[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IRS REFORM IS LONG OVERDUE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, Rush Limbaugh, in an interview with the very 
distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) asked why would Bill 
Clinton defend the IRS?
  Let us think about that. Why would Bill Clinton defend the IRS? If my 
colleagues recall when the President was confronted with hearings this 
past month which exposed the incredible abuse of power that seems to be 
a way of doing business over at the IRS, his first reaction almost 
instinctively was to defend the IRS.
  His first reaction was to say that things are really not that bad, 
and he criticized the Republican reform plan. Of course, that was until 
he saw the polls that the American people were having none of it, that 
they have known for years that the IRS suffers from heavy-handed 
tactics, sloppiness and lack of accountability.
  This last point is the key point. Any agency or bureaucrat that lacks 
accountability will, over time, abuse its power. The Republican IRS 
reform proposal would inject real accountability into the IRS, and make 
the audit process accountable to an outside review body for the first 
time ever. It is long overdue.

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