Mark Pocan: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this week represents another missed opportunity for Congress to take…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this week represents another missed opportunity for Congress to take action on the challenges facing the American people. I understand that we are at this point because the majority can't pass a budget, they can't take action to combat the Zika virus, they can't help the people of Flint, Michigan, and they can't address the opiate crisis. Unfortunately, your right wing and your extreme right wing can't seem to agree with each other. Instead of taking real action, we are going to vote today to prohibit the IRS from hiring any new employees until the Treasury certifies that none of the agency's existing employees have unpaid taxes. This legislation is both unworkable and unnecessary. IRS employees have a tax compliance rate of over 99 percent, but a hiring freeze will hinder our ability to go after the real tax cheats in this country, and that is something we should all be able to agree on. Instead of arbitrary changes to the IRS, Congress needs to take action to make our Tax Code work for the American people instead of corporate interests, something that is conspicuously absent from your debate today. Let's talk about how we can close loopholes that allow multinational corporations to pay nothing in Federal income taxes while working class Americans and small businesses pay their fair share.…”