{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://adriansmith.house.gov/preventing-government-abuse-and-overreach", "Preventing Government Abuse and Overreach", "2013-08-02", "2013", "2013-08", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The American people\u2019s confidence in the federal government has never been lower \u2013 with good reason.\u00a0 Recent revelations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting conservative groups, the disastrous and ongoing implementation of a flawed health care law, lavish spending at government conferences, and federal agencies which regularly overreach their authority are all a reflection of bureaucracy out of touch with the American people.\u00a0 This week, the House of Representatives took steps to rein in out-of-control government, to prevent abuse, and to hold agencies accountable for their actions.\nThe Obama Administration has dismissed concerns about the IRS targeting of conservative groups as \u201cbad customer service\u201d or \u201cpoor performance.\u201d \u00a0The President described these concerns as \u201cphony.\u201d The American people know better.\u00a0 Given the immense power of the agency and the sensitivity of the information they collect, we have an obligation to fully investigate these allegations, and hold accountable any responsible parties.\nAdding to the concern, the IRS will be the chief enforcer of the many new health care mandates set to be implemented during the next year.\u00a0 This week, I participated in a Committee on Ways and Means hearing on the status of implementing the health care law with Daniel Werfel, the acting head of the IRS.\u00a0 I asked Commissioner Werfel if he was confident the personal taxpayer information to be collected by the agency would be secure.\u00a0 He claimed the information will be safe, even though he also admitted many of the security lapses and releases of information at question have yet to be resolved.\nThe Commissioner\u2019s answers to our questions did nothing to improve confidence the IRS is prepared to implement and enforce this enormous new law.\u00a0 The inappropriateness of giving the agency more authority and access to personal information is why the House passed H.R. 2009, the Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act on Friday.\u00a0 This legislation would prevent the agency from implementing any portion of the President\u2019s health care law.\nThe House passed several other bills this week to help prevent abuse, increase transparency, and restore trust in the federal government.\u00a0 Among other reforms, the bills we passed this week would ensure citizens have the right to record their meetings and telephone exchanges with federal regulatory officials; would allow agencies to place high-level employees on unpaid leave when they are under investigation for serious offenses; and would lower the amount of bonuses and the number of senior employees eligible to receive them. \u00a0We also passed bills which would stop abuse of agency conferences through increased transparency and accountability, and in the case of the IRS, a moratorium.\nPerhaps the most important reform passed by the House this week was H.R. 367, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.\u00a0 For too long, Congress has allowed administrations of both parties to enact regulations at great costs to the American people with little oversight.\u00a0 This pattern has led to agencies regularly overreaching their authority, which undermines the constitutional separation of powers.\nThe REINS Act would allow Congress to vote on the most expensive new rules before they are enforced on hardworking families and small businesses. \u00a0This commonsense reform would help restore the balance of power in Washington and return responsibility for the legislative process to Congress.\nAll of these reforms would require approval by the Senate and the President before they could become law.\u00a0 However, we will not be deterred from seeking accountability and improvement in the federal government, because the American people are demanding we do better.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://adriansmith.house.gov/preventing-government-abuse-and-overreach"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.645124051719904, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}