[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 20 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SUNSET THE CURRENT TAX CODE

  (Mr. THUNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, I was disappointed this week to hear the 
President label Republican efforts to sunset the Internal Revenue Code 
as irresponsible. I want to tell you my definition of irresponsible. 
Last year only one in five calls to the IRS customer hotline got 
through. That is irresponsible.
  The IRS sends out 8 million pages of forms and instructions each 
year, enough to circle the Earth 28 times. That is irresponsible.
  Every year, Money Magazine asks 50 different tax preparers to prepare 
a 1040 form for a sample family. No two preparers ever arrive at the 
same answer, and the results vary by thousands of dollars. That is 
irresponsible.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of legislation to sunset the Internal 
Revenue Code. There is nothing radical about accountability from a 
government agency or working towards a fairer, flatter Tax Code. If you 
want a true definition of irresponsibility, look at our current Tax 
Code. Maintaining the status quo is the most irresponsible thing that 
we could do to our Nation and to our future.

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