[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 10, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H2575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             BACKLOG IN IRS

  (Mr. Subramanyam of Virginia was recognized to address the House for 
5 minutes.)
  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, imagine if someone owes you money and 
they said they would pay you back immediately, but they take weeks, 
months, and then years to do so.
  That is what is going on right now with our Federal Government. The 
IRS has a backlog of tax refunds that is costing the American people a 
lot of money. Instead of fixing the backlog and rooting out waste and 
fraud, this administration is defunding the IRS and firing tax experts. 
They are opening the door for more waste, fraud, and abuse, not less.
  This doesn't save money. Instead, we will lose out on $159 billion on 
tax revenue, and the impacts are just hypothetical. I am hearing from 
constituents all over my district who are tangibly impacted by this 
backlog and by what is going on at the IRS.
  Take a small business in my district who filed for a tax refund. They 
are owed tens of thousands of dollars, money that is critical to 
running and growing their business, and now they can't make new 
investments because they are waiting for their refund. There is another 
family whose refund has taken years now, and they continue to see 
delays in getting their money back.
  Defunding the IRS will only make those delays worse, and firing the 
tax watchdogs who prevent corruption will help big corporations dodge 
taxes left and right.
  DOGE is enabling tax fraud, and making it harder to hold corporations 
more accountable. If my colleagues want to save taxpayer money, how 
about we fix the IRS, not dismantle it. This will save more money than 
DOGE ever would.


                        Russell Vought and DOGE

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, many people think after Elon Musk left 
his post and is taking shots at the administration that DOGE is over, 
but that is simply not true.
  The real architect of DOGE is Russell Vought. Vought is the co-author 
of Project 2025, the memo that President Trump said he has nothing to 
do with during the campaign trail.
  Vought currently heads the Office of Management and Budget and said 
himself that he wants to traumatize the Federal workforce. He said: `` 
. . . we want them to not want to go to work . . . We want their 
funding to be shut down . . . We want to put them in trauma.''
  This includes firing hard-to-replace civil servants, scientists, and 
meteorologists; and intimidating and harassing those who remain in 
hopes of driving them out of the Federal Government, despite their 
expertise that we need to keep our country safe and prosperous.
  Let's be clear. This is not about making government more efficient. 
In fact, they want to replace many of these jobs with loyalists, even 
setting up loyalty tests. They are driving a brain drain in our Federal 
Government by choosing loyalty to the President over merit and 
competence, creating less efficiency and more waste, fraud, and abuse, 
and opportunities for corruption.
  Essentially, we have to stop this. Make no mistake, I will fight this 
every step of the way.


                         Celebrating Station 7

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the new fire 
station that just opened off of Route 50, Station 7.
  This new 23,000-square-foot facility is replacing the previous fire 
station that was built in 1971 and will provide crucial, lifesaving 
services to over 6,000 residents, covering over 40,000 square miles of 
response area.
  Station 7 will be staffed around the clock by career and volunteer 
firefighters and respond to calls of all types, medical, fire, and even 
wildland support.

  The work that these first responders do is critical, and they keep 
all of us healthy, safe, and protected; putting their lives on the line 
for the benefit of the community.
  As a former volunteer firefighter myself, I thank the crews operating 
out of the new Aldie Fire Station for their service and dedication to 
our community.


                Effects of Big, Ugly Bill on Virginians

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, the big, ugly bill the House passed is 
actually far worse than we thought for Virginians.
  A new report shows that the red tape this bill adds to Medicaid 
eligibility could leave over 400,000 people in Virginia uninsured. That 
will lead to full ERs, long wait times, and higher insurance premiums 
for all Virginians.
  The bill also continues the attack on Virginia's Federal workforce by 
undermining benefits for contractors, veterans, and longtime civil 
servants.
  And while Virginians are being squeezed by grocery prices because of 
tariffs, the cuts to SNAP in this bill will mean tens of thousands of 
kids and over 35,000 veterans could lose their access to affordable 
food. I don't think leaving children and veterans without food 
assistance is beautiful at all.
  The truth is that this big, ugly bill is that it will bankrupt future 
generations by exploding the debt. It will hurt our economy in Virginia 
and leave kids and seniors without food and care.

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