Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding Republican legislation that would prevent the Obama Administration’s use of the IRS to suppress American free speech:
“The two parties have engaged in a lot of big debates over the past several years.
“And no one should be surprised by that.
“The President came into office vowing to fundamentally transform the country.
“And a lot of us have had big problems with the policies he’s tried to implement in pursuit of that goal.
“But there are some things we should all agree on.
“And one of them is this: no President of either party should use the power of the federal government to punish his ideological opponents.
“That’s why, when the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS came to light after the last presidential election, just about everybody denounced the Nixonian tactics up and down. And loudly declared that it should never be allowed to happen again.
“They knew that this kind of targeting represented a direct attack on our most fundamental of freedoms, on our abilities to organize, and educate, and engage in the democratic process. And while the abuse may have been aimed at conservatives this time, it’s easy to see how it could one day be used against organizations of any ideological hue.
“So America’s culture of civic engagement simply has to be defended — by all of us.
“And yet, with the passage of time, that’s not what we’ve seen.
“Instead of putting safeguards in place to protect our civil liberties, the Obama Administration is now dragging the IRS back in the opposite direction. It’s now pushing a regulation that would actually entrench and encourage the harassment of groups that dare to speak up and engage in the conversation.
“It’s trying to intimidate into silence those who send donations to civic groups too.
“Predictably, the Obama Administration has tried to spin these regulations as some sort of ‘good government’ measure – as reforms initiated in response to the IRS scandal.
“But, of course, we know that that’s simply not true.
“In recent days, we learned that these regulations – regulations designed to suppress free speech – have been in the works for years.
“So let’s be clear: all of this is simply unacceptable.
“And after denouncing the abuse last year, I believe it is short-sighted of our friends on the other side not to oppose these rules more forcefully today.
“The path this Administration is embarking on is a dangerous one with the slipperiest of slopes – left-leaning civic groups should be just as alarmed about what these regulations could mean for them in the future as what the rules almost certainly will mean for conservative groups today. That’s why some, like the ACLU, have begun to speak out.
“Last week, I joined several of my colleagues in sending a letter to the new Commissioner of the IRS that laid out these concerns. We reminded Commissioner Koskinen that he was confirmed with a mandate to reform the IRS and return the agency to its actual mission – processing tax returns, not suppressing speech.
“We expect him to fulfill that mandate – to prove his reformist credentials – by halting the regulations immediately, and to enact new rules that would stop similar harassment from occurring in the future.
“This is something the Commissioner can, and must, do now. He needs to realize that this isn’t some issue to move past, but a serious threat to be confronted.
“Commissioner Koskinen could go down in history as a hero, just like the IRS Commissioner who stood up to Nixon and said no to harassment of political opponents.
“I want to believe that this is the choice he will make – that he wants to be remembered as a strong and independent public servant, rather than some political pawn.
“But we can’t be sure what he’ll do. And the American people need a backup plan in case he decides his fealty lies with the opponents of free speech, rather than with them.
“So that’s why today I – along with Senators Flake, and Roberts, and Hatch, and others – have introduced legislation that would prevent the IRS from enacting regulations that would permit the suppression of First Amendment rights.
“It aims to return the agency to its mission and get it out of the speech-police business altogether – a goal that should be a bipartisan one.
“This is something worth fighting for. It’s something I hope Commissioner Koskinen will work with us to achieve.
“But if he doesn’t, he should know that we are prepared go to the mat to defend the First Amendment rights of our constituents and neighbors – and that we will continue to do so until those rights are safe once again.