[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7112-H7113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ENSURING INTEGRITY IN THE IRS WORKFORCE ACT OF 2018
Ms. JENKINS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 3500) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
prohibit the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service from rehiring
any employee of the Internal Revenue Service who was involuntarily
separated from service for misconduct, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3500
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Integrity in the
IRS Workforce Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON REHIRING ANY EMPLOYEE OF THE INTERNAL
REVENUE SERVICE WHO WAS INVOLUNTARILY SEPARATED
FROM SERVICE FOR MISCONDUCT.
(a) In General.--Section 7804 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(d) Prohibition on Rehiring Employees Involuntarily
Separated.--The Commissioner may not hire any individual
previously employed by the Commissioner who was removed for
misconduct under this subchapter or chapter 43 or chapter 75
of title 5, United States Code, or whose employment was
terminated under section 1203 of the Internal Revenue Service
Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (26 U.S.C. 7804
note).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to the hiring of employees after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts
otherwise authorized.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Kansas (Ms. Jenkins) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Kansas.
General Leave
Ms. JENKINS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3500, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Kansas?
There was no objection.
Ms. JENKINS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today we are taking up H.R. 3500, the bipartisan
Ensuring Integrity in the IRS Workforce Act. This bill seeks to provide
additional safeguards within the IRS by prohibiting the agency from
rehiring any individual previously employed by the IRS but removed for
misconduct or terminated for cause.
{time} 1515
Before we talk more about this bill, I would like to take a moment
just to thank the bill's sponsor, Representative Kristi Noem from South
Dakota, for her tireless work on this bill.
Last Congress, a version of this bill passed the House of
Representatives with overwhelming, bipartisan support. This Congress,
we made some small changes to the bill to address some of my
colleagues' concerns and we hope that they will continue to support the
bill in its new form. We are also encouraged to see its presence in the
bipartisan Taxpayer First Act, introduced by chairman and ranking
member of the Senate Finance Committee just last week.
As we all know, IRS employees have access to Americans' most
sensitive information, such as our Social Security numbers, home
addresses, and how much we are paid. Given the magnitude of the
sensitive information that the IRS holds, hiring employees of high
integrity is essential to maintaining public trust in tax
administration and safeguarding taxpayer information.
In 2017, work by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration, or TIGTA, raised serious concerns about the IRS's
continued practice of rehiring former employees with conduct and
performance issues. The inspector general concluded that the IRS does
not have effective hiring policies to fully consider past employee
conduct and performance issues prior to making a tentative decision to
rehire them.
I should note that this is the second such report that the inspector
general has published. In 2014, the inspector general first alerted
Congress to this
[[Page H7113]]
issue, finding that the IRS was rehiring former employees with
significant conduct or performance issues.
So what types of conduct are we talking about here? We are talking
about IRS employees who threatened their coworkers, didn't pay their
own taxes, were excessively absent, falsified employment forms, or were
so deficient in their jobs that the IRS had no choice but to terminate
their employment. There were also instances where employees accessed
sensitive taxpayer information without authorization to do so. I think
we can all agree that those are not the types of people that the IRS
should be seeking to rehire.
While Congress has repeatedly sought to signal to the IRS its concern
on this issue through legislation such as the IRS Restructuring and
Reform Act of 1998, and the IRS Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2016, the IRS continues to struggle.
TIGTA's most recent findings suggest that further congressional
action is needed. As a result, we have before us today a bill which
will seek to guarantee that this practice does not continue. It also
ensures greater integrity within the IRS's workforce, something that I
think all Members of Congress can easily support.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today's debate reminds me of the words of Will Rogers
who used to say that: ``The only difference between death and taxes is
that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.''
Although I concede that he had a point during most of the past year,
hopefully, today will be an exception to the Rogers rule. That is
because we are taking up H.R. 3500, a good bill that would prevent the
IRS from rehiring employees who have previously been terminated due to
poor conduct or performance.
I want to say at the outset that I know most, if not overwhelmingly
all, IRS employees tend to be ethical and diligent public servants who
have, in recent years, been asked to do much more with much less. That
is exactly what the American people deserve and expect from them and we
all appreciate those efforts.
The IRS employees collecting our Nation's revenue enable the Federal
Government to support veterans benefits, pave roads, protect the
environment, fund medical research, care for needy children, and meet
all of the other needs our Federal Government asks. This is an enormous
task, and we need intelligent men and women of integrity in those roles
who will administer our Tax Code in a fair, even-handed, reasonable,
and ethical manner. Most IRS employees meet this standard with the
utmost attention to their professional responsibilities and we honor
their contributions to the country.
When we learn of situations that fall short of those high standards
or employees who have conducted themselves dishonorably, though, it is
critically important to rectify the situation swiftly. Jobs at the IRS
are positions of great public trust, and last year the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration alerted us to a practice of
hiring individuals who had previously violated that trust.
During 15 months covering parts of 2015 and 2016, TIGTA found that
the IRS hired almost 7,500 people, including 2,000 rehires. About 10
percent of the rehired employees, who were mostly seasonal workers, had
been terminated or separated while under investigation for
substantiated conduct or performance issues. Four of the more than 200
rehired employees failed to file their own tax returns. Four were under
investigation for unauthorized access to taxpayer information. Twenty-
seven failed to disclose a prior termination or conviction on their
applications, as required.
Although these hires represent but a fraction of IRS employees
overall, it is important that we rectify the situation swiftly and
prevent this from happening in the future.
So I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3500, and at the same time
remind them that the outliers we are addressing today should not
diminish our respect for the men and women at the IRS who serve the
public with, I think, dignity every single day.
Mr. Speaker, let me thank those Internal Revenue Service employees
for their hard work.
Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues on both sides to support this
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JENKINS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
In closing, I would like to point out that this legislation has
enjoyed wide bipartisan support in the past, and for good reason. It is
a commonsense bill that will help build trust with the IRS and
integrity within our tax system.
I want to, again, thank my colleague from South Dakota,
Representative Kristi Noem, for being a leader on this issue and for
sponsoring this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3500, and I
yield back the balance of my time
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3500, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________