[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5038-5039]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            TODAY IS TAX DAY

  (Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Today is tax day, April 15, and one of the 
things that I wanted to bring to the attention of Congress, really, is 
the amount of waste and abuse that takes place not just within the 
bloated Federal Government, but within the IRS.
  I serve as the vice chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Services 
and General Government of the Committee on Appropriations. In this last 
go-around, we reduced--or cut, actually--the IRS' budget by about $100 
million

[[Page 5039]]

to $300 million. The IRS Commissioner was before us to tell us that 
that is too much; it is too much; it is too much; the sky is going to 
fall; we are not going to be able to process returns; we are not going 
to be able to give taxpayers assistance.
  But what needs to be told on this floor, Mr. Speaker, is that the IRS 
sends out tens of billions of misapplied or fraudulent payments--tens 
of billions. This has to stop. It is not an issue of not making sure 
that people pay their taxes.
  I am all for making sure that things are applied fairly and 
equitably, but we have an obligation of responsibility to make sure 
that money is spent appropriately and efficiently or safeguarded. It is 
not our money.
  I just wanted, today, to take the opportunity to recognize the hard-
working moms and dads, individuals across this country who have written 
their check to Uncle Sam, and they expect us to be good stewards of 
their hard-earned dollars.
  There are a few bills we are working on this week I urge this body to 
pass. Whether it is balancing the budget or making sure that we 
eliminate the death tax, we will have our opportunity to make sure that 
we are holding the Federal Government accountable.

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