[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 117 (Thursday, August 2, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       FEDERAL EMPLOYEE TAX ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2012, H.R. 828

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 31, 2012

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today makes any person 
who has a seriously delinquent tax debt ineligible for federal 
employment or to continue serving as a federal employee. I will vote 
for this bill because I strongly believe that all Americans, including 
federal employees, should meet their legal tax obligations. However, 
this bill is an unnecessary distraction from the urgent problems facing 
Congress because there is no evidence to show federal employees deserve 
to be targeted for tax non-compliance. In fact, the data shows just the 
opposite.
  The compliance rate of federal employees is much higher than the 
general public according to the most recent statistics from the 
Internal Revenue Service. The IRS says more than 96 percent of federal 
workers paid their taxes in full, on time, and have no outstanding debt 
to the government. This high compliance rate is even more impressive 
considering the families of federal employees have been forced to 
endure repeated pay freezes and benefit reductions in recent years.
  An amendment from my colleague Congressman Lynch of Massachusetts 
improved H.R. 828 by creating a process to ensure federal employees who 
are making a good faith effort to pay their tax debt or those suffering 
financial hardship are not unfairly targeted or dismissed. Still, the 
provisions of H.R. 828 will result in few new dollars going into the 
federal Treasury because federal employees are already the model for 
American taxpayers, not the problem. If House Republicans were 
genuinely concerned with improving tax compliance this body would be 
voting on legislation to close tax loopholes and tax shelters exploited 
by some of the nation's wealthiest individuals and corporations to 
avoid paying tens of billions of dollars every year.
  The best course of action for this House would be to set this purely 
symbolic, politically-motivated legislation aside so we can focus on 
legislation that creates jobs and helps to grow the economy.

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