WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) today made the following comments in support of the bill, Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013 (H.R. 2009). Miller joins more than 100 of her colleagues in the House of Representatives in supporting this legislation which would bar the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from implementing or enforcing any component of President Obama’s health care law. Miller said:
“Over the past several months, the American people have been jolted by revelations of wrong doing within the IRS that has diminished their faith and confidence of this powerful federal agency. Just this week it was revealed that IRS officials organized and participated in a lavish conference at a luxury hotel that cost taxpayers over $4.1 million, with one official staying in a room for five nights which regularly costs $3,500 a night. This revelation came on the heels of the IRS admitting that they had singled out specific groups for extra scrutiny simply because of the political beliefs held by those groups. Since these revelations came to light, two senior IRS officials have hidden behind the protections of the 5th Amendment to shield from American taxpayers, who pay their salaries, the facts about their wrongdoing. Now, even after all of these revelations of wrongdoing and despite claims of austerity due to sequestration, the IRS is considering paying out $70 million in bonuses to its employees.
“Coming into effect in a few short months, this discredited government agency will be given even more authority to enact various provisions of the ObamaCare law, putting the IRS at the center of some of the most personal and private decisions made by American families. As it stands from these recent revelations of abuse, the IRS has already taken for granted the trust of the American people. Therefore appropriate questions are being asked about whether they can be relied upon to fairly and prudently enforce this massive takeover of our health care system and be entrusted with unprecedented access to the people’s most personal information.
“I believe that the IRS through its own actions has made clear that it cannot be trusted with this new role. That is why I signed on as a cosponsor of a simple, two-page bill, H.R. 2900 – The Keep the IRS Off Your Healthcare Act. This bill takes away the authority of the Secretary of Treasury to enforce any aspect of ObamaCare. Instead of giving the IRS more power and authority over the American people, power that has been abused, it is time to start reigning in that power particularly with regard to the health care of every American family.”
