Ron Wyden

I want to thank Senator Crapo, because he has indicated that telehealth could be one of the real bipartisan priorities for the committee.

A lot of Americans feel they are just getting mugged when they go to the pharmacy counter, and we have concrete ideas for doing something about it.

My bottom line: these are two individuals who are extraordinarily qualified for these essential positions and would be ready to go on Day 1 after they are confirmed by the Senate.

I think it is going to be important to make sure that right now, as a result of the pandemic, we have removed some of the roadblocks for people to actually get to a telehealth provider.

Let's look at ways to shore up our own house first before we start talking about approaches that could unravel some of these sacred Constitutional rights that Americans feel so strongly about.

I think there's an opportunity now to usher in a new set of rules that give Americans information about the basic rules under which the government conducts its operations.

I'm coming off 10 town halls in Oregon. When I hold those meetings--especially the ones during tax season--lots of Oregon taxpayers tell me they have a gut feeling they're being cheated.

I thank you for delivering this important wake-up call to this committee about the enormity of the cheating.

My view is, the annual tax gap is at least double the official estimate and growing.

We can have an aggressive, proactive effort that reflects the seriousness of this.

We are really serious about going after the cheaters who are figuring out ways to not pay their taxes.

More and more wealth is building up in the hands of the fortunate few and big corporations.

I think that more--and particularly targeted enforcement efforts--is necessary.

I have come to the conclusion that the tax gap is in fact far greater than has been officially reported.

Oregonians come up to me at home, and they say, 'Ron, what is the deal with the taxes that the big guys owe that don't get collected?'

The Biden administration's new budget proposal calls for a 10-percent increase in IRS funding. That is a good start.

Wealthy tax cheats have proven that with enough attack dog lawyering, they can litigate the IRS into submission and rip off working taxpayers for big money.

My bottom line is, it is time to throw out business as usual on this.

Even the most conservative estimates of the annual tax gap put it in the hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

A trillion dollars is a big number, and we are going to want to see big results in the next year.

The IRS needs more resources to tackle this challenge, but it is only just beginning to recover from a decade of Republican budget cuts.

My own view is, the annual tax gap is at least double the official estimate and growing.

The time has come for the United States to abandon its extraterritorial tax regime and join the rest of the world in adopting a system of residence-based taxation.

It is time the United States stop its extraterritorial tax regime; to join the rest of the advanced world and tax based upon residency, not a passport!

I reject the proposition that the U.S. has to participate in the worldwide race to rock bottom on corporate taxes to compete or create good-paying jobs.