James Traficant: “Mr. Speaker, I know Jake Pickle, I served with Jake Pickle, and I know that Jake Pickle is deserving of this honor, and…”

“Mr. Speaker, I know Jake Pickle, I served with Jake Pickle, and I know that Jake Pickle is deserving of this honor, and I am, too, proud, as other colleagues have spoken, to be a part of this legislation. One thing about Jake Pickle, he was not yellow. He had a backbone, not a wishbone, a backbone, and very few of us may realize the pressure he had when he was one of only five Southern leaders to pass President Johnson's Civil Rights Act of 1964, amidst great pressure and attacks from those who thought otherwise. Men like Jake Pickle have created an opportunity for all Americans that were not gifted with an automatic entry into our mainstream. But I want to just make a few comments on the Congressman that I knew, and how he helped me personally in a couple areas where we changed IRS law. He helped me to pass legislation that requires the IRS to have a training program for all their agents so they do not abuse our taxpayers. Also he helped me pass legislation that allows an abused taxpayer now to sue the IRS. Then Jake worked on legislation with me and others to raise the limits for such lawsuits from $100,000 to $1 million. He also helped to promote, over a period of years, my legislation to make it tougher for the IRS to seize our property and to help us change the burden of proof in a civil tax case that has recently been passed with the help of Republican leadership, and I am appreciative of that.”