[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 14 (Friday, February 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  URGING MEMBERS' SUPPORT FOR H.R. 3261 AND DISCHARGE PETITION NO. 12.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Traficant] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I think this is the first special order I 
have taken due to the fact that we are on a recess, waiting for a vote. 
I thought I would take a little bit of time about an issue that is 
quite controversial, because it seems that everybody is afraid to 
really visit this issue or do something about it. It is about the 
Internal Revenue Service and the law of our country that is a little 
bit confusing to me, and in fact, I believe really unconstitutional the 
way it is applied.
  If a mass murderer is accused of such a heinous act, that vicious 
killer is innocent until proven guilty, and the accusers have the 
burden of proof to basically prove that the mass murderer had killed 
all those people. That mass murderer can sit there, keep their mouth 
shut, rely on all the rights under the Constitution, and we have to 
prove that they may have killed 32 adolescent boys, like in the case of 
Charles Gacy, or Richard Specht, eight nurses. If it was not for the 
young nurse that hid away underneath the daybed, who later writes, 
``God, don't let him hear the pounding of my heart,'' and brings out 
that evidence in court, we would have never in fact convicted Richard 
Specht.
  However, the IRS is different. When the IRS accuses an American 
taxpayer of fraud, the IRS does not have the burden of proof. The 
taxpayer is guilty under the law, and has to prove that they are 
innocent. Think about it. A mass murderer is innocent until proven 
guilty, but a taxpayer who pays the freight on all of this is guilty 
because an IRS agent said they committed a fraudulent act, and that 
same taxpayer has to prove they are innocent.
  The Traficant bill, H.R. 3261, now in the form of a Discharge 
Petition No. 12, says the following. Here is how it would change the 
law.
  First, if an IRS agent goes beyond the call and abuses an American 
taxpayer, the court is allowed to put a fine on that IRS agent, 
penalize them, hold them liable for the abuse of an American taxpayer, 
and levy a fine against them.
  Second, under these types of cases, the Internal Revenue Service is 
liable for $100,000 any time a taxpayer is ripped off by an illegal act 
of an IRS agent. The Traficant bill raises that $100,000 to $1 million. 
Maybe the IRS will make sure their agents do not abuse the American 
taxpayer.
  Finally, when the IRS said an American has committed fraud with their 
taxes, the IRS would have the burden of proof, not the taxpayer. I 
would say to the Members, if we want to take this Government back, if 
we want to reform and reinvent government, maybe we should start with 
our own Constitution,and the taxpayers should at least be treated the 
same way as a mass murderer, no less.
  Under H.R. 3261, a taxpayer is innocent until proven guilty. I filed 
Discharge Petition No. 12 because Congress does not want, evidently, to 
get the IRS mad, because the IRS can really make it tough on Members of 
Congress. What a shame, what a joke.
  I am asking Members of Congress to help me with H.R. 3261, and if 
they could, to sign Discharge Petition No. 12, because Congress just 
seems never to pay any attention to the issues that really affect the 
American people.

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