Protecting Our Free Speech

This Administration’s politicization of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is unprecedented. Respect for the rule of law is the foundation of our Republic, and the Administration’s complete disregard for it is frightening. This week, I joined my House conservative colleagues in holding Lois Lerner—the IRS Administrator who oversaw these abuses—in contempt of Congress for her repeated refusal to cooperate with our investigations into these egregious offenses. This is the strongest message that we can send—in fact, it allows a judge to determine if she had a legal right to refuse to answer questions about her role in the controversy.

In order to ensure that this kind of intentional targeting does not occur in the future, Senator Cruz and I introduced a bill that would make it a crime for an IRS employee to single out a person or an organization for additional scrutiny based on their political beliefs. When this bill becomes law, IRS officials who abuse their power will go to prison.

Additionally, I voted for and the House passed a resolution forming a select committee to investigate the Benghazi terrorist attacks. A select committee will help compile existing information, coordinate ongoing investigations, and get the American people the answers that they deserve. I look forward to working with this committee to get to the bottom of what happened so that we can prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.

Whether it’s the Benghazi cover-up or in the IRS, no one is above the law and there is no excuse for this type of overreach by any individual or agency. It will be a long and uphill battle to reign in the IRS and protect your right to free speech, but please know that I will do everything in my power to make sure that these abuses of power are investigated and that that this type of intentional targeting does not occur in the future.