Nancy L. Johnson: “Mr. Speaker, the House already has acted favorably on the contents of H.R. 2337 when it passed the 7-year Balanced…”

“Mr. Speaker, the House already has acted favorably on the contents of H.R. 2337 when it passed the 7-year Balanced Budget Act on October 26, 1995. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights II was part of the Committee on Ways and Means title of H.R. 2491. The freestanding bill which the Committee on Ways and Means approved on March 21, 1996, is substantially the same as the provisions which passed the House last October as part of the 7-year Balanced Budget Act, with only minor technical changes and adjustments to some of the bill's effective dates. Upon the President's veto of that bill, Mr. Speaker, Commissioner Richardson implemented a number of our recommendations by administrative action, and for that I thank her. I commend her as well and appreciate her concern with our point of view by enclosing my remarks in which I expressed great concern for the IRS's use of economic reality audits with the distribution of her guidance to her staff in the use of these extensive audits for the purpose of assuring that people do pay their fair share. I have enjoyed working with Commissioner Richardson and her staff, and my colleague the gentleman from California [Mr. Matsui] and I believe that the bill we bring before you today will move us forward in assuring taxpayers' rights in dealing with the IRS, but also will do so in a way that is harmonious with our underlying law and the responsibilities of the IRS.”