Bill Archer: “Mr. Speaker, today is tax day. As most of the country knows by now, I continue to do my own taxes. Like millions of…”

“Mr. Speaker, today is tax day. As most of the country knows by now, I continue to do my own taxes. Like millions of other Americans who struggle to fill out their forms before tonight's midnight deadline, I keenly know how difficult, time-consuming and troubling it is to comply with our Tax Code. But once the forms are complete and mailed in, you would think taxpayers could then look forward to a refund or, for some unfortunate souls, an audit. But we have now learned that taxpayers have something else to fear: IRS agents, who snoop through people's personal, confidential tax records. Mr. Speaker, this is a copy of form 1040. Taxpayer records are among society's most confidential and sensitive documents. They often describe how much alimony people pay, how much they spend on health care, and, of course, how much money they make. This information belongs to the taxpayers, not the Government. And taxpayers who suffer enough already should not have to worry about snooping Toms at the IRS who abuse their trust by looking up private tax information. Yet the General Accounting Office tells us that there are more than 1,000 incidents that they know of in which IRS agents snooped into someone's files. That is why I am pleased that the House today, as a part of taxpayer protection week, will pass this bill that makes it a crime to snoop into taxpayer records.”