Patrick Meehan

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, one of my favorite Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, once said that ``by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.'' H.R. 4875, the United States Semiquincentennial Act of 2016 establishes a commission to facilitate the national plans leading up to America's 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. This is the same process that was used in planning for the bicentennial celebrations all across the Nation in 1976. There is much to do, so we are following Ben Franklin's advice here and starting the planning 10 years ahead of what should be an historic celebration. To develop these plans, the 32-member body of private citizens and public officials will meet in historic Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the very place where our new Nation was declared. Within 2 years of its formation, the commission is charged with reporting recommendations on plans to the President and to Congress. Importantly, this legislation does not appropriate any funds toward the commission activities. The commission will rely solely on generous donations from private citizens. While the United States was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the commission will not be limited to planning events just in our great city. H.R. 4875 encourages the commission to develop event plans at sites of historical significance, at battlefields and important locations all across the Nation that will truly celebrate the birth of the United States of America. I want to thank my colleague Bob Brady for his leadership and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for their work on the measure.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment that will facilitate health screenings in communities coping with groundwater contamination from nearby defense installations. My amendment dedicates $7 million in the operations and maintenance defense-wide account to screenings for residents who, unbeknownst to them, have fallen victim to exposure to firefighting chemicals which have bled into the drinking water. One of those sites where this has happened for over a couple of decades is in my district, a district I share with the gentleman from Philadelphia, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle, the Navy Air Station in Montgomery County, and Mr. Fitzpatrick of Bucks County in Warminster. The Navy has been working very closely with the EPA and the public water authorities to take wells off line to address contamination and to provide public drinking water. But one of the things that they have not done is levels of screening to determine whether there has been any impact associated with the presence of what we call PFOAs, something the EPA has determined levels at which it may create a potential risk. Make no mistake about it, the Federal Government is responsible for this. That will not be an issue which will be contested. So the question is whether there is precedent for the ability to work on something like this, allowing the Navy. And the answer is, yes, this has happened. Private entities in both Hoosick, New York, and West Virginia have worked through State authorities to enable there to be testing of thousands of local residents in situations like this to determine whether or not there could have been any local impact due to that. So we are not asking the Defense Department to put any kind of man hours into this. We are asking them to work with what we believe are appropriate authorities that already exist, and for them to work in public-private partnerships with State entities to enable and facilitate some of this testing to take place. I think the Navy deserves credit for being proactive in the way they have looked at this issue. But we see this as a continuing obligation and would like to see the Navy fulfill the support to enable this important, important testing to take place. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen for putting important language in the appropriations bill that includes report language requiring the Pentagon to report on what sites pose a potential health risk and its plan to address them. I am very thankful to my friend, Representative Brendan F. Boyle from Philadelphia, who has worked closely with me on this issue. But I also understand, Mr. Chairman, that the chairman of the committee has some observations on this. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen).

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MEEHAN. I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle).

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank the gentleman and the chairman and the ranking member for their recognition of the issue and their willingness to work with Mr. Boyle and Mr. Fitzpatrick in Bucks County, who is similarly situated, and myself. I look forward to working with both of those gentlemen and the committee on this issue.

