Herb Kohl: “I thank the Senator. As the distinguished Senator from Colorado has just indicated, we are bringing to the floor…”

“I thank the Senator. As the distinguished Senator from Colorado has just indicated, we are bringing to the floor recommendations on the fiscal year 1998 appropriations level for the Treasury, general Government agencies. First, I thank Senator Campbell for his dedicated work on this bill. He has worked long and hard on the difficult issues that he has just outlined for our colleagues. As a result of his efforts, I believe the committee has developed a balanced approach for dealing with the many programs and activities under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee, while staying within the budget allocation. Since this budget allocation was $489 million below the administration's request, we have been required to make some substantial reductions. However, the subcommittee actions have resulted in a bill that is both fiscally responsible and I also believe very reasonable. Senator Campbell has discussed the major funding highlights, and rather than repeating those highlights, I will limit my comments to a few areas that I would like to emphasize. First, the funding provided for IRS activities. Tax processing, tax law enforcement and information systems is at the President's request. Additionally, $325 million has been provided for an information technology fund. While we continue to have concerns over the IRS modernization efforts, we believe that it is important to provide the IRS with the tools necessary to collect taxes owed.”