyone in public office needs to constantly remember that they serve the American people -- not the other way around.
"Americans should never be targeted and harassed by the government for their political or religious beliefs. If reporters' telephone calls are monitored, the government better have a clear, convincing explanation. And when Americans are killed while serving abroad, the government should tell the truth -- not shade it or stonewall for partisan purposes.
"Our system of democracy requires bonds of trust between the American people and their government. Nothing dissolves the bonds between the people and their government like the arrogance of power in Washington. Sadly, that's what Americans are seeing today from the Obama administration: remarkable arrogance.
"This House will stop at nothing to get the American people the answers and the accountability they deserve. But the best way to begin to repair this damage is for this administration to tell the truth -- the whole truth -- listen to the American people, and do their will."
Boehner represents Ohio's 8th District, which includes all of Butler, Clark, Darke, Miami, and Preble counties, and the southernmost part of Mercer County. He was first elected to Congress in 1990.
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