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Larson Speaks on IRS, Jobs and the Economy on Washington Journal

June 4, 2013

Washington – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01), a Senior Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal prior to today's hearing on Organizations Targeted by the Internal Revenue Service. During the interview, Larson answered questions on the IRS hearing, financial services, healthcare and tax reform. Follow the link to watch the full interview.

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---WATCH VIDEO HERE---

Excerpted Remarks:

"No matter who they targeted, it was wrong, it's egregious. I was happy that we moved swiftly to make sure that there was a public hearing on this. I commend both David Camp and Sandy Levin for joining in a nonpartisan way and saying, no matter who is controlling the IRS, it is totally inappropriate and egregious that you would target people for their political beliefs. Whether they're progressives or whether they're Tea Party, it is flat out wrong.

"So I think that this can be constructive, there's already been movement that's taken place. Mr. Miller has stepped down, Ms. Lerner is going to be stepping down. That was a good move, I thought, again – Sandy Levin taking the lead on that in the Ways and Means Committee. Yet, like all issues, I believe that this deserves the thorough oversight of the United States Congress. If nothing less, the public right now – which holds Congress in not the highest of esteem – needs to be assured that we're going to continue to focus on the public trust. And then, above all else, what we hope, what I hope we do is we're able to pivot to something that the public is truly yearning for and that's to get back to work...

"...What we fear is that we don't want this to turn into some kind of partisan witch hunt. And, we should say at the outset, while Congress is not popular, neither is the IRS for that matter, and yet there are so many incredible civil servants who work on behalf of the IRS and other federal agencies. And this shouldn't be about demeaning everybody, but where there is inappropriate action, and clearly this was, we ought to take swift action and correct the problem, and I think that that's a process that's already underway.

"It's heartening to see that Congress is doing this in a nonpartisan basis. Could we now shift to job creation and dealing with our healthcare crisis, both of which can offer other opportunities for us to work together in a nonpartisan fashion? When I go home, that's what people keep on saying to me: 'When are you guys going to get together and put us back to work?', that's what they say at Augie and Ray's anyway."

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