III 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 159 

Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the targeting of Tea Party 

groups by the Internal Revenue Service and calling for an investigation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2013 

Mr. PAUL submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Finance 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the targeting 

of Tea Party groups by the Internal Revenue Service 

and calling for an investigation. 

Whereas it is a well-founded principle that the power to tax 

involves the power to destroy; 

Whereas employees of the Internal Revenue Service (commonly known as the ‘‘IRS’’) have publicly admitted that 

the IRS targeted Tea Party groups in a manner that infringes on the free association rights and free speech 

rights of those groups; 

Whereas the IRS admitted that employees of the IRS engaged in politically discriminatory actions; 


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•SRES 159 IS 

Whereas the IRS used the taxing power as a political tool to 

intimidate Tea Party groups from engaging in free 

speech; 

Whereas, according to media reports, as early as in 2010, the 

IRS was targeting Tea Party groups; 

Whereas President Obama is aware that a Federal agency 

under his control has admitted to targeting Tea Party 

groups; 

Whereas, according to media reports, a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration indicates 

that some Tea Party groups withdrew applications for 

tax-exempt status as a result of the discriminatory actions of the IRS; 

Whereas, according to the Washington Post, in late June 

2011, employees of the IRS discussed giving special attention to case files in which groups made statements 

that ‘‘criticize[d] how the country is being run’’ and educated the people of the United States ‘‘on the Constitution and Bill of Rights’’ and targeting groups interested 

in limiting government; and 

Whereas the discriminatory actions of the IRS impacted the 

free speech rights of the groups targeted by the IRS: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the Internal Revenue Service engaged in 

3 discriminatory behavior; 

4 (2) Congress should use existing authority— 

5 (A) to investigate potential criminal wrong6 doing by individuals who authorized or were inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jun 05, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR159.IS SR159

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•SRES 159 IS 

1 volved in targeting people of the United States 

2 based on their political views; and 

3 (B) to determine if other entities in the ad4 ministration of President Obama were involved 

5 in or were aware of the discrimination and did 

6 not take action to stop the actions of the Inter7 nal Revenue Service; 

8 (3) President Obama should terminate the indi9 viduals responsible for targeting and willfully dis10 criminating against Tea Party groups and other con11 servative groups; and 

12 (4) the Senate condemns the actions of all indi13 viduals and entities involved in the infringement of 

14 the First Amendment rights of members of the Tea 

15 Party and other affected groups. 

Æ 


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