I was disheartened to find that more than 150 people have contacted my office this year looking for help with the IRS. Most of those individuals are honest, hard-working people who don't mind paying their fair share of taxes, they just want the IRS to be more helpful. Sometimes the IRS has made mistakes and admitted wrongdoing, yet the agency won't correct them and adjust the taxpayer's bill. Other times, the taxpayer simply has questions and can't get a straight answer from the IRS.

Mr. Speaker, one of my primary goals in Congress is to help restore people's faith and trust in their government. Without public confidence in our democracy, it is impossible to lead this nation into the next century. This bill to reform the IRS to make it more accountable and customer-friendly is one important step Congress must take in order to regain some of the public's trust in government.

This bill will make the IRS more accountable by creating an outside oversight board with real power to perform consistent, ongoing oversight of IRS management and practices. It will make it easier for a taxpayer to comply with tax laws because when they request information or ask questions, they will be able to get answers. Furthermore, Congress will finally be forced to provide the oversight it has been so delinquent in doing.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 2676. It is a good bill, and a very important step toward restoring the public's trust in our government.