Political Quotes

“This is ``bashing the IRS and its 80,000 employees'' week, but the two bills here today are very minor additions. Tomorrow and Thursday are the real problem proposals and the real culprits. They are the ones that really curtail the ability of the IRS to provide adequate service. Let me say just a few words about this bill. It urges the IRS to make available printed copies of IRS Publication 17, as has been said--the tax guide for individuals--free of charge to taxpayers. According to the IRS, printing and shipping copies of this publication cost them more than $500,000 last year. Will the Republicans fund this important service for taxpayers? No. Better yet, will they increase funding for customer services broadly, like answering taxpayer phone calls or investing in cybersecurity to prevent fraud? No. Instead, Republicans have cut the IRS' budget by close to $1 billion since 2010. As a consequence of those cuts, the state of the IRS' customer service today is inexcusable. If Republicans want the IRS to improve the services they provide to taxpayers, they need to provide adequate funding for the IRS. They need to increase it instead of cutting it as they have in previous years. This bill is also a distraction from the Republicans' inability to act on what really matters: the budget bill, the Flint bill--in terms of responding to the crisis there--and the Puerto Rico legislation.…”