COLDWATER, KS – Legislation offered by U.S. Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and 39 others has led the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to rewrite controversial proposed regulations that would have allowed targeting of groups for their political beliefs and would have limited free speech.

“Just last week I asked IRS Commissioner Koskinen to scrap the rules once and for all. I am pleased the Commissioner has come to agree with me and Senator Flake that the agency must stop all actions on these regulations given the controversy and ongoing investigations into the IRS’ unlawful abuse of conservative groups.

“These regulations were a deliberately designed abuse of federal resources and enforcement powers for purely political purposes — part of a larger pattern of this administration using the IRS to shut down its critics and opponents.

“While I am pleased the IRS will start over, I will continue to be vigilant in the fight against all Obama Administration regulations that ignore the Constitution.”

The Flake-Roberts bill protected the free-speech rights of 501(c)(4) organizations by prohibiting for one year the finalization of a proposed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulation that would significantly limit the advocacy and educational activities of these groups. The bill also prevented additional targeting of 501(c)(4) organizations by restoring the IRS 501(c)(4) standards and definitions that were in place before the start of the agency’s targeting of conservative groups in 2010. For more on the bill go here.

Senator Roberts is a member of the Senate Committee on Finance.