Doug Bereuter: “this Member opposes H.R. 3097, the Tax Code Termination Act, both as introduced and in the form of the Manager's…”

“this Member opposes H.R. 3097, the Tax Code Termination Act, both as introduced and in the form of the Manager's Amendment. Before going into the reasoning behind this opposition, this Member would like to preface his comments by the following statement. This Member unequivocally believes that substantial but very careful reform is needed for the U.S. tax Code. Examples abound of inefficiencies and counterproductive elements of the Internal Revenue Code as it operates today. However, this Member opposes H.R. 3097 for the following four reasons: (1) This Member does not think that we should delay decision-making as H.R. 3097 does. We need to decide today's issues today and not defer them to tomorrow. (2) H.R. 3097 fails for its lack of precision. H.R. 3097, in its manager's amendment version, would sunset the current tax code effective December 31, 2002. It is certainly not legislatively wise to eliminate the tax code without an alternative to replace it with. If such major action should be taken as contemplated by H.R. 3097, a precise alternative of a federal tax system needs to be simultaneously discussed. (3) This Member does not support this legislation because it could dramatically discourage investment as investors are faced with great uncertainty.”