[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.

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