Joe Crowley: “It is simply absurd to me that my Republican colleagues can't understand that we're simply asking for accountability…”

“It is simply absurd to me that my Republican colleagues can't understand that we're simply asking for accountability, that we're not looking to eliminate them, that if they are using it for legitimate health purposes, that's fine. Now, I did note that the HSA, the Health Savings Account Council, says that the IRS has the authority to audit these accounts. Are they suggesting that the IRS audit every health savings account to make sure that health savings accounts are being used for health reasons? I daresay that the IRS is looking at probably more often than not the charitable contributions that hardworking Americans make and making sure that those are legitimate charities before they're able to deduct them from their taxes. So what we are looking for is a little balance here in terms of what really are legitimate tax savings purposes in health savings accounts. That's really simply what the Democrats are looking for.”