Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to strongly oppose this misnamed Republican bill, which purports to protect families and small businesses, but instead, continues the unrelenting effort to starve the IRS. The only Americans that this legislation protects are tax cheats. What is up with this conversation about how many agents are going to be added? The IRS has fewer agents today than it had in 1953, and our economy is seven times larger, and our population has more than doubled since then. The characterization of the IRS as a militant government agency deployed to harass unwitting small businesses and Americans is a flagrant lie. Our voluntary tax system depends on our taxpayers trusting that it works fairly. We need to ensure that the IRS can examine complex tax avoidance strategies of well-heeled individuals and businesses, period. To do that, we need to help the agency modernize and transition away from decades-old technology, and we must support the agency's capacity to effectively administer a range of crucial tax benefits. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''”