[House Report 113-524]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress } { Report
2d Session } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES { 113-524
=======================================================================
REQUESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TRANSMIT TO THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COPIES OF ANY EMAILS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 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. 645]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the
resolution (H. Res. 645) requesting that the President of the
United States transmit to the House of Representatives copies
of any emails in the possession of the Executive Office of the
President 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. 645 requests the President to transmit to the House
of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession of
the Executive Office of the President 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. 645 was introduced by Rep. Steve Stockman on June
25, 2014. H. Res. 645 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 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\See Rules of the House of Representatives, Rule XIII, clause 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\Letter from Leonard Oursler, Director of Legislative Affairs,
IRS to Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Hatch of June 13, 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. Lerner's emails prior to
2011.\4\ Treasury produced a second batch of documents on June
23, 2014.\5\ As the Committee has already obtained the
documents sought by the resolution, H. Res. 645 is not
necessary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\Letter from W. Neil Eggleston, White House Counsel to Chairman
Camp of June 18, 2014.
\4\Letter from Alastair M. Fitzpayne, Assistant Secretary for
Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury to Chairman Camp of
June 20, 2014.
\5\Letter from Alastair M. Fitzpayne, Assistant Secretary for
Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury to Chairman Camp of
June 23, 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
645. 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. 645 unfavorably reported to the
House of Representatives.
Committee Hearings
The Committee held no hearings on H. Res. 645.
II. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL
H. Res. 645 requests the President to transmit to the House
of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession of
the Executive Office of the President 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. 645.
The resolution, H. Res. 645 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.
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. 645 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.
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. 645 would not make any
changes to existing law.