FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Release #105-296
April 21, 1998

ROTH ANNOUNCES FOUR DAYS OF IRS OVERSIGHT HEARINGS

WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) today announced that the Committee will hold four days of oversight hearings next week.

"Last September, the Senate Finance Committee held three days of oversight hearings looking at the practices and procedures of the IRS. Our hearings exposed widespread problems at the agency, including egregious treatment of taxpayers. To this day, I continue to hear from taxpayers who feel they have been mistreated at the hands of the agency," Roth stated.

"After the lights went out on those hearings, the second phase of our investigation carried on. In the course of our initial investigation, we uncovered problems which raised different but equally troubling concerns about the inner workings of this powerful agency. These sensitive problems needed months of in depth and time-consuming investigative work," Roth stated.

"Next week, the committee will hold four days of hearings to examine and expose the second set of problems we have found at the IRS. The hearings will raise serious questions about the ethics, accountability, integrity and culture of the agency. The agency will have an opportunity to respond before the Committee on the final day of the hearings," Roth stated.

"It is unacceptable for a United States government agency to carry on its business in the manner we have found, and it is my hope that exposure of these problems will help bring about swift corrective action," Roth stated.

The hearings will take place on Tuesday, April 28; Wednesday, April 29; Thursday, April 30; and Friday, May 1. They will begin at 9:30 am each day, and take place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

A witness list is not available at this time. Testimony will be heard from invited witnesses only. No witness has requested the use of a voice distorter or a screen.

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Written Statements: Any individuals or organizations wanting to present their views on these hearings to the Committee are urged to submit a typewritten, single-spaced statement, not exceeding 10 pages in length, for inclusion in the hearing record. The date and subject of the hearing must appear on the first page of the statement. Five copies of the statement should be mailed to the Editorial Section, United States Senate, Committee on Finance, Washington, D.C. 20510, and also to Mr. Mark A. Patterson, Minority Staff Director, United States Senate, Committee on Finance, Washington, D. C. 20510. Statements must be received by no later than noon on May 22, 1998. Written statements must also be submitted on diskette in a format that can be read by personal computers (plain ASCII text is preferred; other formats will be accepted -- please identify format!)