[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IT IS TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE AT IRS

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, just when we thought it could not get any 
worse, we find out about another outrage at the IRS. The deeper we dig, 
the more we find out that the IRS is a rogue agency that abuses its 
power.
  Congress asks, who is responsible? And what kind of response do we 
get from this administration's Treasury Department and from this White 
House? The same responses we got from this administration whenever they 
get caught in other wrongdoing: Denials and attempts to change the 
subject or their favorite expression that ``mistakes were made'' 
whenever they wish to avoid holding anyone accountable.
  The same administration that somehow ended up with 900 FBI files of 
Republicans and cannot seem to recall just how that happened is the 
same administration that has done absolutely nothing in 4\1/2\ years to 
rein in an agency that is out of control. Politically motivated tax 
audits, replacing justice with revenue quotas, intimidating settlements 
on ordinary citizens who cannot afford lawyers, irresponsible 
bureaucrats who abuse their power. The list goes on and on.
  It is time to clean the house at the IRS.

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