[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           REFORM THE IRS NOW

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, just when we thought things could not get 
worse at the IRS, they have.
  I picked up this Washington Post article last week. The title is 
``IRS Goof Creates Returns That Keep Returning.'' At first I thought it 
was a joke, but then I learned that the IRS did make, in fact, a huge 
goof, about a million packets of 1040 forms sent out to the taxpayers 
had preprinted address labels. That is not going to do anyone any 
favors.
  The famous world class computer system over at the IRS will read the 
bar code on the preprinted label and, one might ask, will it then send 
it to the proper location for processing? No, sir. It will not. It will 
send the form right back to you. In fact, we can even imagine the 
making of an infinite loop, with our 1040s just making around-the-world 
tours, back and forth between our houses and the IRS.
  Mr. Speaker, the IRS is still out of control. It is enough. It is 
time for some radical reform at the IRS.

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