Showing Revision 1 created 05/16/2013 by Claire Lee.

1. Title:
   Watch President Obama Address IRS Scandal
2. Description:

   President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced the resignation of the top official at the Internal Revenue Service following a controversy over the agency's targeting of conservative political groups. The White House scheduled the meeting a day after the release of an inspector general report that showed the IRS allowed agents to improperly target tea party groups for more than 18 months.

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   Good afternoon, everybody.
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   I just finished speaking with Secretary Lew and senior officials at the Treasury Department
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   to discuss the investigation into IRS personnel
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   who improperly screened conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
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   And I look forward to taking some questions at tomorrow’s press conference, but today,
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   I wanted to make sure to get out to all of you some information
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   about what we’re doing about this, and where we go from here.
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    I’ve reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog’s report, and the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable.
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    It’s inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it.
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    I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS,
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    given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives.
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    And as I said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you’re from — the fact of the matter is,
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    is that the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity.
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    The government generally has to conduct itself in a way that is true to the public trust.
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    That’s especially true for the IRS.
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    So here’s what we’re going to do.
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    First, we’re going to hold the responsible parties accountable.
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    Yesterday, I directed Secretary Lew to follow up on the IG audit to see how this happened and who is responsible,
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    and to make sure that we understand all the facts.
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    Today, Secretary Lew took the first step by requesting and accepting the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS,
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    because given the controversy surrounding this audit,
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    it’s important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward.
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    Second, we’re going to put in place new safeguards to make sure this kind of behavior cannot happen again.
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    And I’ve directed Secretary Lew to ensure the IRS begins implementing the IG’s recommendations right away.
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    Third, we will work with Congress as it performs its oversight role.
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    And our administration has to make sure that we are working hand in hand with Congress to get this thing fixed.
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    Congress, Democrats and Republicans, owe it to the American people to treat that authority with the responsibility
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    it deserves and in a way that doesn’t smack of politics or partisan agendas.
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    Because I think one thing that you’ve seen is, across the board, everybody believes what happened in —
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    as reported in the IG report is an outrage.
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    The good news is it’s fixable, and it’s in everyone’s best interest to work together to fix it.
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    I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again
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    by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards,
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    and going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way.
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    And we’re going to have to make sure that the laws are clear so that we can have confidence
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    that they are enforced in a fair and impartial way, and that there’s not too much ambiguity surrounding these laws.
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    So that's what I expect. That's what the American people deserve. And that's what we’re going to do.
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    Thank you very much.