Jason Smith

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, introduced by Ways and Means Committee members Representatives Kustoff and Chu. For too many Americans, help from the Federal Government after a natural disaster can take too much time to arrive. This bipartisan bill authorizes the Treasury Department, in consultation with FEMA, to postpone tax filing deadlines for Americans living in State-declared disaster areas just as they do for federally declared disasters. If a State moves faster in declaring an emergency, the Treasury Department can more quickly respond when it comes to an individual's tax obligations. This legislation will help disaster victims receive desperately needed tax relief sooner rather than later. Additionally, this legislation doubles the current mandatory tax filing extension following a federally declared disaster declaration from 60 to 120 days. For most people recovering from a disaster, taxes fall lower on their to-do list than more immediate needs like finding shelter, food, and caring for loved ones. By extending this deadline, we are providing families the breathing room and additional time to get their lives back together. President Trump was elected on the promise of finally making the government work better for working people. All Americans, but especially Americans recovering from a natural disaster, deserve easier tax filing. With tax day in just a few days, we must look for commonsense, bipartisan ways to make filing and paying taxes less of a hassle. I thank both sponsors of this legislation for leading on this issue on behalf of the people they represent and all Americans. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a Congressional Review Act resolution repealing the last-minute, unfair, and unworkable Biden IRS rule that places a bureaucratic burden on the Americans who own cryptocurrency and the platforms that allow them to own it. Congress gave the IRS clear instructions in the 2021 infrastructure law regarding digital asset reporting. The IRS was given an inch and took a mile, writing a rule that is overly broad and downright sloppy in the process. The rule subjects decentralized finance platforms, or DeFi exchanges, to the same reporting requirements as a centralized bank or traditional securities broker. Under President Biden, the IRS traded congressional intent for a politically motivated mandate. The Biden administration made no secret of its opposition to digital assets and America's leadership in this booming industry. Bureaucrats weaponized every tool in the toolbox, including finalizing this rule at the eleventh hour, crippling the digital asset industry and threatening American leadership and innovation in the process. Approximately one in four Americans own cryptocurrency. This rule puts a huge burden on these regular folks and could discourage participation in the digital asset market altogether. While workers lose, foreign countries win. Since only American companies and taxpayers have to comply with the burdensome rules, only American companies and taxpayers will need to spend billions of dollars to change their business models and report billions of pieces of taxpayer data. America risks losing our edge to foreign companies as a result. The rule disincentivizes the very innovation that has powered American leadership in the digital asset industry. In a global economic competition with China, this rule chips away at a source of American economic strength. There are real questions if the rule can even be administered. DeFi exchanges are not the same as centralized crypto exchanges or traditional banks or brokers. DeFi platforms do not and cannot even collect the information from users needed to implement this rule. Their software never controls the digital assets. DeFi platforms cannot exchange currencies, hold assets in escrow, or maintain third-party records of financial transactions like their counterparts, yet the Biden administration wanted to treat them the same. As former IRS Commissioner Rettig said himself, these new IRS crypto regulations require millions of taxpayers to file new Form 1099s in a way that would ``overwhelm the agency and have little or no value to effective and efficient tax administration.'' The lesson here is simple: Laws passed by Congress should be interpreted and implemented fairly, not used as a pretext to gain more control over the economy at the expense of individual taxpayers. The repeal of this misguided rule would remove a barrier preventing American consumers from participating in crypto and help cement America's digital asset leadership. I thank my Ways and Means colleague, Congressman Mike Carey, for leading the effort to protect taxpayers from an unjustified overreach from the Biden administration. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Miller).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Moore).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 211, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 25) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Internal Revenue Service relating to ``Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Earlier this afternoon, the other Chamber was reminded that the Constitution says all revenue measures must originate in the House of Representatives. The Senate must have been just so excited about this bipartisan CRA that they couldn't wait another minute, but that is okay. Whether it is the CRA or the budget, I guess they will just have to vote again. Mr. Speaker, the repeal of the Biden IRS rule is a victory for common sense. The Federal Government shouldn't demand decentralized finance platforms, used by ordinary Americans to buy and sell cryptocurrency, to fill out forms when those platforms don't collect the information needed for the form. Neither the American people nor the IRS are equipped to handle the demands of this unworkable rule. These platforms are not like banks. They are not like security brokers, yet this rule treats them as if they are. In order to justify the burden placed on ordinary people, Mr. Speaker, the Biden IRS stretched and twisted congressional intent to enact regulations designed to cripple the digital asset industry. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this bill and help dismantle the politically motivated regulations from the last administration. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), the chairman of the Work and Welfare Subcommittee.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the American people supported President Trump in November because he pledged to eliminate waste and fraud in government. There is no better example of what President Trump is talking about than the rampant fraud the Ways and Means Committee has uncovered in the COVID-era unemployment insurance program. This money was supposed to help workers and their families through a crisis. Instead, it was stolen. It was stolen by fraudsters and criminals. According to government estimates, between $100 billion and $135 billion of UI benefits were stolen during the pandemic. Outside estimates range as high as $400 billion. That is higher than the economy of my home State of Missouri and about 20 other States. It is the greatest theft of tax dollars in U.S. history. So far, the government has only recovered about $5 billion. As we stand here, there are over 157,000 open UI fraud hotline complaints and more than 1,600 ongoing fraud investigations. This is a must-pass bill. The statute of limitations for these investigations starts to run out in 16 days on March 27. If we don't extend it, the criminals who stole money from the pockets of taxpayers, and continue to do so to this day, will get away. The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act is simple. It doubles the statute of limitations from 5 to 10 years so we can prosecute and recover hundreds of billions of stolen tax dollars. We did this in the 117th Congress when Republicans and Democrats voted unanimously to extend the statute of limitations for fighting fraud and other COVID- era programs plagued by criminal theft. This legislation deserves the same strong bipartisan