[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14688]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HOLD THE IRS' FEET TO THE FIRE

  (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it's time for Americans to 
know the truth about the abuse of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars, 
especially at a time when the President is calling for tax increases.
  The issue I'm talking about is IRS action that puts billions of 
taxpayer dollars at risk. Currently, the IRS allows individuals without 
a Social Security number to get cash benefits--like the $1,000 
refundable child tax credit which is costing American taxpayers 
billions of dollars--by obtaining an individual taxpayer identification 
number, or ITIN.
  A recent IG report revealed a shocking scandal within the IRS that 
encouraged employees to fast track ITIN approval without regard to 
preventing fraud. The ITIN has become a ticket to get cash from Uncle 
Sam, and this is wrong.
  I'm introducing the ITIN Reform Act to hold the IRS' feet to the fire 
to better protect the American taxpayer, and I urge all my colleagues 
to support this bill.

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