News and Press Releases

Sargent Calls for House Hearings on IRS Activities

This week twelve U.S. Senators, including Texas Senator John Cornyn, sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Schulman demanding that he answer their concerns that the agency may be targeting conservative groups. In their letter they questioned recent selective enforcement on tax-exempt organizations and asked for a detailed analysis of the agency's policy for the approval and renewal of the tax-exempt designation under section 501(c)(4).

Today, in response to this move by the Senators, Bill Sargent, Candidate for Congressional District 14, contacted Dave Camp (R-Mi), Chairman of House Ways and Means and Chairman Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-LA), Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee of Ways and Means and urged them to hold hearings on whether the IRS has been overreaching in its review process and the extent to which there may have been targeting of various conservative organizations such as the Liberty groups and the TEA Party. Sargent strongly believes that the TEA Party brings an important perspective to the table and would oppose any effort by the IRS to treat them in a way that is different from any other 501(c)4 organization.

The House Ways and Means Committee and, in particular, their Oversight Subcommittee, has direct oversight over the operations of the Internal Revenue Services. "That is why I contacted them and asked them to take a serious look at whether the IRS is targeting conservative groups like the TEA Party," Sargent said. "It can be very threatening when you get a 30-page questionnaire from the IRS and your tax-exempt status hangs in the balance. We need to ensure that there is no political motivation behind it," Sargent contended.

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