Senior Executive Service Accountability Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his leadership on this issue and managing this bill, and I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his leadership and introduction of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, the bills on the floor this evening represent our ongoing effort to get to the bottom of the IRS' targeting effort of innocent American citizens on the basis of their political beliefs and to ensure that such malfeasance never happens again.

As I have stated repeatedly over the past year, it is imperative that we find out who ordered the targeting, when the targeting was ordered, and why.

I commend my colleagues on the Oversight and Government Reform and Ways and Means Committees for their tireless pursuit of justice for the American people.

The Judiciary Committee has been an active partner in this effort. On May 15, 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder promised me and Judiciary Committee members that he would conduct a fair, impartial investigation of the IRS targeting matter.

The Attorney General made his famous pledge that:

This will not be about parties ..... this will not be about ideological persuasions ..... and anyone who has broken the law will be held accountable.

Unfortunately, that appears to be where the administration's commitment to pursuing this investigation ended. On May 7, 2014, following a year of no apparent progress in the investigation, the House passed H. Res. 565, calling on the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS targeting of conservative groups.

That resolution, which laid out in detail the case for a special counsel, passed by a bipartisan vote of 250-168. Significantly, 26 Democrats joined in calling on the Attorney General of the United States to appoint an independent special counsel.

Since H. Res. 565 passed the House, other events have bolstered the already solid case for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate this matter. Incredibly, on June 13, the IRS announced that it had ``lost'' an untold number of emails belonging to Lois Lerner which were sought by congressional investigators. The ``lost'' emails covered the period between January 1, 2009, and April 2011, a period when the IRS' targeting of conservative groups was occurring regularly. How convenient.

Not 2 weeks ago, the IRS announced that it had also lost emails from five other employees involved in congressional investigations, including two agents in the supposedly ``rogue'' Cincinnati office. Again, how convenient.

On July 30, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the need for a special counsel to probe the IRS matter.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. MEADOWS. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. GOODLATTE. At that hearing, we heard testimony that the Justice Department had demonstrated it ``can no longer fairly and justly oversee'' any further investigations into the ongoing IRS targeting scandal and the ``only opportunity for justice'' lies with an independent special counsel.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration has repeatedly demonstrated its unwillingness to work with congressional investigators to ensure we all know the full story behind the IRS' targeting of conservative groups. Their attempt to pull the wool over the American peoples' eyes speaks volumes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of our ongoing efforts to uncover the truth and ensure accountability for the IRS' targeting of conservative groups. I commend my colleagues for bringing these important bills to the floor, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for them.

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