e-News 4/17/15

• High Priorities for the House
• Killing the “Death Tax”
• Trying to restore “Service” to the Internal Revenue Service
• A Victory for Seniors and Taxpayers
• My Work in Committee: Examining Health Programs for Troops and Families
• The President’s National Security “Leadership:” “Obama’s Failure
• “Iran Has Good Reason to Celebrate”
• Salute: The Doolittle Raiders

High Priorities for the House

The House remains focused on our priorities – starting with jobs and the economy.  We’ve passed a responsible plan that would balance the budget for the American people, which means more jobs and a stronger economy.  And this week we passed a series of bills to stop the IRS abuses and help hard-working taxpayers. 

Wednesday was “Tax Day.” There's no getting around the fact that our tax code is a mess. It sends jobs overseas, it discourages entrepreneurship and productivity.

Fundamentally, our country cannot reach its full potential with a tax code that punishes people for their own hard work or drives them out of New Jersey!

We all need to remain committed to fixing the code to make it simpler, flatter and fairer for all which will create greater opportunity for all Americans.

Killing the “Death Tax”

For years, I have been at the forefront of efforts to repeal the federal “estate tax,” also known as the “Death Tax.”  Despite the efforts of several Congresses, this onerous levy remains the #1 reason family businesses in America are not passed down to the next generation. Simply put, it has always been the wrong tax at the wrong time.

Since the estate tax was temporarily imposed in 1916 to help pay for World War I, by every measure it has failed to achieve the purposes its supporters tout.  

• It generates little annual revenue – just more than enough to cover one day of Washington spending.
• It hurts the economy, encourages income inequality and fails to meet any basic standard of fairness. 
• It is a significant burden on new start-ups and small businesses, our country’s main producer of new jobs!

As a long-time supporter of the bipartisan “Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015” I hail this week’s House passage of this important legislation. With a Republican-controlled Senate, we may repeal the unfair Death Tax once and for all, providing family-owned businesses the peace of mind that the next generation can make decisions based on their desire to carry on the family business and not on how many taxes they would have to pay. 

Trying to restore “Service” to the Internal Revenue Service

Even after the disclosure that the IRS was targeting certain charitable organizations for political reasons, hardworking Americans remain vulnerable to IRS abuse, especially at a time when filing a tax return appears more complicated than ever.

This week, the House marked “Tax Day” by passing a series of commonsense bills to rein in IRS abuse, protect taxpayer rights, and hold agency employees accountable for misconduct.

Taxpayer Bill of Rights

Right now, when dealing with the IRS, taxpayers lack some basic protections under the law, including the right to quality service, the right to confidentiality, and the right to appeal and have their challenge be heard.  The Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act, passed by the House on Thursday, would change this by codifying a strong set of basic rights for taxpayers.

Read the bill here.

Here are other bills we passed this week:

H.R. 1152, To prohibit officers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business

• This bill would prohibit IRS employees from using personal email for official government business.

H.R. 1026, Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act

• H.R. 1026 would restore accountability to the IRS and give the American people the transparency they deserve. This bill amends the tax code to stop the IRS from using a provision that is designed to protect taxpayer privacy, but is instead used to protect government employees who improperly look at or reveal taxpayer information.

H.R. 1295, To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the process for making determinations with respect to whether organizations are exempt from taxation under section 501(c)4 of such code

• H.R. 1295 would help prevent the IRS from targeting organizations because of their political or religious beliefs when filing for tax-exempt status.

H.R. 1314, To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations

• H.R. 1314 would ensure that all Americans get fair treatment by the IRS.

H.R. 709, the Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act

• H.R. 709 would make political targeting a “fireable” offense at the IRS.

H.R. 1104, Fair Treatment for All Gifts Act

• This bill would ensure fair and equal treatment for Americans who donate to tax-exempt organizations with the threat of a gift tax audit.

A Victory for Seniors and Taxpayers

The Senate completed action this week on the first major entitlement reform legislation in twenty years!  By a strong bipartisan vote of 92-8, the Senate followed the House’s lead and voted to scrap The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula used to reimburse doctors and other healthcare providers for treating older Americans under Medicare.

This was a significant victory for Americans who seek to preserve the integrity of our Medicare system and save taxpayers’ dollars.

The SGR was approved by Congress in 1997 as an attempt to slow the growing cost of Medicare services. But the formula proved to be highly unrealistic and ultimately forced many doctors and healthcare providers out of the Medicare program.

Since 2003, Congress has continued approving short-term “patches” to soften SGR’s economic blow for doctors and other providers and keep them in the business of treating seniors.

This week’s vote came after the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memo outlining the short-range and long-term positive financial effects of the House-passed bill (H.R. 2).

Notably, the memo confirms what the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and other experts, such as the American Action Forum’s Douglas Holtz-Eakin, have stated – the House bill will save taxpayers money and put the Medicare program on a more sustainable path.

My Work in Committee: Examining Health Programs for the Troops and Families

The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which I chair, conducted an exhaustive hearing on Tuesday on the status of the various health programs that sustain our troops, their families and retirees.  Our witnesses were Lieutenant General (Dr.) Douglas J. Robb, Director, Defense Health Agency, Lieutenant General Patricia D. Horoho, Surgeon General of the Army, Vice Admiral Matthew L. Nathan, Surgeon General of the Navy, Lieutenant General (Dr.) Thomas W. Travis, Surgeon General of the Air Force.

You can watch the hearing here.

The President’s National Security “Leadership:” “Obama’s Failure”

I recently came across a very interesting column by Stephen Hayes in the Weekly Standard entitled “Obama’s Failure.”  The key phrase in the piece is “Notwithstanding periodic drone strikes on bad guys, Obama has demonstrated repeatedly that his instinct is to ignore, dismiss or downplay threats to the United States and its interests and allies.  The record over six years is a long list of mistaken judgments, awkward euphemism and false assurances.”  Read the entire column here.

“Iran Has Good Reason to Celebrate”

ICYMI: Read my Op Ed “Iran Has Good Reason to Celebrate” in the Morris County Daily Record here.

Salute: The Doolittle Raiders

Salute:  America owes a great debt of gratitude to the Doolittle Raiders - 80 brave airmen, all volunteers, signed up for a mission in the Pacific in 1942.  As it turned out, they followed Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle to conduct the first air raid of homeland Japan during World War II. I was privileged to attend as the Doolittle Raiders received a Congressional Gold Medal this week for their outstanding heroism, valor, skill, and service.  The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor the United States Congress can bestow.