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Springfield High School Boys Lacrosse team, the 2016 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) champions. The Springfield Boys Lacrosse team won the state title after defeating La Salle 4-3 in the championship game. They are the third straight team from Delaware County to win the PIAA Championship. I want to congratulate the following students on the Boys Varsity Lacrosse team: Zac Methlie, Mike Gerzabek, Liam Difonso, Joe Debarnardi, Ray Jeffers, Andrew Pickett, David Hentnick, Ian Reger, Jack Spence, Zac Venit, Kyle Long, Mike Vent, Jamie Bove, Dan Gluck, Vince Puppio, Pat Smyth, Aiden Travers, Geo Dotsikas, James Spence, Anthony Delvecchio, Nick Cutuli, Nick Martin, Matt Blake, Matt Ries, Zack Broomall, Max Difonso, Mike Ward, Nate Lohr, Nick Matty, Alex Grafstrom, Anthony Divario, and Pat Clemens. Their hard work, discipline and teamwork bring great pride to the 7th District. I also want to congratulate Head Coach Tom Lemieux and assistant coaches Jason Orlando, Ryne Adolph, Austin Kaut, Mike Gurenlian, and Jordan Demcher. Mr. Speaker, I once again congratulate Coach Lemieux, the coaching staff, the team, and the entire Springfield community on this outstanding accomplishment.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Heartline Press on winning SCORE's 2016 Small Business Achievement Award. SCORE is a national nonprofit that provides free business mentoring and educational workshops to entrepreneurs and small business owners across the country. I am grateful for the services local SCORE chapters provide for our region's innovative entrepreneurs. And I commend the Chester County Chapter on being named ``2015 Chapter of the Year,'' edging out over 300 other chapters around the country. Ryan Hartley, founder of Heartline Press, developed his passion for the offset lithography printing process while attending Springfield High School. Bob Preston, who operated the school's print shop, became a lifelong mentor and encouraged Hartley to start his own printing company in 2005. Hartley was working long hours and the business was barely profitable. So in 2012 he reached out to SCORE and was introduced to SCORE counselors who helped him reorganize his business to operate it more efficiently and effectively. Hartley also enhanced his web design services and developed a strong social media marketing campaign. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mr. Hartley on his success through the SCORE mentorship program.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Action Potential on winning SCORE's 2016 Small Business Achievement Award. SCORE is a national nonprofit that provides free business mentoring and educational workshops to entrepreneurs and small business owners across the country. I am grateful for the services local SCORE chapters provide for our region's innovative entrepreneurs. And I commend the Chester County Chapter on being named ``2015 Chapter of the Year,'' edging out over 300 other chapters around the country. Kathy Dixon and Kristen Wilson founded Action Potential in 2011 to provide innovative, high-customized rehabilitation services to senior, neurological and amputee clients. Action Potential is the first outpatient therapy provider to offer these specialized services in Delaware and Chester Counties. In just three years the business more than quadrupled its number of patients. Kathy and Kristen have been involved with SCORE since they were first considering starting their own business, attending workshops that helped them develop a business plan and working with a SCORE counselor. Action Potential is actively involved in and giving back to its community, hosting educational luncheon sessions for physicians and charity events like their National Amputee Golf Association First Swing Seminar and Annual Turkey Trot. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Kathy Dixon and Kristen Wilson on their success. It is small businesses like Action Potential that form the backbone of our local economy.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Thomas Garvey, a native of Ridley Park, Delaware County, Pennsylvania who served as an Army Ranger and Special Forces officer during the war in Vietnam. A graduate of St. James High School in Chester, Thomas Garvey enlisted in the Army in 1965 in Philadelphia. He volunteered to serve as a paratrooper and eventually entered Officer Candidate School. He earned his Ranger tab and led a Special Force ``A- Team'' detachment along the Vietnam-Cambodian border in 1968. Just last year, Garvey completed a book that drew from his experiences in Vietnam. Nearly 50 years in the making, Garvey's ``Many Beaucoup Magics'' is his account of the dangers and costs of war as he saw them firsthand. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Garvey will be honored next week at the Ridley Park Memorial Day Ceremony, where he will serve as keynote speaker. I congratulate him on this honor and thank him for his service to our country.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, in honor of World Press Freedom Day--which was observed last week--I rise today to recognize the bravery of journalist Seyoum Tsehaye and to support press freedom around the world. Seyoum Tsehaye is the uncle of Vanessa Berhe, a Villanova student who started the organization One Day Seyoum to advocate for press freedom and the release of unjustly imprisoned journalists in Eritrea. In September 2001, the Eritrean government detained a number of journalists who had spoken out against the government. Seyoum Tsehaye was one of the journalists detained. He was taken from his home without an official arrest warrant. Mr. Tsehaye remains in prison and has yet to receive a trial. Mr. Speaker, freedom of the press and freedom from unjust detainment are pillars of democracy and good governance here in the United States and in nations around the world.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlemen from Virginia and from Wisconsin for their great work on this important issue. I rise in strong support of the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act for many reasons, but one in particular, for the support that it now gives to Veterans Treatment Courts. As a former prosecutor, I saw firsthand the effectiveness of this. But we are also seeing amongst those who are struggling with opioid addiction a unique cohort being veterans. Many of them are returning-- in fact, 67 percent of our returning vets face mental health challenges, and too many of them are choosing to self-medicate, or are dealing with injuries that they have acquired, through opioids. It has led to not only addiction, but other kinds of behaviors. When we are able to bring them into the court system under the guidance, it creates not only the oversight of the system but, as well, the promotion of this peer-to-peer in which other veterans enable them to work together to get back not only their dignity and their lives, but they take advantage of the kinds of resources that we have within the veterans system to deal with the underlying addiction and other kinds of issues. This is a tremendous additional effort to authorize a program which we have been able to support here in Congress and create permanence for it. I believe this is another important opportunity for us not to leave our injured back on the battlefield. I thank the gentlemen for their support.