Steny Hoyer: “I really think had we had the opportunity to work on this bill a little longer... we could work this out. I think we are…”

“I really think had we had the opportunity to work on this bill a little longer... we could work this out. I think we are pretty close to working this out, but we are certainly not close, as the ranking member indicated, with not having added what has been offered by your side to add. That is not added here. We are not close to funding IRS. Let me say something about the chairman's comment about the level of employees of IRS. Let me remind you, he said there were 95,000 IRS employees. In 1992 there were 116,000 IRS employees. What has happened since 1992? Obviously, as the gentleman points out, they have been reduced 20 percent in the level of employees. That happened. Number two, we have millions of additional taxpayers. Number three, the complexity of the returns has increased as a result, very frankly, of some of the tax bills offered by the Republican majority which have become law.”