if you d like to use the time to either add to or to summarize that can be very helpful for the members. you re up first, welcome. thank you mr. chairman. chairman issa, ranking member cummings, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss our recent report concerning bill: while he continues his opening statement we have bills to pay, so we just want to let you know at home we are going to take a few commercial breaks here. this is an opportunity to do that. but having said that too we are waiting for the moment as to whether or not lois learner takes the fifth. if it happens we ll break back in. for now a commercial break. mitch mcconnell on all the issues that is facing congress right now and the white house we will talk to him live in a matter of moments and more from the hearing inside that i.r.s. hearing targeting conservative tkpwraoufps and when it al
wanted to live up to the constitution, to have their freedom and have it protected by our country. so last year we received troubling complaints by groups across the country who were receiving what appear to be inappropriate and unnecessary questions in many cases after more than a year, sometimes two years of inaction about it i.r.s., we went to the inspector general who was here with us today in march of last year point request of our staff and later in a formal letter from mr. jordan, the subcommittee chairman and myself, the i.g. launched a form pal investigation. we knew then that something seemed to be wrong. we knew then that there was smoke. we knew then that in fact
organizations engaged exclusively in social welfare activities. by in 1959 the treasury department issued a regulation that requires the entities only to be primarily engaged in social welfare activity. as a result many groups believe they can spend up to 49% of their fund on campaign-related activity. significant concerns have been raised about groups that have already qualified for tax exempt status. whose applications are still pending and are now openly he wage in cam opinion-related activity and spending millions of dollars with little or no irs oversight of their activity. these concerns are not limited to just one political party by the way.