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Artman, a personal care and nursing community in Ambler, PA that is celebrating 100 years of care to seniors in the community. Since opening its doors in 1916, Artman has provided personal care, skilled nursing, rehabilitation and hospice services to seniors in the greater Philadelphia area as a part of Liberty Lutheran Services, a non-profit faith-based social ministry organization. Groups like Liberty Lutheran Services are essential to ensuring our region's seniors receive the quality care they deserve. I congratulate the administrators and staff at Artman throughout the years on this milestone.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Tinicum Elementary School on its 50th Anniversary. Tinicum Elementary School has demonstrated its commitment to educating young students in the community for half a century. It's been a pillar of the Tinicum Township and Interboro School District communities and generations of students have learned and benefitted from it. I congratulate the Principal Tim Fanning, Assistant Principal Stephanie Farmer, and all the school's hardworking teachers, staff, students and parents for earning this impressive distinction.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate George Pagano II on completing the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. Media, Pennsylvania native George Pagano II and his partner Caitlin Miller recently completed rowing the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a 2,554 nautical mile race from the Canary Islands to Antigua. They are the youngest Americans and the youngest pair to ever compete. George and Caitlin faced numerous challenges as they competed in this race--isolation, sleep deprivation, and even a tropical storm. Despite these challenges, the team completed the race in 58 days, 5 hours and 6 minutes. I congratulate George and his partner Caitlin for their success. Their charity, the ALS Association of Greater Philadelphia, will benefit in its mission to find treatments and a cure for this terrible condition.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 182, I was unavoidably detained at a Ways and Means Committee Hearing. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for their strong support of this very, very important bill, which will use the resources of the Centers for Disease Control in very important outreach to young people, particularly student athletes. Now, we have heard heart-wrenching stories all day long about the tremendous growth of the use of opioids. In fact, 207 million prescriptions were written in 2013 for opioids. Unfortunately, that has led to about 2.1 million Americans who are hooked on opioids. And when the opioid is not available, we have begun to see them switch to a cheaper alternative, which is heroin. 450 million Americans are currently hooked on heroin. I know in my own State of Pennsylvania we lose seven people a day to heroin addiction. We are seeing it in the important nature of the comprehensive bills that have been put forward today. We are seeing it in veterans. Many are coming back with traumatic injury and are finding release in the opioids. We are seeing it in pregnant mothers and the impact that it has in children. One of the single biggest increase is in women, mothers who are over 30. One of the niches that is often underappreciated, but remarkably dangerous, is young student athletes. The reason being is that young student athletes are more inclined than just about anybody else to suffer sports-related injuries. Some of those injuries can be serious, and what we are seeing is a high rate of prescription of opioids for some of these athletes. Now, in the NCAA, you have a little bit more oversight. Even there, we see abuse. Almost 26 percent of college-level athletes will use opioids at some point in time, many without prescriptions. Where the real danger comes down is at the high school level. I have the good privilege of chairing one of the youth sports caucuses with my good friend, Mr. Kind of Wisconsin. We deal with a broad variety of issues promoting healthy activity and youth sports, but we are seeing a piece of this challenge right now in which we are watching the opioid addiction and problems with young athletes. Eleven percent of high school athletes will use painkillers without a prescription. That is something that I talked to one of the trainers in my high school, a student trainer, about how kids who want to play in the game will hide their injuries and self-medicate. What a danger that is. This brings me to the young man who inspired this bill, the John Thomas Decker Act. This is John Thomas Decker. I had the privilege of knowing John personally and knowing his wonderful family. John was an incredible athlete. I watched him play football. He set a receiving record that was held for nearly a decade in our region of Pennsylvania. He went on to play lacrosse at Cornell University in a program that won a national championship. So John was the consummate blue-chip athlete and a wonderful kid to boot. He was a great student and a great leader. But John, like so many other kids, fought through the pain because he wanted to play. So what he did was he self-medicated and began to deal with the issue of opioid addiction. Now, John worked his way through it as an athlete, but later in life returned again to using opioids and, ultimately, heroin. Ultimately, it led to his death. His story inspired me to say we have to do something about it because many high school kids just like John who are playing through the pain believe that, because they are using the opioids and because they are prescription medicines, somehow there is no danger of any kind of addiction or otherwise, that somehow it is nowhere near as dangerous as heroin. Yet, it is unfortunately too easy. In fact, one of the other misconceptions is: I don't have to worry about a dependency. But the medical authorities have confirmed that daily use for even a short period of time, just a few weeks or even days, can create the kind of psychological dependency in which there is the beginning of the misuse of the opioids. One of the things we begin to see as well is, as the opioid begins to lose its protective effect, they will take more and higher doses in order to have the same pain-killing capacity. So they start to move further on down the chain. Oftentimes they are able to kick it for a period of time. But when they come back, they will go back to using the opioid at the higher level than they once did before. Imagine the implication of that.

