39–008 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 113–525 

DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY TO TRANSMIT TO THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COPIES OF ANY EMAILS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE DEPARTMENT THAT WERE TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM 

THE EMAIL ACCOUNT(S) OF FORMER INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS DIVISION DIRECTOR LOIS LERNER BETWEEN 

JANUARY 2009 AND APRIL 2011 

JULY 17, 2014.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. CAMP, from the Committee on Ways and Means, 

submitted the following 

ADVERSE REPORT 

[To accompany H. Res. 647] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the 

resolution (H. Res. 647) directing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any emails in 

the possession of the Department that were transmitted to or from 

the email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt 

Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 

and April 2011, having considered the same, report unfavorably 

thereon without amendment and recommend that the resolution 

not be agreed to. 

I. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND 

A. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H. Res. 647 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to 

the House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession 

of the Treasury Department that were transmitted to or from the 

email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Exempt 

Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 

and April 2011. 

B. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H. Res. 647 was introduced by Rep. Steve Stockman on June 25, 

2014. H. Res. 647 is a resolution of inquiry, which is a method by 

which the House can obtain factual information from the Executive 

Branch. Under clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 


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1See Rules of the House of Representatives, Rule XIII, clause 7. 

2Letter from Leonard Oursler, Director of Legislative Affairs, IRS to Chairman Wyden and 

Ranking Member Hatch of June 13, 2014. 3Letter from W. Neil Eggleston, White House Counsel to Chairman Camp of June 18, 2014. 

4Letter from Alastair M. Fitzpayne, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Department 

of the Treasury to Chairman Camp of June 20, 2014. 5Letter from Alastair M. Fitzpayne, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Department 

of the Treasury to Chairman Camp of June 23, 2014. 

Representatives, a Committee of referral must act on such a resolution of inquiry within 14 legislative days of its introduction, or a 

privileged motion to discharge the Committee will be in order.1

On May 10, 2013, former IRS Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner admitted the IRS had targeted conservative 

groups applying for tax-exempt status. On May 14, 2013, the 

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released an 

audit report detailing the targeting. Also on May 14, 2013, the 

Committee wrote a bipartisan letter to the IRS requesting documents related to the targeting. 

The Committee’s subsequent investigation yielded evidence of 

wrongdoing that led the Committee on April 9, 2014 to refer Ms. 

Lerner to the Department of Justice for possible criminal acts. Because of the likelihood of additional evidence of wrongdoing, the 

Committee demanded that the IRS produce all of Ms. Lerner’s 

emails during the period of the targeting. In May 2014, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen promised the Committee the IRS would 

produce all Lois Lerner emails. 

However, on June 13, 2014, the IRS sent the Chairman and 

Ranking Member of the Committee a courtesy copy of a letter to 

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking 

Member Orrin Hatch, the attachments of which disclosed that 

many of Ms. Lerner’s emails had been lost due to a ‘‘hard drive 

crash.’’ The two-page letter itself made no mention of the data loss, 

but within the 25 pages of attachments, the IRS admitted that for 

the period January 2009 through April 2011, ‘‘[a]ny of Ms. Lerner’s 

email that was only stored on that computer’s hard drive would 

have been lost when the hard drive crashed and could not be recovered.’’ 2 According to the June 2014 letter and a briefing subsequently received by staff, emails between Ms. Lerner and persons 

outside of the IRS for this period were also lost to the IRS. 

In light of the fact the IRS was unable to produce the full scope 

of Ms. Lerner’s emails, the Committee on June 16, 2014, sent document requests to both President Obama and Treasury Secretary 

Lew seeking all communications between Lois Lerner and any persons within the Executive Office of the President and the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), respectively, for the period between January 1, 2009 and May 1, 2011. 

On June 18, 2014, the White House responded to the Committee’s request with responsive documents and claimed that the 

White House learned of problems with Ms. Lerner’s emails from 

Treasury in April, months before the IRS informed Congress.3

Likewise, on June 20, 2014, the Treasury Department responded to 

the Committee’s request with responsive documents and a cover 

letter that said the IRS had informed Treasury of problems locating Ms. Emails prior to 2011.4 Treasury produced a second batch 

of documents on June 23, 2014.5 As the Committee has already obVerDate Mar 15 2010 08:29 Jul 18, 2014 Jkt 039008 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR525.XXX HR525

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tained the documents sought by the resolution, H. Res. 647 is not 

necessary. 

The Committee will continue to conduct thorough oversight over 

the IRS’s treatment of tax-exempt groups. 

C. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Background 

On June 25, 2014, Rep. Steve Stockman introduced H. Res. 647. 

The resolution was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. 

Committee action 

On July 10, 2014, the Committee met in open session and, by 

voice vote, ordered H. Res. 647 unfavorably reported to the House 

of Representatives. 

Committee hearings 

The Committee held no hearings on H. Res. 647. 

II. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL 

H. Res. 647 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to 

the House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession 

of the Treasury Department that were transmitted to or from the 

email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 and 

April 2011. 

III. VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE 

In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the following statements are made concerning the votes of the Committee on Ways and Means in its consideration of the bill, H. Res. 647. 

The resolution, H. Res. 647 was ordered unfavorably reported to 

the House of Representatives by voice vote (with a quorum being 

present). 

IV. BUDGET EFFECTS OF THE BILL 

A. COMMITTEE ESTIMATE OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS

Clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable. 

B. STATEMENT REGARDING NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX

EXPENDITURES BUDGET AUTHORITY

Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable. 

C. COST ESTIMATE PREPARED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

Clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable because the Congressional Budget Office did 

not provide a cost estimate for the resolution. 


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V. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED UNDER THE 

RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

A. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the findings 

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. 

B. STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable, as the resolution does not authorize funding. 

C. DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

In compliance with clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, no provision of the resolution establishes 

or reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known to be 

duplicative of another Federal program, a program that was included in any report from the Government Accountability Office to 

Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139, or a program related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 

Federal Domestic Assistance. 

D. DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULE MAKINGS

In accordance with clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, H. Res. 647 does not direct any rule 

making within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 551. 

E. INFORMATION RELATING TO UNFUNDED MANDATES

In accordance with section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Act of 

1995 (Pub. L. No. 104–4), the resolution does not impose a Federal 

mandate. 

F. APPLICABILITY OF HOUSE RULE XXI(5)(B)

Clause 5(b) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides, in part, that ‘‘A bill or joint resolution, amendment, 

or conference report carrying a Federal income tax rate increase 

may not be considered as passed or agreed to unless so determined 

by a vote of not less than three-fifths of the Members voting, a 

quorum being present.’’ The Committee has carefully reviewed the 

resolution and states that the resolution does not involve any Federal income tax rate increases within the meaning of the rule. 

G. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS AND LIMITED

TARIFF BENEFITS

In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the resolution does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits 

within the meaning of the rule. 


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H. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, H. Res. 647 would not make any changes 

to existing law. 

Æ 


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