Use of Personal Email Accounts Prohibition

by Charles William Boustany

Use of Personal Email Accounts Prohibition

Use of Personal Email Accounts Prohibition

---

United States House of Representatives

MR. CHARLES BOUSTANY

OF LOUISIANA

September 16, 2014

USE OF PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNTS PROHIBITION

Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5418) to prohibit officers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 5418

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. IRS EMPLOYEES PROHIBITED FROM USING PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNTS FOR OFFICIAL BUSINESS.

No officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service may use a personal email account to conduct any official business of the Government.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) each will control 20 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.

General Leave

Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under consideration.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Louisiana?

There was no objection.

Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Tonight I rise in strong support of H.R. 5418. This bill which I introduced is a response to the Ways and Means Committee's year-and-a- half-long investigation of the IRS' targeting of taxpayers based on their political beliefs.

In its exhaustive ongoing investigation, the committee found that some IRS employees risk that confidential information by circumventing official email and using their personal, nonsecure email for official business. H.R. 5418 fixes this problem by prohibiting employees of the IRS from using a personal email account to conduct any official business, ensuring there is a full record of IRS activity and that taxpayer information is secure.

There is no reason for an IRS employee to have confidential taxpayer information on his or her home computer without the necessary safeguards against disclosure. This behavior must be stopped, and I urge a “yes” vote on this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I shall consume.

This is the first of three straightforward bills concerning the IRS. It is my hope the Republicans will focus the debate in the straightforward manner that is warranted, and that is what is happening on this bill.

Currently, the IRS restricts its employees from sending emails that contain sensitive but unclassified data outside the IRS network unless approved by senior agency management, but the manual does not specifically reference the use of personal email accounts. This legislation would specifically prohibit the use of personal email accounts to conduct official agency business. I support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the introduction of this bill and I support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I think it is a good bill. It is a commonsense bill. It has broad support. I urge its support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5418.

The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.