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, the CDC is in a position now to be able to utilize the resources it has to do a better study of making sure that we are aware of the information and resources that are being made available to those who are in the privity of relationship with these students--these can be coaches; these can be school nurses; these can be the students themselves--and then come up with a plan for us to be able to distribute this in an effective manner, all the way down through the network. There can be appropriate use under medical care with the kind of attention to concerns about addiction so that, where there is legitimate pain--we don't want to suggest that there is never a use, but this will now create the kinds of guidelines in which there is genuine oversight if opioids are introduced. This will also give the kinds of guidelines to local trainers and others, even local physicians, about taking more time to assess the backgrounds of individuals that they are giving the opioids to, not appreciating perhaps that a young man may be dealing with depression or other kinds of things, a binge drinker in association with that opioid that could lead to death. All of these things are things that could be part of the CDC's approach to doing much better education so that we can prevent the next young star athlete like John from coming into opioid addiction and ultimately leading to his demise. Let us let John's voice be heard. Let us use this as the opportunity to ensure that future student athletes are not addicted to opioids.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Hampshire and all of my colleagues who have taken this approach to comprehensive discussion on what we can do with legislation to deal with the issue of not just heroin abuse, but the opioids that are now a precursor. I would suggest that just about everybody who has come to this floor comes with a personal story. Mine is very personal as well. The name of the act that I am sponsoring that is part of this comprehensive package is the John Thomas Decker Act. John was an athlete of great talent. He was one of the record holders for more than a decade as a receiver who went on to Cornell as part of a program in which he was a lacrosse player, a program that won a national championship during his time there. But John, like so many student athletes, suffered from a knee injury that impacted his ability to play, and like so many, he played through the pain. And one of the things that he used in order to deal with that pain was opioids, opioids that in the beginning were prescribed, and then subsequently were used by him without a prescription. But that should not surprise you, because one of the things that we look at with respect to college athletes is that 23 percent of college athletes, according to one NCAA study, have been prescribed pain medications during the course of the year. Another 6 percent, on top of that, self-prescribe with opioids. So as a result, we have almost 1 in 4--more than 1 in 4 dealing with opioids. The problem being that that leads, oftentimes, to an addiction. There is a misunderstanding, a belief among many that it is a much safer drug because it has been prescribed, but not a recognition that it can lead, in weeks and even days with daily use, to a psychological dependency, which can lead toward the addiction. Many people think that because they have been able to get it under control, they will return to it at some time later at a dosage that they used before, and because of the concentration being higher, they will return, and oftentimes it can lead, as it did in John Thomas Decker's situation, to an overdose. The John Tomas Decker Act is designed to enable, at the high school level, the Centers for Disease Control to reach out, study the impact of opioid use among high school athletes and better arm those who engage with them to monitor the use of those who have been prescribed it, to screen for history of current drug use, depression, other kinds of things that can lead to addiction, and begin to educate not just those student athletes, but those who are in charge of those student athletes about the great concern of opioid abuse, which can lead to heroin addiction and, ultimately, death. I'm grateful for the leadership of my colleague from New Hampshire and her counterpart across the aisle for their work in this important area. I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support the John Thomas Decker Act, and I know that all of us will be committed to doing everything we can to stay ahead of this very, very challenging issue for our Nation.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Radnor Middle School on being named a Don Eichhorn Schools: ``Schools to Watch.'' Radnor Middle School is just one of six schools in Pennsylvania to earn this distinction this year. The ``Schools to Watch'' list was developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. The program identifies middle schools where students are excelling academically and where teachers and administrators are improving curriculum and instruction, responding to the needs and interests of their students, and helping all students achieve success at high levels. Mr. Speaker, Radnor Middle School has demonstrated its commitment to continued improvement and to educating young adolescents for future academic, social and professional success. I congratulate Radnor Middle School's hardworking administrators, teachers, staff and students for earning this impressive distinction.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy).

