James Traficant: “I have never heard so many Members coming over and saying they agree with me, but they have to oppose my amendment. They…”

“I have never heard so many Members coming over and saying they agree with me, but they have to oppose my amendment. They say they like what I am doing, it needs to be done; but they are going to have to vote ``no.'' They say, I want to commend you, Mr. Traficant, because what you are doing is an absolute necessity, but I am going to have to vote ``no.'' Now, let me explain what the amendment is. Two years ago, 81 percent of all information given by the IRS to our constituents was false and wrong. This year, they corrected it and they improved, only having 73 percent of the information given to our constituents to be deemed faulty. Now, I want my colleagues to listen to this. I want my colleagues to listen to what a GAO report said. The report said that 50 percent of all of our constituents' calls made to the Internal Revenue Service are not even returned; they go unanswered. Now, here is what the Traficant amendment says. It lets all these IRS people go, but there are 10 people at the top that are prohibited from getting bonuses under this bill. Every newspaper in America says Congress must be nuts allowing these IRS fat cats to reward themselves with bonuses while their constituents are getting screwed.”