[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             REFORM THE IRS

  (Ms. DUNN of Washington asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DUNN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, in 1995 the Internal Revenue 
Service's 1-800 number provided about 8\1/2\ million Americans the 
wrong answers to even the most basic questions about tax law. Further, 
Money magazine estimated in 1990 that nearly half the 30 million 
penalty notices the IRS mails out each year are erroneous.
  Even more alarming, the latest impartial GAO audit of the IRS 
asserted that the agency that scrutinizes taxpayer finances cannot 
properly keep track of the $1.4 trillion it collects each year. Mind 
you, that was the fourth straight audit the IRS has flunked.
  Mr. Speaker, fair is fair. The IRS itself has failed to meet the 
standards of financial accountability and diligence it imposes on our 
citizenry. And since it can no longer adequately police itself, it can 
no longer be trusted with the authority to police individual American 
businesses and individuals.
  We need a solution to our problem that empowers the hard working 
American taxpayer. We need to reform the IRS.

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