Steny Hoyer: “I am opposed to it, I say to my friend from Minnesota. And very frankly, if we had decided the other amendment, I would…”

“I am opposed to it, I say to my friend from Minnesota. And very frankly, if we had decided the other amendment, I would have opposed it. The fact of the matter is, this bill spends too little money. Who says that? The Committee on Ways and Means says that. This bill has already cut $130 million below last year's. In the committee report, we assume the Federal employees in this bill as well as every other bill are going to get a 3-percent raise. I am for that. I think that is appropriate. We assume as well that there are going to be additional costs, as every business operator assumes. So that not only are we cutting $130 million below last year's appropriation, but we are cutting very substantially more below actual costs to do exactly the same services. Furthermore, as the Committee on Ways and Means has pointed out, they are very concerned that we have sufficient resources to carry out the present responsibilities of the Internal Revenue Service under law. The Committee on Ways and Means has further said that they are very concerned about the IRS being able to service the taxpayers consistent with their responsibilities. Furthermore, the IRS has been cut $700 million plus dollars, three-quarters of a billion dollars.”