Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) hammered departing IRS Commissioner Steven Miller during a House Ways and Means Committee meeting yesterday. In another stupefying example of impropriety in the furiously blossoming IRS scandal, Schock read from an application questionnaire given to a pro-life group in Iowa.
“Their question - specifically asked by the IRS to the Coalition for Life of Iowa, ‘Please detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers.’ Would that be an appropriate question to a 501 (c)(3) applicant?”
Miller stonewalled - regretting that he couldn’t speak to the case specifically. Shock pressed him further, and Miller relented:
“Speaking outside of this case which I don’t know anything about, it would surprise me that that question was asked.”
The question at issue came from a 150-page document compiled by the Thomas More Society which details, according to Schock, “horrible instances of IRS abuse of power, political and religious bias, and a repression of their Constitutional rights.”
In a press release issued by the Coalition for Life of Iowa, its president Susan Martinek highlights some of the other abuses they faced:
Recently, the IRS admitted treating organizations that align with conservative values in ways that delayed or rejected their application for tax-exempt status. The Coalition for Life of Iowa has been identified as one of the earliest organizations that faced unnecessary demands from the IRS.
Coalition for Life of Iowa was founded in 2004. We have organized and sponsored educational forums. As we grew, we sought 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. We submitted Form 1023 to the IRS in October of 2008. After a few communications with our exempt organizations specialist and the responses from her supervisor/supervisors, the IRS agent indicated what we could not do. In June of 2009, she said we needed to send in a letter with the entire board’s signatures stating that under perjury of the law we would not picket/protest or organize groups to picket/protest outside of Planned Parenthood. Upon receiving such a letter, the IRS would allow our application to go through.
When we requested where in the Form 1023 it stated we could not protest at Planned Parenthood, the IRS never answered our question. Clearly, IRS Form 1023 does not mention the name of the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Since we focused on educational forums and not picketing or protesting, some board members were willing to sign the requested letter. But others refused to sign a statement that unfairly restricted first amendment rights, so we sought legal help.
