The Associated Press is reporting that U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is questioning the Internal Revenue Service's investigation of the United Church of Christ.

The IRS is investigating the church for a speech Sen. Barack Obama gave at the denomination's national meeting last year in Hartford after he began his Democratic presidential campaign.

Lieberman told the IRS in a letter that he's "concerned about the chilling effect on legitimate activity by religious organizations," the AP reported today (March 20).

He calls the inquiry "especially troubling'' because the agency hasn't given churches adequate guidance about what's allowed.

Obama, a member of Trinity UCC in Chicago for more than 20 years, spoke about faith and public life at the denomination's 50th Anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., last June.

"The United Church of Christ took great care to ensure that Senator Obama's appearance before the 50th anniversary General Synod met appropriate legal and moral standards," the Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and president, told United Church News in late February when the UCC first released word of the investigation to its members. "We are confident that the IRS investigation will confirm that no laws were violated."