Chuck Grassley: “we are here today in the second day of debate on this legislation to discuss a very important issue, and that is the…”

“we are here today in the second day of debate on this legislation to discuss a very important issue, and that is the restructuring of the Internal Revenue Service. As my colleagues know, I have worked very hard on this issue--serving on the National Commission on Restructuring of the IRS and joining Senator Kerrey of Nebraska in introducing the first piece of comprehensive legislation that would comprehensively restructure the IRS. In addition, Senators Reid, Kerrey and I introduced the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights III earlier this year. There are real problems in dealing with the IRS, and there are real problems at that agency, as shown in the Senate Finance Committee hearings--which were so ably chaired by Senator Roth from Delaware, the chairman of that committee--and not only the recent ones which were probably the most shocking, but also starting last September with hearings that brought out horror stories. These hearings about the horror stories were about our Government's treatment of taxpayers. Every time I go home I hear from constituents who tell me about their firsthand experiences with the IRS. Rarely are they good. For this reason, it is not good enough to just try. We have to succeed in this reform.”