WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) Wednesday released a witness list for the first day of the Committee's IRS hearings. The Committee will hold three days of hearings looking at the practices and procedures of the Internal Revenue Service beginning Tuesday, September 23 at 9:00 am in room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearings will continue on Wednesday and Thursday, September 24 and 25, beginning at 9:00 am each day.

"No federal agency touches more Americans than the IRS, and none is in more need of better accountability to the people it serves," Roth stated. "The best way to improve the agency's relationship with the American taxpayer is to open it to inspection, and serious, ongoing monitoring -- something that has not been done for a very long time."

During the three days of hearings, the committee will take an unprecedented look at both the internal and public conduct of the tax collection agency. The hearings are the result of a six month long investigation under the direction of Chairman Roth.

Since the investigation was announced last February, Chairman Roth has been contacted by more than 1,000 taxpayers who feel that they have been mistreated by employees of the IRS. The committee has also been contacted by both current and former IRS employees.

The following witnesses are expected to testify before the Committee on Tuesday:

I. The Honorable Charles E. Grassley, United States Senator (R-Iowa);
Member: The National Commission on Restructuring the IRS

II. The Honorable J. Robert Kerrey, United States Senator (D-Nebraska);
Co-Chairman: The National Commission on Restructuring the IRS

III. A panel consisting of:

Joseph F. Lane, Enrolled Agent, Chair,
Government Relations Committee,
The National Association of Enrolled Agents,
Gaithersburg, MD

Robert L. Goldstein, Chairman,
Relations with IRS Committee,

and

James A. Woehlke, Director,
Tax Policy, The New York Society of Certified Public Accountants,
New York, NY

IV. A panel consisting of:

Mr. David Burnham, Author of "A Law Unto itself: The IRS and the Abuse of Power",
Co-Director: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse,
Associate Research Professor: Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communication,
Washington, D.C.

Ms. Shelley Davis, Author of "Unbridled Power" and
Former Historian for the IRS,
Manassas, VA

Mr. Robert Schriebman, Author of Eight Books on IRS Practices and Procedures,
Adjunct Professor of Tax Practice and Procedure: University of Southern California Graduate School of Accounting,
Rolling Hills Estates, CA

V. Ms. Lynda D. Willis, This is
Director of Tax Policy and Administration Issues,
United States General Accounting Office,
Washington, D.C.

http://www.senate.gov

Press Release #105-174
Contact: Ginny Flynn
202/224-4288
Christina Pearson
202/224-5218