[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16216-16217]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF DAVID WILLIAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 18, 2007

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
accomplishment of Mr. David Williams of Arlington, Virginia and a proud 
member of our civil service. Mr. Williams revamped outreach efforts for 
the Earned Income Tax Credit, helping hundreds of thousands of 
additional Americans receive vital benefits, and oversaw the Telephone 
Excise Tax Refund--the largest one-time tax refund in history.
  The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is widely recognized as our 
Federal government's most effective anti-poverty program. Despite the 
program's overall success, studies revealed an erroneous payment rate 
of roughly 25 percent, and millions of eligible workers were not 
claiming the credit. David Williams, who heads the EITC office at the 
Internal Revenue Service, led the effort to revamp the program. Thanks 
to his leadership, as many as 500,000 more people each year are 
receiving vital benefits.
  Today, under Mr. Williams' leadership, the IRS works with more than 
150 nonprofit and community-based organizations to host EITC awareness 
events in more than 50 cities, creating volunteer tax assistance sites 
at banks, businesses and community centers. He also used news 
conferences and local media to help drive people to seek out this 
assistance.
  In just 1 year, more than 2 million tax returns were prepared at 
these volunteer tax assistance sites. The tax credits low-income 
working Americans receive help them cover the essential costs they face 
every day--from child care to fixing the car. One person who attended a 
workshop reported that the tax credit helped her go from being an 
apartment renter to a homeowner. Since David Williams launched these 
new outreach efforts, the number of eligible taxpayers receiving the 
credit has increased by 500,000 people a year, and last year, more than 
22 million people received $41 billion in EITC payments.
  As a senior official at the IRS, it would be easy to think of David 
Williams as a numbers guy. But his people skills, strategic approach 
and ability to lead diverse groups to achieve shared public policy 
goals have distinguished him as one of our government's most 
outstanding employees and have helped him positively affect the lives 
of millions of Americans.
  Madam Speaker, I commend Mr. Williams for his leadership, and I am 
proud to have him live in Virginia's 8th Congressional District as he 
contributes to the greatest civil service in the world. I wish him all 
the best in his future endeavors.

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