Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5446, and I thank Mr. Ferguson for working with our office to bring this bill to committee and here to the floor as well. And I thank the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins) for managing the time on this bill. This may be one of the last things she gets to do here on the House floor, and I just want to thank her for her friendship throughout the years, as well, and working in a bipartisan way with us on occasion. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague mentioned, this is a targeted bill to address the overzealous enforcement of existing law. These changes are needed because, as Mr. Ferguson will point out as well, we have found ourselves in an environment where small-business owners have seen their property and products taken and sold within 24 hours. Take, for example, as was mentioned by Ms. Jenkins, the 2015 IRS raid of Mii's Bridal and Tuxedo shop in Garland, Texas. Claiming the owners owed back taxes, the IRS agents seized $17,000 in cash and $650,000 in wedding dresses and equipment, like sewing machines. The agents then immediately auctioned off those items, even though their tax dispute was not settled and has not been contested. The agency argued the expedited procedures were needed because they said the dresses, as was mentioned, were perishable goods. These were not oranges or grapefruits, they were not apples or eggs, they were dresses.…”