Orrin Hatch: “I understand Senator Schumer wants to speak in a little while, so I will try to hurry my remarks as quickly as I can. I…”

“I understand Senator Schumer wants to speak in a little while, so I will try to hurry my remarks as quickly as I can. I rise today to speak once again on the proposed IRS regulations targeting grassroots 501(c)(4) organizations. I have already come to the floor to discuss this issue, and I expect I will be here several more times in the coming months as these proposed rules continue to move through the regulatory pipeline at the IRS. The public comment period for these proposed regulations ends today. As of this morning, the IRS had received over 100,000 comments on this proposal, the vast majority of them negative. This is an all-time record. In fact, the number is more than five times greater than the previous record for comments on a proposed IRS regulation. By contrast, the Keystone XL Pipeline--another item of enormous public interest-- received just over 7,000 comments. With all this public attention, the obvious question is, Why? Why has this proposal generated so much criticism from the American people? I think the answer is quite simple: The American people see this proposal for what it is--an attempt to silence this administration's critics and keep them on the sidelines of the democratic process. I would like to take a few minutes to describe in detail just what this regulation does.…”