Note: Click here to see the video. 

Oshkosh, WI - Senator Ron Johnson (WI), Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight, announced the release of the second video in his ‘Victims of Government’ series.  The video details the story of Catherine Engelbrecht, of Harris County, Texas.

Catherine is a wife, mother, community volunteer and a small businesswoman.  Three years ago, Catherine applied for tax-exempt status for two organizations, a group to work for election integrity and a tea party organization. After three years, she still has not received approval from the IRS.  But in the interim, she has been visited by the FBI six times, received hundreds of questions and document requests from the IRS, had her personal and business taxes audited, and had her business visited and inspected by OSHA, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and others.

“America has always succeeded because ordinary folks have gotten involved in their communities. They’ve volunteered in schools, churches, and civic associations – because they believe in something greater than themselves, or just because they want to give back to their neighborhoods. In much of the world, people are reluctant to step forward – or say what they believe – because they’re afraid that when they do, someone from the government is going to come after them. In America, no one should have that fear. We should all expect that government officials will enforce the law evenhandedly. The United States government should not target law abiding people for harassment simply because they disagree with them.  That is frightening, immoral and unlawful.

“The IRS scandal must be fully investigated - the American people deserve no less than the full and complete truth. Congress should aggressively perform its oversight role which, if deemed necessary, could be followed by the appointment of a Special Prosecutor with full subpoena power.  We must determine the scope and depth of the profiling, targeting and unlawful intimidation and harassment of law abiding Americans based solely on what they believe. This is a far greater problem than ‘horrible customer service.’ This is a threat to every American’s personal liberty and freedom." 

More information regarding Catherine’s case will be available at the Victims of Government blog on Senator Johnson’s website. Senator Johnson encourages people dealing with burdensome and intrusive regulations to share their stories, and anyone interested in the cost of regulation to check the website in the future.

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