WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) released the following video in reaction to Senate Finance Committee’s report finding that the Obama Administration used the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to intimidate Americans who disagreed with the administration’s policies.

To watch the video, click here.

The full text of the senator’s remarks is below:

As a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am outraged.

The committee has just completed a two year investigation of the Internal Revenue Service’s unconstitutional targeting of American citizens.  Our worst fears have been confirmed.

We have proof that the IRS was and is complicit in successful efforts to deny free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

We have learned that this targeting was systemic.

We also have proof the IRS then misled the Congress about their activities.  The IRS also deliberately withheld information relevant to this targeting. They lied.

After two years, like so many others, I am fed up with scandal after scandal with no accountability.  Kansans are fed up and many have lost trust in the IRS and our government.

This is a clear abuse of power by the IRS and those within the Obama Administration who are responsible. To date, there have been no consequences, no accountability – but this report is just the beginning. We will introduce further legislation to make sure we live in an open and free society where first amendment rights are protected.

I already have long standing legislation that prevents the IRS from this unlawful targeting and the trampling of free speech.  This is America, not Soviet Russia.