Richard Gephardt: “I strongly support this bill to reform the Internal Revenue Service. In my view, we are taking an important step to…”

“I strongly support this bill to reform the Internal Revenue Service. In my view, we are taking an important step to increase the accountability of the IRS and to shift the balance of power back toward the taxpayer. But it is important to remember that this bill is not the end game in our battle to make the tax system fairer. Let us make sure that this bipartisan step taken today will not fall prey to partisan fodder for next year's campaign. House Republicans, I hope, will pressure their Senate leaders to pass this bill. Let us get it in place before the tax season so that people can benefit immediately. Over the last several weeks we saw the abuses which took place at the IRS, abuses which caused Americans to become even more outraged by our system of taxation. There have been countless numbers of stories about abuses of the enforcement power of the IRS. However, one incident which took place in my hometown of St. Louis, I think sums up what is wrong and what this bill begins to address.”