[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 2676

  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed immediately to H.R. 2676, the IRS Restructuring Act of 1997, 
just received from the House, that the bill be read a third time, and 
passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, I yield to the distinguished Senator from 
Delaware.
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I say to my distinguished friend from 
Nebraska that, as he knows, we are beginning to hold hearings on the 
important problems of reconstructing the IRS. I think that the House 
legislation is good legislation. It's a good beginning, but, frankly, 
it does not address all the problems that were uncovered in the 
hearings held by the Finance Committee a few weeks ago.
  We will proceed very expeditiously with the hearings on this matter. 
We will seek to respond to all of the problems that were raised in our 
hearings. We think it is important to strengthen the authority, that 
there is nothing more important to reorganizing and reforming the IRS 
than providing for independent oversight.
  So, while I think it is a good beginning in that action that was 
taken by the House, much remains to be done to reform the IRS in a 
manner that it will provide true service to the American taxpayers.
  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, as long as we are in session, I will come 
to the floor, and I hope those on the other side of the aisle will look 
at this bill. The Senate did confirm Charles Rossotti to be the new 
Commissioner of the IRS. There is a lot in this bill. If you look at 
it, you would say, my gosh, I'm surprised that we don't already do 
this. It gives the Commissioner the authority to hire, fire, move 
people around, and to provide marketplace incentives. It has a public 
oversight board, as well as increased oversight on our side. It has 
significant changes in here that give the public more information on 
the basis of audits.
  I appreciate very much the fine work that Chairman Roth has done in 
the 3 days of hearings. We took a look at some additional things. But 
this Commissioner is going to be expected to manage a 110,000-person 
agency through a very difficult filing season this year, next year, and 
the year after.
  This bill addresses many, if not most, of the problems that have been 
identified by your citizens at home. I hope that during the next couple 
of days--this bill began as bipartisan. Congressman Portman, 
Representative from Ohio, and I; chief sponsors on this side in the 
Senate, Senator Grassley, and I--I hope my Republican colleagues will 
take a look at this bill. There is a lot more that can be done. There 
is no question about that. But there is also no question that when we 
give Mr. Rossotti this authority you are going to get a dramatic 
improvement in the efficiency of the operation of the IRS. Hundreds of 
collection notices are going to go out every day; over 1 million 
additional notices for audits; and other contacts the IRS is going to 
make per month with taxpayers. For every day we wait you are going to 
have to answer citizens at home. ``Why didn't you give the Commissioner 
the authority? Why didn't you provide the kind of authority needed to 
be able to manage the agency on behalf of taxpayers?''
  I believe delay will cost taxpayers. They are not going to be happy 
about this delay.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma is recognized.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I want to make a couple of comments. One 
pertains to the IRS proposal. I think Senator Kerrey's assessment of 
the House-passed language is correct. It is good language. But I 
certainly agree with the chairman of the Finance Committee. We had 
outstanding hearings conducted in a very fair, bipartisan way that said 
we should do more. I think Chairman Roth said we want to do more, 
demand to do more, and I think we can do better. The House passed a 
very good bill. We passed a better bill.
  I tell my colleagues. We want to continue to work together in a 
bipartisan fashion to pass really good IRS restructuring reform in this 
Congress. I hope and expect we will.

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