Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in strong support of H.R. 4903, and I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen) for introducing the bill. We live in a Nation that is founded on the idea of free speech. The government does not control our media. It does not control who we decide to associate with. We don't live in a place where we should have to think twice before supporting a group that aligns with their views or making their political beliefs known to others. The heavy hand of the Federal Government should not control how an American shares their views. Yet, that is just what happened to nearly 300 groups that applied for tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012. These organizations were small gatherings of like-minded people who wanted to discuss their views and educate the public about those views. They filled out the necessary IRS paperwork to become tax exempt, as it is required by the law. But months and even years after they applied, after answering intrusive questions, after providing mountains of documents, after having their activities monitored by IRS agents, after all of this, many of them still sat in IRS limbo. During the investigation, the Ways and Means Committee staff reviewed upwards of 1 million documents and interviewed dozens of IRS and Treasury officials. This exhaustive, years-long investigation yielded the information that we now know, that 298 applications for tax-exempt status were put on hold.…”