[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 139 (Wednesday, October 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H8638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AWESOME POWER OF IRS HAS CORRUPTING INFLUENCE ON ITS AGENTS

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, what does it say about the IRS when its own 
agents fear the IRS? The IRS is an agency that puts extraordinary 
pressure on good people to do the wrong thing, even to the point of 
using criminal intimidation tactics to break the hard working men and 
women of America.
  There is an old saying out there that power corrupts and absolute 
power corrupts absolutely. Well, the awesome power of the IRS has had a 
corrupting influence on its own agents and everyone knows that 
unchecked power that is accountable to no one is a guarantee of abuse.
  Notice how IRS agents who have had the courage to come forward and 
expose the outrage never say they are talking about a few bad apples or 
even the occasional rogue acts who give everyone a bad name. No, these 
courageous agents have all willingly said the IRS has a corporate 
culture that gives a green light to bullies, gives free rein to 
intimidation tactics and positively institutionalizes a quota mentality 
where success is not defined by honest work but by how much money can 
be seized. This agency is a national disgrace.

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