Jacob J. Lew

I don't think defaulting on payments to veterans is any better than defaulting on payments to foreign bond holders.

If we do not have the resources to hire the enforcement officers that we need, the tax gap will only grow.

Over the past 7 years under the President's leadership, we have seen a sustained economic recovery and an unprecedented decline in the Federal budget deficit.

The fiscal year 2017 President's budget puts forward the building blocks of a social compact for the 21st century and creates the conditions for sustained economic growth.

You find cases of tax avoidance, and we know when you find cases of tax avoidance, voluntary compliance goes up.

This agreement demonstrates that we have the capacity to find common ground on difficult issues and lays a foundation for addressing some of our long-term challenges.

The budget also makes critical investments in our domestic and national security priorities while adhering to the bipartisan budget agreement signed into law last fall.

The immediate need is for Congress to pass legislation that will permit them to restructure their debt.

The American people deserve to have an IRS with the resources so that, when you pick up the phone and call the IRS, there is a person at the other end to answer it.

We can't just cut the things that we need to grow in order to reduce the deficit more in the short run.

The real goal is not to restructure the debt. The real goal is to get back to economic growth.