[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IRS REFORM AND THE BUREAUCRATIC TAX CODE

  (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, the IRS reform bill passed yesterday, which 
is an important first step in the battle to overhaul the current tax 
collection system in this country. However, this victory must be viewed 
with a little cautious optimism.
  Let us not forget that when the President of this country was 
confronted with the Senate finance hearings that last month exposed the 
incredible abuse of power, which seems, by the way, to be the way of 
business over at the IRS, his first reaction was to defend the IRS. 
Incredible, stupefying, the American people thought, that this 
President's first reaction was to say, things really are not that bad.
  He criticized the Republican tax reform plan. Of course, that was 
until he saw the American taxpayers were having nothing to do with his 
shrill criticism, because they have known for years that the IRS 
operates through heavy-handed tactics, sloppiness, and a lack of 
accountability. Any agency that allows bureaucrats no accountability 
will, over time, abuse its power.
  The IRS reform package passed yesterday 426 to 4. It will inject real 
accountability to the IRS. Let us get rid of this bureaucratic, selfish 
Tax Code.

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