Thomas Daschle: “I only want to acknowledge, again, the extraordinary leadership in our caucus that this Senate has benefited from…”

“I only want to acknowledge, again, the extraordinary leadership in our caucus that this Senate has benefited from, thanks to Senator Kerrey, on the issue of IRS reform. He and Congressman Portman were the two chairs of the IRS commission that delved into all of these issues. They formulated the policy, convinced the administration, and worked to resolve many outstanding differences. So I appreciate very much their tenacious leadership in this area and, again, thank them for their efforts in bringing us to this point. We will, at long last, resolve this matter. I am told that 1 million taxpayers have been adversely affected by IRS activity since the House passed its reform legislation last year. We need to put an end to that, and we need to find ways in which to ensure that the American people and the IRS have a clear message: The old days are gone. The time for reform of the IRS is here. The Senate, on a bipartisan basis, thanks to the leadership of Senator Kerrey is committed to that. We will send the bill to the President well before the April 15 filing time for taxes for the last calendar year.”