[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 26 (Thursday, March 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                THE IRS

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, in April of 1996, a deadly tornado struck 
Fort Smith, Arkansas, causing widespread destruction, yet almost a full 
2 years after this tragedy, the citizens of this town are yet again 
facing another terror. That is right, the IRS.
  IRS agents are auditing these families for not correctly reporting 
their casualty losses that they incurred. These folks have not been 
targeted by the IRS because they bilked or cheated the U.S. Government 
out of money by claiming fraudulent tax deductions or utilizing illegal 
tax shelters. These people are being audited because the IRS just does 
not agree with how they reported their houses were ripped from their 
foundations and their lives torn apart.
  The reprehensible actions prompted a survivor whose house was 
destroyed to say that ``While the death and destruction is behind us, 
the tornado, the IRS, is never going away.'' She said this, of course, 
under an agreement of anonymity, because she fears that her comments 
will spur further retaliation from the IRS.
  Outrageous, Mr. Speaker. It is time to take the fear and the terror 
out of the hearts of Americans. The time to overhaul the IRS is long 
overdue.

                          ____________________