Ban on Irs Bonuses Until Secretary of the Treasury Develops Comprehensive Customer Service Strategy

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, I want to once again actually appreciate the comments that were made by the other side in the entirety of this debate because they really speak to, in essence, what they are trying to do.

And I start again with this effectively unfunded mandate that was put on the IRS by the other side. They talk about funding. They gave them $1.7 billion of responsibility under the Affordable Care Act, but never a penny to pay for it. As my parents used to say when I was a kid: You should have thought about that when you did it.

Where was the recognition that these responsibilities that you are putting on them, you have got to pay for them?

We have seen costs rise exponentially in so many different factors, but that is the essence of what is being done here. So we are not going to pay for it, but let's create tension and anxiety at the one place where the taxpayers will uprise, because we will stop talking to them. That is the essence of what is being done here.

Mr. Chairman, once again, we are not asking for anything radical in response. In fact, we have already responded quite appropriately by putting $290 million more into the very issue that is at stake here.

All we are saying is: Come up with a plan. Show us how you are going to do it. Show us how, when 48 million people call you and ask for help with their taxes at a time when they don't have 34 minutes to wait on a phone, to be one of the lucky 30 percent that even get their phone call answered. Do what a number of other agencies already do, give us a plan on how you are going to improve that.

It is that simple. Our purpose isn't to punish diligent IRS employees, but rather to compel management to finally put the taxpayers first and take the need to improve the customer service experience seriously.

Upon learning that this legislation was in development, the IRS reported to the GAO that they have established a team to consider its customer service recommendations. How about that? After 3 years, no response.

The IRS Commissioner himself says service is abysmal. And they say it has been satisfactory up to this point in time. But as soon as this legislation is introduced, we have customer service recommendations and a team being established. I don't think that is a coincidence. Passing the bill into law will ensure that the process continues in good faith.

Mr. Chairman, Congress has a duty to oversee the IRS and ensure that it is meeting the needs of American taxpayers. When the IRS fails to meet those needs, it is up to Congress to act.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is a technical amendment to clarify section 2 of the bill. This section states that no additional funds are authorized or otherwise made available to carry out the requirement of this bill. The language in the amendment makes it abundantly clear that we are not authorizing a new appropriation here.

The IRS needs to create a customer service agency. If they want to claim that they don't have enough money in the budget to be serving the taxpayers with an appropriate topnotch customer service strategy, then we are saying: Give us a plan to do so, and withhold the bonuses until you do so. It is very, very simple.

This amendment makes a technical correction to make our intentions here crystal clear. The IRS doesn't need additional funding to make customer service the top priority when, in fact, it has already been given $290 million to do just this.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. MEEHAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, let me just take a moment to say that the National Taxpayer Advocate has a long history of not only working on behalf of taxpayers, but working with the IRS to improve customer service. I think having the National Taxpayer Advocate involved in this process of creating comprehensive service strategy will actually improve the final outcome.

I thank the gentleman for taking his time not only to look at the totality of this bill, but to find a way to improve its implementation with that support.

I support the addition, and I urge others to vote ``yes'' on the amendment.

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