Trey Hollingsworth: “Like my colleagues today, I rise in opposition to the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 5586…”

“Like my colleagues today, I rise in opposition to the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 5586, Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act. Mr. Speaker, Hoosiers are outraged. My friends across the aisle would have you believe that it is just the Hoosier financial institutions that are outraged at having to hand over the personal account information of their customers. It is, in fact, those account owners that are outraged at the notion that my friends across the aisle would build an apparatus to surveil and snoop in their personal bank accounts. Now, their horror only grows as I answer questions for them. First, they ask, surely this must apply only to the super rich and not to me. But I reply, no, it applies to you if you spend just over $200 a week. Then they will ask, surely this must only apply to those that are suspected of a crime. And I say, no, it is collection on every account, irrespective of whether there is a suspected crime or tax evasion afoot. Then, of course, they will ask me, surely the IRS has a very good track record of keeping this data safe. And I have to reply, no, the track record, in fact, indicates the opposite. The IRS has a terrible track record of keeping this data safe against the intrusion of actors from around the world and right here at home. And then they say, well, surely the IRS has a good track record of not mobilizing this data for political purposes.…”