support. Yet during our markup, not a single Ways and Means Democrat voted for this bill. Let me preview some of the fear-mongering you are going to hear today on this floor. First, committee Democrats will argue that giving law enforcement more time to prosecute fraud will lead to surprise bills or targeting of innocent Americans who accidentally received an overpayment. This is completely false. DOJ is focused on prosecuting sophisticated criminals who maliciously defrauded the government, including international crime rings, online scammers, and gangs that are using tax dollars to illegally purchase firearms and commit crimes. This is not about going after grandma who made a mistake on her form. Anyone making that claim is simply not telling the truth. That isn't happening today, and it won't happen tomorrow. All this bill does is simply extend the investigations ongoing today. Second, Democrats claim that rescinding $5 million to offset the cost of this bill is a bridge too far. This is unused money sitting over at the Department of Labor. With over 1,600 open investigations, Democrats should be more concerned about what their constituents and American taxpayers have to lose if this doesn't get done. Third, Mr. Speaker, you will hear complaints about items unrelated to this bill like DOGE or the streamlining of the Federal Government to make it work better for the American taxpayer. I understand that my colleagues on the other side may want to use their floor time to discuss those issues, but that is not what the bill in front of us is all about. It is simply about continuing ongoing efforts to recoup tens of billions of dollars criminally taken from the American taxpayer. A ``no'' vote is a vote to allow these criminals to keep the money they stole from taxpayers. It is a vote to surrender to fraudsters. It is a vote that says to Americans we don't care about their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Yesterday, my colleagues introduced an amendment that would limit prosecution of fraud cases with at least $100,000 in stolen funds. Apparently, Mr. Speaker, Democrats want to give some criminals a get- out-of-jail-free card. Let me give you an example of what that looks like. A woman from Rockford, Iowa, was sentenced to more than a year in prison for receiving $45,000 in unemployment benefits from eight different States using stolen identities and laundering the proceedings through cryptocurrency. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a September 20, 2022, release from the United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Iowa titled: ``Iowa Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID-19 Related Benefit Fraud and Money Laundering.'' Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Iowa Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID-19 Related Benefit Fraud and Money Laundering mendenhall received over $45,000 in fraudulently obtained benefits and laundered most of the funds by purchasing cryptocurrency A Rockford, Iowa woman who received unemployment benefits in other people's names, and laundered most of those funds through cryptocurrency transactions, was sentenced September 20, 2022, to more than a year in federal prison. Stephanie Mendenhall, age 53, from Rockford, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 24, 2022, guilty plea to four counts of theft of government funds and one count of money laundering conspiracy. At the plea hearing, Mendenhall admitted to facilitating false claims for unemployment insurance benefits, which were intended for those in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the names of other people and allowing those funds to be deposited into bank accounts she owned or controlled. Mendenhall received fraudulent unemployment benefits paid through the states of Maine, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, and Illinois, including benefits related to COVID-19 relief funds, to which she was not entitled. Mendenhall received at least $35,985 in false unemployment benefits. Mendenhall spent some of the money on herself, but laundered the majority of it by purchasing cryptocurrency and sending it to a co-conspirator. After being indicted in this case, while on pretrial release, Mendenhall attempted to deposit counterfeit checks into other bank accounts she owned. Mendenhall was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Mendenhall was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. She was also ordered to make $46,378.31 in restitution to the states of Maine, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, and Illinois. She must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department's response to the pandemic, please visit https:// www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf/ disaster-complaint-form. Mendenhall is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ron Timmons and Tim Vavricek and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General. Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/ cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 21-3028.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. A criminal, Mr. Speaker, is a criminal no matter how much they steal from the American taxpayers. H.R. 1156 is a must-pass bill for anyone interested in enforcing the rule of law. I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 211, I call up the bill (H.R. 1156) to amend the CARES Act to extend the statute of limitations for fraud under certain unemployment programs, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Kiley).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Schmidt).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Yakym).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the folks on the other side of the aisle were referring to President Trump firing the Department of Labor inspector general earlier. President Trump campaigned on changing Washington. He is well within his power to remove members of the executive branch at will, and it is understandable, Mr. Speaker, that he wants people in his administration who reflect his views. The Labor Department's inspector general plays an important role in identifying fraud but does not charge cases or decide which ones to prosecute. The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Offices handle prosecution of Federal crimes. This bill extends the statute of limitations to ensure the Department of Justice has the time they need to go after criminals who committed acts of malice and intentional fraud against American taxpayers. The criminal activity in the COVID-era unemployment insurance program represents the largest theft of tax dollars in U.S. history. This money was supposed to help American families through a once-in-a-lifetime crisis. Instead, thousands of criminals, including foreign crime rings, made off with hundreds of billions of dollars. We know that some of these same groups are continuing to perpetrate UI fraud targeting disaster victims. Fraudsters are filing claims on behalf of individuals impacted by fires in your State, Mr. Speaker, and the North Carolina floods, and then using the money for criminal activity. The statute of limitations to prosecute these crimes is set to expire this month with just 4 percent of the stolen funds having, so far, been recovered. Criminals are going to get away scot-free unless we pass this legislation. Over the past few weeks, Democrats have sued and stonewalled President Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE over the broader investigation into how our tax dollars are being spent. The American people are tired of words. It is time for action. The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act will buy prosecutors and law enforcement more time to go after criminals and recoup the money taxpayers are rightfully owed. It is no wonder this legislation is widely supported by Federal law enforcement agencies and States. The American people deserve justice, and now it is up to Congress to deliver it. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I offer a resolution constituting a question of the privileges of the House.