[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 153 (Wednesday, November 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H9998-H9999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE PRESIDENT JOINS REPUBLICANS IN ESSENTIAL IRS REFORM

  (Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, in response to the last 
speaker, I would point out that Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that, 
``A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by 
little statesmen and philosophers and divines.''
  I think President Clinton must have meditated on Emerson when he 
recently flip-flopped on reforming the Internal Revenue Service. 
Although the Clinton administration originally opposed IRS 
restructuring, the President wisely sacrificed consistency and jumped 
on the bandwagon of the IRS reform bill developed by the Committee on 
Ways and Means.
  Building on the recommendation of the bipartisan Kerry-Portman 
Commission, this reform legislation would overhaul IRS management by 
placing the agency under an independent oversight board. It would 
expand taxpayer

[[Page H9999]]

protections by enacting 28 new taxpayer rights, including the right to 
sue for negligence, to collect legal fees, to be notified of the 
reasons for an audit.
  For the first time, taxpayers in advanced IRS proceedings will be 
considered innocent until proven guilty. This IRS reform bill is 
essential.

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