The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“WHY DOES THE IRS NEED SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT? TO SPY ON AMERICANS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H7187-H7188 on Oct. 26, 2015.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
{time} 2015
WHY DOES THE IRS NEED SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT? TO SPY ON AMERICANS
(Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice has closed its investigation into Lois Lerner and her band of bungling bureaucrats at the IRS. Choosing political expediency, it won't prosecute the actors.
But according to news reports today, not only did officials at the IRS abuse their power by targeting the administration's political enemies, now they possess spy equipment to do it.
Now the IRS will have ``sophisticated cellphone dragnet equipment known as Stingray.'' These devices ``work by pretending to be cellphone towers in order to strip metadata and in some cases even content from phones which connect to them.''
Mr. Speaker, why does the IRS want to spy on Americans? It sounds like the old Soviet Union to me. The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from this type of widespread, abusive government spying.
It is time for Congress to make sure that the constitutional right of privacy applies to the IRS and to this new technology. Technology may change, but the Constitution does not.
And that is just the way it is.
____________________
