[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 56 (Friday, April 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TAXPAYER RECEIPT ACT OF 2011

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                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 15, 2011

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, in the recent months, taxes and spending 
have become a central topic in our national debate. How much federal 
income tax people pay and what those taxes pay for is not well 
understood by many Americans.
  Very little information about how tax revenues are spent is ever made 
available to the American people. This results in significant 
misinformation. For example, a Washington Post and Kaiser Foundation 
poll found that by a margin of two to one, Americans believe that the 
federal government spends more on foreign aid than on either Social 
Security or Medicare. This is why I am reintroducing the Taxpayer 
Receipt Act of 2011. This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury 
to provide each taxpayer with a simple annual statement explaining how 
his or her federal income tax dollars were spent.
  In the previous session I introduced this bill to bring transparency 
to government spending. Today, in tandem with the President's launch of 
the official federal taxpayer receipt, I will reintroduce this 
legislation to require by law that this critical information be 
provided to the American people for years to come.
  The taxpayer receipt act provides an unbiased objective receipt that 
details federal spending based on the same budget functions used in the 
appropriations process and rarely changed. This ensures accuracy and 
consistency from year to year, to ensure that the tax receipt is used 
to inform the American people objectively and not be used as a 
political document.
  Thomas Jefferson once said, ``Information is the currency of 
democracy.'' To that end, providing Americans with information and 
transparency on government spending is essential to maintaining the 
strength and health of our democracy.

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