[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 9776]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WE NEED TO FIX THE TAX CODE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Madam Speaker, perhaps the most dreaded day of 
the year for taxpayers will soon be upon us, April 15. We're all at 
home with paper and pen, with stacks of receipts and books, strewn upon 
our kitchen table, and as tax day approaches, I come before the House 
of Representatives to share Kansans' many frustrations and to call upon 
Congress to fix the Tax Code.
  Our country desperately needs a better tax system. The United States 
Tax Code is complex, confusing, and terribly burdensome to taxpayers, 
and it impedes our Nation's economic growth. The IRS has estimated that 
individual taxpayers and businesses spend 7.6 billion hours each year 
filling out their taxes. To put that number in perspective, that's 3.8 
million employees working full time for the entire year.
  It's obvious, certainly to anyone filling out their tax return this 
year, that an overhaul of the Federal Tax Code is required. The Fair 
Tax Act, which I support, H.R. 25, is a direction we should go and 
contains many meritorious ideas which would start the process. The fair 
tax would repeal income, payroll, and a multitude of other taxes. And 
those taxes would be replaced by a national sales or consumption tax on 
retail purchases.
  But no matter what system we agree upon, what we model our tax reform 
around, the fact remains: America deserves an easier, commonsense, and 
less convoluted tax system than we currently have in place. We need a 
tax system that promotes personal freedom. Decisions should be made 
based upon what's good for us individually, what's good for our 
families, and what's good for our businesses. It shouldn't be all about 
what's good for the tax man.
  But instead of tax simplification and tax relief, Americans this year 
will be facing the same broken system and a budget proposal that 
increases their taxes to pay for more spending. Many are angry at the 
reckless spending of this Congress, so much so that a national 
grassroots movement of tea parties has opened up this spring. On April 
15, over 300 tax day tea parties are planned across the country, many 
of them in Kansas.
  Kansans are tired of footing the bill for Wall Street bailouts and 
rewarding bad behavior in the housing market. They're frustrated with 
trillion dollar stimulus efforts that fund projects and programs that 
simply won't stimulate the economy. They're upset with massive 
government spending that increases our national debt at a time when 
most American families are forced to tighten their belts and make tough 
choices.
  Americans are struggling, and we need to get the country moving, but 
increasing taxes to recklessly throw dollars at the problem is not the 
solution. I am one of only a few of the 435 Members of this House to 
vote against every stimulus and bailout plan. I'd like to say that 
there were more of us. Hopefully, this tax day will serve as a reminder 
for Congress and the administration to put the taxpayer first--spend a 
lot less and create a tax system that is fair and efficient and that 
promotes individual freedom.

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