WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House successfully passed legislation he cosponsored, H.R. 5053, the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, which prohibits the IRS from requiring tax-exempt organizations to provide personal identifiable information about its donors:
Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House successfully passed legislation he cosponsored, H.R. 5053, the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, which prohibits the IRS from requiring tax-exempt organizations to provide personal identifiable information about its donors:
“Under the Obama Administration, the IRS has consistently proven that it cannot be trusted to serve the best interests of the American people. Unelected bureaucrats like Lois Learner and John Koskinen have weaponized this agency and used it as a tool to blatantly target innocent Americans simply for having different political beliefs. It is beyond outrageous that no one has been brought to justice for this political targeting. Koskinen is within reach and I will not yield in my efforts to hold this lawless agency accountable. I’m proud to see the House pass commonsense legislation that protects privacy and free speech from bureaucratic abuse. I will continue to target the IRS and disarm their ability to harm innocent Americans by utilizing the power of the purse.”
Background
In the 113th Congress, the House unanimously adopted a Gosar amendment that cut funds for the IRS by $353 million as part of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of fiscal year 2015. Learn more HERE.
In the 114th Congress, Rep. Gosar submitted a language request to the House Appropriations Committee aimed at prohibiting senior executives within the IRS from receiving bonuses. This language is identical to language that passed the House with strong bipartisan support in fiscal year 2015 in the form of H.AMDT.1079 to H.R. 5016. At that time, 57 Democrats joined every single Republican in seeking to prevent senior bureaucrats within the IRS from collecting lavish bonuses. Learn more HERE.
(Courtesy of the House GOP Conference) H.R. 5053 removes the unnecessary Form 990 Schedule B for donors that are not officers, or one of the five highest paid employees of a 501(c) organization. IRS employees have “accidentally” leaked the Schedule B form and the personally identifiable information of conservative donors. Notably in 2013 the National Organization for Marriage had its Schedule B form released by an unnamed IRS employee and published by Huffington Post.
