[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]




                             REFORM THE IRS

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, this House must reform the IRS. The 
outrageous recently released GAO report documents that the IRS unfairly 
singles out taxpayers in the South for random audits. The GAO reports 
that 47 percent of the random tax audits during the past 3 years were 
in 11 Southern states that represent only 29 percent of the population. 
More than 85 percent of those audits had incomes of less than $25,000, 
many of whom depend upon the Earned Income Tax Credit for our working 
poor.
  Why should an individual be three times more likely to be audited in 
North Carolina than in the State of Massachusetts? North Carolinians 
are honest people. Why should they be subjected to this kind of 
treatment? As a former small businessman and a Southern taxpayer, I am 
outraged at this report and call for immediate action to reform the 
IRS.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues on the Democratic 
side and those on the Republican side in passing IRS reform last year. 
The findings of that report provide some clear examples of why our 
esteemed colleagues in the other body should quit dragging their feet 
and join the House in passing reform.

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