A note from Senator Roberts

Would you like to read Lois Lerner’s emails and determine for yourself what was going on at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? Thanks to a bipartisan Senate Committee on Finance investigation, you can. As a member of this Committee, I have helped to oversee this investigation on the targeting of conservative groups for two years. After reading the final report, I think you will conclude, like I have, that the Obama Administration used the Internal Revenue Service to intimidate Americans who disagreed with the administration’s policies.

It is clear that one of the most powerful agencies of the federal government was complicit in an effort to deny a free and open society as guaranteed by the First Amendment. We have learned that this targeting was systemic. We also have proof the IRS then misled Congress about their activities. The IRS also deliberately withheld information relevant to this targeting. They lied.

To watch video of Senator Roberts’ remarks, click the image below.

Kansans are fed up and many have lost trust in the IRS and our government. This report underscores why.

There’s a clear abuse of power by the IRS and those within the Obama Administration, which is responsible. To date, there have been no consequences, no accountability – but this report is just the beginning. We will introduce further legislation to make sure we live in an open and free society where First Amendment rights are protected.

Legislation that I have championed to prevent the IRS from this unlawful targeting and the trampling of free speech also must be passed. This is America, not Soviet Russia.

I encourage you to read the report and learn about what I am doing to stop this abuse of the First Amendment using the links below:

Senate Finance Committee Investigation
Finance Committee investigators examined the treatment of organizations applying for tax-exempt status. They interviewed more than 32 current and former IRS and Treasury employees and reviewed nearly 1.5 million pages of documents.

The key Republican findings of the investigation include:

• There was systemic targeting of conservative groups;
• Anti-conservative bias influenced decisions;
• IRS clearly misled congress about the handling of these cases;
• IRS stymied the investigation by not preserving relevant records.

Senator Roberts’ Legislation to Protect the First Amendment and Stop Targeting and Other Efforts

Earlier this year, Roberts took aim at the scandal-ridden IRS by introducing a bicameral bill with Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and Congressman Peter Roskam (R-Ill.). The Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act would stop cold further attempts by IRS to exploit bureaucratic loopholes to restrict the free speech rights of the same types of tax-exempt social welfare organizations victimized in the IRS political targeting scandal.

Senator Roberts also introduced the “Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act” to require federal employees to be current on their federal income taxes, and would prevent federal personnel who are delinquent in paying a federal tax liability from receiving a bonus or cash award. Exceptions are made for tax debt being paid pursuant to an agreement with the IRS and for certain hardships. According to the Inspector General, close to $3 million was awarded to IRS staff with violations on their records, with about half of that amount going to people with tax violations on their record.