Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the IRS has never been, and likely will never be, an agency anyone is glad to hear from. However, American taxpayers should at least have confidence that they will receive a fair shake from the agency. Without this, our system of taxation that relies on voluntary reporting of income will fall apart. In recent years, gross mismanagement and inappropriate actions by certain IRS employees have shaken what confidence taxpayers have had in the agency. Today, Senator Thune and I are reintroducing legislation we introduced last Congress aimed at ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect taxpayer rights by preventing IRS abuses. Called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights Enhancement Act (TBORE), our bill updates and strengthens several provisions enacted in prior Taxpayer Bill of Rights legislation. I am pleased that several of the provisions in last Congress' version of the bill were enacted into law, including codifying the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. However, more must be done if we are going to renew the taxpaying public's confidence in the IRS. No legislation is likely to fix all of the IRS recent shortcomings on its own. There is a need for a change of culture within the IRS. We hope our bill will serve as a catalyst for a cultural shift within the IRS. Our bill sends a clear message to the IRS--Congress is not going to tolerate poor service and the systematic abuse of taxpayer rights.…”