Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I would ask one question, which is, basically, how long would the gentleman say, as a new member of the committee, it would take to draft this legislation to bring it to the committee and to pass this new tax that the gentleman wants? How long would it take to do it?

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Nevada [Mr. Ensign].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Neal], a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt], the Democratic leader. It should be noted that he was the first to reach out to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Portman] and the Republican leadership to make certain that this did not become a partisan issue. (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer] to express his views. Whenever anyone talks about improving how we collect taxes, his name, whether it was a Republican or Democratic President, was always there. He has worked very hard in not only trying to improve the present system but trying to improve the present piece of legislation.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 \1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Thurman].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, we would not be talking about burden of proof if it were not for the tenacity of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Traficant]. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Kleczka], a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Strickland].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Shaw] that we have in a bipartisan way moved forward in trying to correct the abuses and better the collection of taxes. I do not see anything in this bill that deals with the simplification, even though there is hope that this bipartisan spirit will continue. I have been invited to join this Scrap the Code trip, and I accept. Let us scrap it. But I think they ought to, anyone that is going to join with them in this effort, to at least talk about what they are going to replace it with. There are just as many different views on their side as there is on our side. But I do not think it is fair to the American people, as political as it may sound, to promise them that they are getting rid of this complex Tax Code, which none of us are proud of, and not tell them what they are replacing it with.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. We are trying desperately hard to keep partisanship out of this. But if it is going to take my colleagues 37 more years to simplify the tax system, then I do not think the taxpayers are going to get much relief. It just seems to me that it should not take 3 years to get what we would want done and it would be more like 3 months. So let us say next year we are going to do it, we are going to come up with something and in a bipartisan way work together with the way the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Portman] has found so easy to work with we Democrats on this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Etheridge].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to respond to the previous speaker. I want to agree with him that this Tax Code that we have is very complicated, and I think that not only taxpayers, but people on both sides of the aisle would like to do something with it. But he should be reminded that, for the last 3 years, his party really has been in charge of the Tax Code. So I hope he is proud of what they have produced during these 3 years. And every Democrat would like to join with him in trying to reform it. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Tanner]. (Mr. TANNER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Coyne], who served on the IRS restructuring committee. He has made such a great contribution to getting this bill to the floor. (Mr. COYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. Weygand]. (Mr. WEYGAND asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Green]. (Mr. GREEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Cardin].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2676. I rise in strong support because of the bipartisan nature of the solution of a very serious problem that our Nation faces with the Internal Revenue Service. I do not think anyone can deny that we are basically dealing with a group of dedicated people that do a very difficult job, but a very complex Tax Code that we have given to them. Yet, out of all of this, for whatever reasons, we were able to see vividly during the Senate hearings how certain people in that Service, probably because of lack of direction and governance, were abusing American taxpayers. Prior to this time there is no question that people in the tax- writing committee, which has the responsibility for oversight, was moving towards reform. But it was the restructuring commission that the gentleman from California [Mr. Matsui] and the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Cardin] and the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Portman] sat on that actually wrestled with it, took testimony, and came up with ways in which we could enjoy the expertise of the private sector and bring some balance, not only in terms of technology, but in terms of better protecting the taxpayer. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California [Mr. Matsui] was replaced by Congressman Cohen, and they were able to work together with the administration and come up with a bill. There are some that have said that the administration came to this reform position screaming and scratching and crying, but the truth of the matter is there were many objections in the bill, and these corrections were made by Republicans and Democrats. We come forth with a bill that is not only workable, but desired today. Let me say on this House floor, which I have said about the chairman, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer] before, that Chairman Archer had the opportunity to bring that same type of a show to the House of Representatives, to bring a response to an emotional situation, which indeed Members of Congress and the whole country saw. Instead of doing that, he allowed Members working on this bill to work their will in a bipartisan way and made contributions to perfect the bill, and worked to bring together Democrats and Republicans, not with a workable bill, but with a desired bill. I think it is not only a credit to him, but a credit to the full committee, that we send notice to the Internal Revenue Service that we expect better performance, we expect to provide the oversight, but we do not expect to do it at the expense of the individual workers who are dedicated. So I support this, and I particularly want to pay tribute to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Cardin] and the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Portman], who worked with the administration and the leadership in the House, as well as the Committee on Ways and Means, to bring a bill to the floor that hardly has controversy. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers at this time.

Mr. RANGEL. When this reaches the President's desk, let us, my colleague and I, talk about that provision. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Price].

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this was hardly the way I expected this to turn out. Having said that, the Members of the New York delegation take great pride in working together not only what we think is in the interests of our great State, but certainly of our wonderful country. We welcome you to the delegation, we welcome you to the Congress. We will be working with you for better appropriations, better support for our State, and a better America.

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fattah].

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)