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, let me take a moment just to be responsive to a couple of things. In point of fact, I don't think that I could have had a better setup for the real issues here than the very arguments that have been made by my colleagues because, in fact, when you look behind what is actually going on, you see the scheme that is taking place here, which has put the IRS and the service that it gives to taxpayers right in the middle of the conflict. What they have done is created a circumstance in which, if you purposely starve the very thing that will relate to the taxpayers, you can get the taxpayers worked up to come back to scream for more money for the Service: Let's blame this on Congress. But let's talk about what is actually going on here, Mr. Chairman. There may have been budget cuts, as there have been budget cuts all across the government. One of the budget cuts related to the $50 million that the IRS has used for conferences. And so, just like every other agency in government, just like the 14 percent cut we have taken in our own offices, there have been cuts at a time in which our government doesn't have money. But that is not the issue. Because what has happened here has been the diverting of funding. What nobody is saying is that this same agency has been hit with $1.7 billion of diverted expenditure to service the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law that was pushed on us and pushed on all America; $1.7 billion has been diverted, will be dedicated this year, but never accounted for when that program was created. They put this responsibility, another unfunded mandate put on the agency by this law. What they have done is divert the attention. Take the resources away and then use it as a way to compel to see if we can force Congress to get pulled into this debate. Our thing is very, very simple. Again, it is not a funding issue. It is a service issue. We are not getting into that with this particular bill. It is a very simple thing that says: Create a plan for how you do it. I am glad that the gentleman from New Jersey, who I respect enormously, has been able, Mr. Chair, to touch on the very point that was also made, this idea that somehow we have been unresponsive and starved this agency. Mr. Chairman, $290 million just sent purposely for this issue, $290 million. So in addition to saying to give us a plan, we are saying: Here is $290 million of focused funding to say this is behind the plan. Tell us how you are going to use it. This whole thing is a smokescreen on the part of the other side to create the tension when, in fact, we are asking for a very simple thing that we have already funded. Mr. Chairman, I have no other speakers at this time. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 4890.

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am before the House today--really, before the Nation--on behalf of all of those frustrated taxpayers who have spent a great part of the last month, if not months before, in preparing their taxes in what is an increasingly complex Code. While we have a mission to simplify that Code, the fact of the matter is they have to deal with the challenges that they face today. One of the agencies that they interact with or hope to interact with when they have questions is something called the Internal Revenue Service. I want to focus on that third word--``service''--because the idea here is we don't have some oversight agency, and we don't have some agency whose obligation and purpose in life is to make it harder on the average hardworking taxpayers, who are supporting the government with the money that they earn; it is to be a service--to use their resources to help the hardworking Americans who must pay taxes--and to simplify the process, particularly when they have questions of a very, very complex Code and its requirements that are being put on each and every one of them. When we talk about service, what we need to see is a pattern; and what we see is a pattern by which, unfortunately, the service of the IRS is deteriorating rapidly. Let me give you the facts, and I am talking about what they call the answer time. When an individual gets on the telephone because he is frustrated and he calls the IRS and says, ``I have a question,'' this year, the IRS estimates it will receive 48.4 million calls with people asking for assistance. Do you know how many they will answer? Sixteen million. That means that 32 million taxpayers will call the service, and their calls will go unanswered. What kind of private entity could survive in this day and age if that was the kind of service that they were providing? What we are seeing is that this is going in a backwards fashion. If you are able to get through and finally talk to somebody, the wait times a few years ago were 18.7 minutes. Well, how many people who are working at home, have other jobs, are doing things have 18.7 minutes just to wait for a phone call to be answered on an issue that they already have anxiety about? Well, those were the good old days, Mr. Chairman, 18.7 minutes, because today it is 34.4 minutes. If you are one of the lucky 30 percent who even gets their call answered, you wait 34.4 minutes. It even gets better because what the IRS has implemented is a program now called a courtesy disconnect. Well, if that isn't the most oxymoronic thing that I have