Bob Kerrey

A taxpayer under this legislation, under this new law, would have the power to collect attorney's fees and to collect up to $100,000 if the IRS was held to be negligent.

That is correct. It does create a toll-free number and powerful new incentives to move to electronic filing.

It creates a public board that would for the first time have oversight of the IRS, have the power to develop a strategic plan, and make budget recommendations to the Secretary of the Treasury.

The culture, though, is not going to change at the IRS until we give the IRS Commissioner the management authority the manager needs to be able to run the agency with performance that is based upon something other than these quotas that…

No. Indeed, it is endorsed by almost every organization outside of the Government that has contact with the IRS. The National Federation of Independent Businessmen supports this legislation, as well as the National Treasury Employees Union…

In fact, the 3 days of hearings that the Senate Finance Committee held under the leadership of Chairman Roth clearly exposed incidents out there in violation of the law where audits are done, where collection efforts are made based on…

The answer is absolutely yes. Indeed, I said the House passed this bill 426 to 4 on Wednesday. I came to the floor and asked unanimous consent to take it up on Thursday, did so again on Friday, and did so again on Saturday. I say to those…

Yes. In fact, not only does the National Federation of Independent Businessmen support this legislation, not only do most of the providers organizations that help taxpayers fill out their forms, but the head of the National Treasury…

An additional 800 pages in the code. Lord knows, this is good news to them compared to some years we don't pass a tax bill until about now, until they are almost always into their filing season. What we have to understand, what citizens…

The Treasury Department and the administration support the bill that is lying right down there, that if there was no objection we would take up immediately here and pass in the Senate as well. Not only does the Treasury support it, but…

I appreciate both the Senators' questions and statements. As a former Governor, I have commented right from the beginning that he could fire anybody who was a discourteous employee. Let me say again, for the record, we have a remarkable…

I can say that one of the things that we have done with this legislation is to make the taxpayer advocate more independent. Very often that is what is missing. Let's say that you are one of the 135,000, or you are one of the 270,000 since…

Mr. President, I hope that in the next day or two, while we are deliberating in this world's greatest deliberative body, resolving all the terrible conflicts we have on a variety of things, I hope we are able to get consideration of this…

I respectfully disagree. I don't think we will just get one bite of the apple. I believe Majority Leader Lott and the Speaker are committed to going further. Both of them have talked especially about the need to simplify the Tax Code. I…

They would get their attorney fees paid up; and if there was negligence, up to $100,000. And we establish assistance centers out there for the first time for taxpayers who are struggling to get questions answered.

Yes, 800,000 a month of contacts to the IRS or audits or matters that are almost as serious as an audit that goes out to some taxpayers. There is no question, if we take this bill up that is lying right down there now that passed…

I don't think anybody in the Chamber would object to changing the law to give the Commissioner the authority to manage this agency or do all the other things the distinguished Senator from Nevada has identified on behalf of taxpayers, like…

One of the things that this law does in title II is deal with a new trend that all of us understand, which is electronic commerce. We see a lot of electronic commerce developing out there in the private sector. The IRS has been struggling…

2 years ago Senator Shelby, the distinguished Senator from Alabama, and I were managing the Treasury- Postal appropriations bill on the floor at about this time of the year, I believe. And one of the actions that we had taken in our bill…

I believe that when we know we can get something done that will improve the operation of the IRS, we ought to do it. Again, I respectfully say, I think this sets up the basis for further action, because it gives the IRS Commissioner the…

as long as we are in session, I will come to the floor, and I hope those on the other side of the aisle will look at this bill. The Senate did confirm Charles Rossotti to be the new Commissioner of the IRS. There is a lot in this bill. If…

I rise in my capacity as vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee to urge passage of the intelligence authorization conference report. The House and Senate both produced good bills this year, they fit together quite well, and the…

I was very encouraged to read in this morning's newspaper the majority leader's comments about the agenda for the rest of the session. An agreement has been reached on bringing up campaign finance reform next year. On the list of things…

I recently introduced the Highway Safety Priority Act which proposed to make safety a primary consideration in highway investments. Traffic accidents are part of a national health epidemic responsible for the loss of 1.2 million…

one of the challenges of the 21st century is already upon us. It is commonly known as the year 2000 computer problem or the millennium bug. At issue is a programming technique that could lead to the malfunction of computer systems…