[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E979]]



                      LITTLE LEAGUE VERSUS THE IRS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 1997

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, spring time has arrived and the IRS has 
left it's annual April 15 calling card, taking more than one-third of 
our earnings. As American as apple pie, kids have also hit the playing 
fields. But this time, the IRS is trying to steal home. In Orange 
County, CA, the IRS was trying to take away something as American as 
hotdogs and apple pie--the girl's softball team. Only after public 
outcry did the IRS back down and leave the softball team alone.
  By proving once more to be a large and intrusive Federal bureaucracy, 
the IRS has illustrated its uncanny ability to punish the right things 
and reward the wrong things. It's simply astounding that criminals are 
skirting the system and being rewarded while our hometown little league 
team was so close to being wiped out.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to shut down the IRS for good. If it weren't 
for the nationwide attention the Fountain Valley Girl's Softball League 
received, the IRS would not have reversed its decision to seize the 
league's tangible assets. How many times are we going to let the IRS 
hurt us and our communities before we do something to reform our tax 
system?
  Recently, I cosponsored legislation introduced by my colleagues, 
Representatives Dan Schaeffer (R-CO) and Billy Tauzin (R-LA), which 
would abolish the Internal Revenue Service and enact a national retail 
sales tax. With a national sales tax, there would be no need for the 
136,000 IRS employees who give us the runaround, the 480 different and 
confusing tax forms and the 190,000 disputes between the IRS and 
taxpayers which result in legal action.
  Mr. Speaker, by enacting this legislation, we would be free from the 
IRS for good. All consumers would pay a tax on everything they buy. 
Little league players, volunteers and criminals alike would pay their 
just taxes to the Federal Government. Nonprofit groups and small 
businesses would be free from compliance paperwork.
  The time is now to make a change. It is time to bring down the IRS, 
not our softball leagues and community associations.

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