FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

It is a pleasure to join Vice-President Gore to speak with you today about the report of the IRS Customer Service Task Force. The leadership of the Vice President and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government have been critical to our ongoing efforts to create an IRS that is customer friendly and efficient, while collecting the taxes due.

Over the last three years, this Administration has been engaged in a highly intensive process of change and reform at the IRS to improve service for our customer: the American taxpayer. We have started to turn around technology, increase electronic filing, and improve telephone service. We have taken steps to enhance taxpayer rights by strengthening the position of taxpayer advocate, and establishing new Citizen Advocacy Panels to make it easier for taxpayers to get problems addressed quickly and effectively. Last month, we announced a set of initiatives to protect taxpayers whose spouses violate the tax laws without their knowledge. We have also worked to bring tax relief to middle class families by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and other measures.

However, despite this progress, the great bulk of our challenges lie ahead. Just as the problems at the IRS took a long time to develop, it is going to take a great deal of time and effort by all of us to build the kind of IRS that taxpayers deserve. There are no quick fixes or easy solutions, but dramatic change is an absolute necessity. This report -- the product of thousands of hours of work interviewing taxpayers, reviewing complaints, and consulting both outside experts and front-line employees -- is an important contribution to our reform efforts.

It is important to emphasize that, as we work to improve the IRS, we are committed to working in partnership with front line employees. Last November, I visited the Baltimore office on the first nationwide Problem Solving Day. My experience with those employees reinforced my belief that the vast majority of IRS employees are dedicated public servants, committed to helping taxpayers comply with the law.

One of the most important steps we can take now is for Congress to pass the IRS reform bill, which the Administration and Congress worked together to fashion in the last weeks of 1997 after months of debate. We think the bill is a very good balance of many competing considerations and that it contributes significantly to the kind of IRS we all want to have. We hope that the Congress moves forward and passes this bill without further delay to help the IRS better serve the American taxpayer.

Let me make one final point. One of the things that has been lost in the debate around the IRS over the last few years is the critical function the IRS performs. The IRS collects 95 percent of the federal government's revenue -- revenue that funds essential activities of government that contribute enormously to the well-being of the American people, from the nation's defense, to social security, or college loans. And by enforcing the tax laws, they make the tax system fairer, because those who cheat on their taxes increase the burden on all the rest of us.

Now, I'd like to introduce the man who symbolizes our commitment to change at the IRS. One of the most important steps we have taken to improve the IRS was bringing Charles Rossotti on board, a new type of Commissioner who had long experience in private business and expertise with computer systems and who recently unveiled his plan for orienting the IRS more towards customer service.