Bob Kerrey: “the Internal Revenue Service Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 will touch the lives of hundreds of millions of…”

“the Internal Revenue Service Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 will touch the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans. More Americans pay taxes than vote. The perception of how our government treats us--its citizens--is rooted more in our contact with the IRS than with any other U.S. agency or entity. How we are treated by the IRS--and our tax laws--effects our perception of whether or not we believe we have a fair shot at the American Dream and whether or not we are a government of, by and for the people. During our deliberations this week, we must be mindful of Congress's complicity in allowing the IRS to become what it has become. The IRS is not Sears & Roebuck--we are its Board of Directors. We write the tax laws, we are responsible for the oversight and it was on our watch that the IRS became the mess we now try to clean up. Mr. President, I remind my colleagues that Congress has changed the tax code 63 times since 1986, and these changes have created a tax code that costs the American taxpayers $75 billion a year to comply.”