Bob Kerrey

Senator Grassley not only was on the National Commission on Restructuring the IRS, along with myself and Congressman Portman and Congressman Cardin on the House side, but long before I ever became interested in this issue, Senator…

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…

Both of those pieces of legislation were landmark bills. The reason they were landmark bills is they laid a foundation upon which we are building this legislation. All of title III, which adds additional powers to what the taxpayers will…

The present-law structure impedes continuity and accountability. I emphasize this. This is one of the big complaints to the Restructuring Commission and the hearings that Senator Roth had. We heard repeatedly from taxpayers that they just…

for the first time in a quarter century this budget resolution is being debated in an environment, where rather than talking about getting rid of the deficit, we are able to talk with great enthusiasm about what to do with the surplus. We…

I believe we are doing what is commonly referred to as ``making the perfect the enemy of the good.'' In other words, we are taking a good piece of legislation that passed the House last November in a 426-4 vote, which would give taxpayers…

You decide what comes up. I heard the chairman of the Finance Committee say that nothing is a higher priority than the restructuring of the IRS. We worked for 5 days on the Ronald Reagan Airport. We debated human cloning for 4 days. You…

I also rise in opposition to cloture. If you look out across America today and look at the growth in the economy and the economic success and the various reasons why we have that economic success, it is clear that one of the things we need…

first of all, the distinguished Senator from Georgia mentioned a filibuster. All we are asking for on this side of the aisle is a chance to do more. We look out in America and see crumbling schools and class sizes growing. We see a much…

I think one of the points we need to make to citizens who are watching this is that in the great tax debates that go around this Capitol, very often what we are talking about when we are talking about taxes is income taxes; people are…

Again in your hometown newspaper, it reported anyway-- perhaps it is not--division on the other side of the aisle. Senator Domenici has a $30 billion tax cut over 5 years. Someone on that side of the aisle wanted a $60 billion tax cut over…

I also point out, Mr. President, since the Senator transitioned into that, that it would put it into actuarial balance for 75 years, there have been a lot of people talking about--well, let's take again this surplus, which is nothing more…

let me talk about the wealth-generating portion of this. We know this represents the largest tax decrease in the history of the country, somewhere between $300 billion or $400 billion over a 5-year period, an $800 billion tax cut overall…

I appreciate very much this proposal, because coming from the Senator from New York, it is, I think, much more likely to gather the attention of Americans who understand that this is a gentleman who is a strong defender of the Social…

I would like to commend my Democrat and Republican colleagues for their hard work in creating a transportation bill that will reduce traffic congestion, make our roads safer, and protect the U.S. environment. ISTEA, the Intermodal Surface…

for Americans government secrecy is a paradox. In a democracy, it's an unusual action for us to decide to keep something secret from the public, because it's their government. What we do is for the people. It's carried out in their name…

the world witnessed a diplomatic success in United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan's trip to Baghdad last weekend. We saw a successful conclusion to an episode that has been and probably will continue to be a very long drama of…

Third, we should openly and consistently state our goal of a free, democratic Iraq, even if we have to state it repeatedly for years. To accept less and say less is simply unworthy of our heritage. Mr. President, there are additional steps…

I believe the last 7 years in the United States we have seen a dramatic transformation in the United States Congress from one of an expectation almost that the Japanese and other Asian nationals are going to overwhelm us. I remember very…

I was very disappointed, many of my colleagues down here, a lot of us were disappointed that we were not able to get the ISTEA legislation passed last year. For me the ISTEA legislation is one of the most important things with which this…

Getting it done by the end of March means that, prior to the 15th of April, taxpayers will have substantially more power. Under current law, the IRS can come out and try to collect money from a taxpayer that they think owes money and, if…

I do not know if the distinguished Senator from Connecticut said anything between the time I left my office and came here to the floor with which I disagree, but in the time that I watched him from my office and listened to his words from…

first of all, let me return the compliment. I have high praise for the chairman. He has done exceptional work on this issue, especially the 3 days of hearings which penetrated the section 6103 veil and issues that are protected under…

This law would change it when it reached the tax court. In those cases where the taxpayer reached the tax court, the presumption would not be on the taxpayers to prove that they are innocent.

A new public board, in fact, would make the hiring decision and create an independent taxpayer advocate. The current advocate, as you know, is an employee of the IRS and, as a consequence, although he has done a good job, in many ways has…