Scott Walker: “I thank the chairman, and I thank my distinguished colleague from Alabama for working so diligently on this piece of…”

“I thank the chairman, and I thank my distinguished colleague from Alabama for working so diligently on this piece of legislation. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 4921, the Ditto Act. The Ditto Act is not just about ensuring that the Internal Revenue Service properly maintains its records; it is also about holding the government and the powerful to the same standards to which they hold American citizens. This bill states that, if the IRS requires American citizens to maintain their tax records, then the IRS also has to maintain any record for at least 3 years. Currently, the IRS requests or recommends American citizens maintain certain records or tax information for the ``just in case.'' Essentially, the IRS says that American citizens have to hold on to their information for years at a time in the event that the IRS may request information to audit us, to investigate us, or to take some similar action. However, current investigations and congressional hearings show that the IRS does not hold itself to the same standards, and it does not properly maintain its own records. This unequal enforcement of the law is part of a bigger problem. Continued and recent events, as we have seen recently, point to the fact that government agencies, such as the IRS, attempt to play by different rules than the rest of us. The Ditto Act is another step in ensuring that government bureaucrats are held to the same standards as all Americans.…”