[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 117 (Monday, September 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6999-H7000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1997

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Rangel] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, today, I, along with Congressman Bill Coyne, 
Congressman Steny Hoyer, Congressman Henry Waxman, and Congressman Bob 
Matsui, have introduced legislation to reform the Internal Revenue 
Service.
  My cosponsors have worked long and hard on this legislation, as has 
our Treasury Secretary, Bob Rubin. It is with the administration's 
strong commitment to the IRS Improvement Act of 1997 that I am honored 
to be the lead sponsor of the bill.
  My personal thanks go to Bill Coyne and Bob Matsui for their 
successive roles in representing the House Democrats on the National 
Commission on Restructuring the IRS.
  I also look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues from the 
Government Operation and Reform and Appropriations Committees who have 
jurisdiction over important titles of this bill.
  The Internal Revenue Service Improvement Act of 1997 will make many 
very significant changes both to the way the IRS operates and the 
Department of the Treasury oversees the IRS.
  The beneficiaries of this bill should and will be the American 
public. Taxpayers expect and deserve a tax administration system that 
is efficient and well-managed, fair and responsive in its dealings with 
the public, and staffed by employees who are well-trained and 
accountable for their actions.
  The IRS Improvement Act of 1997 is designed to achieve these goals. 
The bill institutionalizes the Administration's newly established IRS 
Management Board and planned IRS Advisory Board as permanent features 
of the tax law. The Management Board will provide for continued, high-
level Government oversight of the IRS, under the direction of the 
Treasury Department. The Advisory Board will provide for timely and 
expert advice from the private sector on the fundamental strategic and 
management direction of the IRS.
  Under the bill, the IRS Commissioner would be given a fixed, 5-year 
term. This will provide not only continuity of direction for the IRS, 
but also require a long-term commitment from the person charged with 
administering our tax laws. The President, as required by the 
Constitution, would continue to appoint the Commissioner as the head of 
the IRS.
  The bill makes major improvements in the area of electronic tax 
return filing. The time has come for the IRS to promote aggressively 
the benefits of electronic filing, and for the Congress to eliminate 
statutory obstacles to making electronic filing the norm rather than 
the exception.
  The bill provides the Treasury Department and the IRS with the 
ability to put together and hire at the IRS one of the best management 
teams in the country. Highly skilled, top talent would be able to join 
the IRS at pay levels commensurate with experience and expertise. 
Performance-based incentive pay arrangements and a new demonstration 
management systems could be set up at the IRS, as ways to insure that 
management goals are net, to hold employees accountable, and to reward 
quality service.

[[Page H7000]]

  Finally, the bill provides mechanisms for giving IRS employees the 
educational and technical training they so desperately seek. The IRS 
work force is a dedicated and talented group of Federal employees, and 
they too want to see the IRS improved. They are willing to do their 
part, but they need the tools--the tools of modern technology, 
education, and training--which the bill provides.
  There is much about which everyone can agree, in our mutual efforts 
to improve the IRS. We all recognize that the current IRS needs to be 
improved. Our challenge must be to fix the IRS--and this must be done 
in a truly bipartisan manner. It is important that no one play politics 
and this effort by bashing the IRS. We have given the IRS one of the 
most difficult and important--and thankless--jobs in Government. The 
IRS deserves our support, constructive criticism, and attention to 
reform--not our wrath, since we too are to blame.
  I look forward to working with all the Members of Congress in 
enactment of the IRS Improvement Act. I ask for your support.

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