heard--a courtesy disconnect. In other words, we are going to tell you ahead of time, when you call, we are going to disconnect your call right away because we are going to tell you you are not going to be able to get through in time, so don't waste your time trying to contact the IRS. Now, that just exacerbates the level of frustration. So what do we do about it? What is a solution? Let me tell you, Mr. Chairman, this isn't something that the Republicans on this side of the aisle have sat and said: Oh, let's go get the IRS. Mr. Chairman, the GAO, which has overlooked this agency for, now, 3 straight years has been calling on the IRS to do something very simple. What they say is create a strategy and a plan to do a better job of answering those calls, of being responsive to those very taxpayers that your service requires you to do so. Just create a plan. It is that simple. The GAO issued recommendations to the IRS that they first outline a strategy that defines appropriate levels of telephone and correspondence service and wait time lists and get specific steps to manage service based on an assessment of timeframes, demand capabilities, and resources. Just tell us how you can do it better. Number two was direct the appropriate officials to systematically and empirically compare its telephone service to the best in business to identify gaps between actual and desired performance; in other words, see how it is being done in other places and aspire to do it as well. Well, as I said again, go back to the private sector. I imagine the people aren't making 60 percent of the people that call, they don't even answer it. Lastly, just improve taxpayer service by requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to develop a comprehensive customer service strategy. That is what the GAO asked them to do. This recommendation has been repeated year after year. Unfortunately, the response of the IRS to the GAO was that their existing efforts were sufficient. They have yet to devise this plan. Mr. Chairman, you tell me, when 60 percent of the calls are unanswered and those that are calling have wait times of over 35 minutes, tell me where that is sufficient. And therein lies the heart of the problem, the complete unwillingness to do a simple issue and to be responsive. Now, there are other reasons, perhaps, that the IRS is diverting the very resources that have been put in by this Congress to support taxpayer services. In fact, the commitment to those taxpayer services has gone down dramatically each and every year: In 2013, they put $190 million into ensuring that there were appropriate taxpayer services; and then, in 2014, they decreased it to $183 million to ensure that there were appropriate taxpayer services; and then, in 2015, they put $45 million into it. So at a time when the GAO is telling them to do better, they are speaking with their own specific acts to say: We think it is sufficient. And not only do we think it is sufficient, we are actually pulling resources away from relations to the very taxpayers that we have an obligation to service. Mr. Chairman, the bill is really quite simple, and it is in response to that continuing unresponsiveness of those who manage the IRS. It is simply saying to do what you have been requested to do. Now, despite three GAO reports and continuing oversight by Congress, the refusal to be responsive to that, we looked and said a very simple thing. It says do not pay bonuses to the employees until you have fulfilled the very simple requirement of coming up with this plan. Now, somebody might say to me: Well, that is outrageous. Put new obligations on the IRS. They have not done it in 3 years. But guess who has? The Department of Labor does it. The Department of Agriculture does it. The Department of Education does it. The Office of Management and Budget does it. Each and every one of them, I would suggest to you, Mr. Chairman, probably have a lot less interaction with everyday Americans, but they have taken the time to put together that plan. So there is a template. We are not asking a whole lot. It has been specific, laid out in the GAO report, simply to do that. So we are asking very simply in the bill, do your job; and until you have done that job, which other agencies are very capable of doing, no bonuses get paid. It doesn't say no bonuses get paid at all. In fact, this is not antiworker. In fact, hardworking people at the IRS--and there are many--they can get rewarded for appropriate work that they do. But don't pay those bonuses until you, management, answer to them why you won't do the service agreement or service plan. You tell your employees why you won't do it. Don't go blaming it on somebody else. That is the very simple request that we have, which is to make the plan before you write the bonuses. Mr. Chairman, that is not asking for much. It is certainly not asking for much on behalf of the frustrated taxpayers of the United States who are seeing a demonstrated inability to communicate with the very agency that is responsible for helping them solve the questions that they have with respect to the complexities of the Tax Code. Mr. Chairman, I look forward to continuing to debate this issue. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MEEHAN

Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I have no other speakers at this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.