[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2721-2722]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     FEDERAL EMPLOYEE INCOME TAXES

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, on February 17, 2011, I introduced a bill 
that will provide assurance to taxpayers that Federal employees are on 
equal footing with the American people and are held accountable to the 
same rules they enforce.
  In 2009, the Internal Revenue Service, IRS, found nearly 100,000 
civilian Federal employees were delinquent on their Federal income 
taxes, owing over $1 billion in unpaid Federal income taxes. When 
considering retirees and military, more than 282,000 Federal employees 
owed $3.3 billion in taxes.
  This legislation will save taxpayers at least $1 billion by requiring 
the Internal Revenue Service to collect unpaid Federal income taxes 
from civilian Federal employees.
  Federal employees have a clear obligation to pay their Federal income 
taxes. The very nature of Federal employment and the concept inherent 
to ``public service'' demands those being paid by taxpayers to also pay 
their fair share of taxes. Federal workers should not be exempt from 
the laws they enforce. In fact, they should lead by example. Failure to 
do so is an affront to taxpayers and to the rule of law.
  Unfortunately, Congress has allowed this abuse of taxpayer dollars to 
occur throughout the Federal Government and failed to implement the 
proper safeguards to hold culprits accountable. Considering our 
national debt recently surpassed $14 trillion, it is critical Congress 
quickly pass this legislation. Surely this milestone is a wake-up call 
for Congress to find ways to get

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control of the Federal budget and help get our country back on the 
right track towards fiscal responsibility.
  The bill I recently introduced requires all Federal employees to be 
current on their Federal income taxes or be fired from their jobs. This 
is a commonsense bill that most Americans would believe is reasonable, 
necessary, and likely surprised that it is not already the standard 
throughout the Federal Government.
  It is not the intention of this legislation to single out the 
majority of Federal employees who work hard and pay their taxes. 
Instead, the bill would carefully reach only those who have willfully 
neglected to pay their income taxes and would direct the IRS to only 
collect money already owed under the Federal Tax Code.
  This legislation excludes Federal employees who make oversights in 
their personal taxes but willfully agree to pay them or are challenging 
the delinquency in court or through the IRS.
  Specifically, it excludes Federal employees from termination if (1) 
the individual is currently paying the taxes, interest, and penalties 
owed to IRS under an installment plan; (2) the individual and the IRS 
have worked out a compromise on the amount of taxes, interest and 
penalties owed, and the compromise amount agreed upon is being repaid 
to IRS; (3) the individual has not exhausted his or her right to due 
process under the law; or (4) the individual filed a joint return and 
successfully contends he or she should not be fully liable for the 
taxes, interest, and/or penalties owed because of something the other 
party to the return did or did not do.
  I recently introduced this bipartisan legislation, because Congress 
has failed to responsibly manage taxpayer dollars and serve in the best 
interests of the American people. This legislation will provide a 
solution to level the playing field between Federal employees and the 
American people when it comes to paying Federal income taxes.
  It should be a priority of this Congress to pass this solution as a 
way to provide equal treatment under the law and to seek out 
commonsense opportunities that will reduce our national debt. Now is 
the time for Congress to get a grip on the federal budget and find 
responsible ways to save in order to preserve the heritage of service 
and sacrifice that made our country great.
  I thank my colleagues for the opportunity to speak in support of this 
legislation. I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their 
support.

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